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UC reaches open access agreement with Elsevier
After more than two years of negotiations, this morning the University of California announced a transformative open access agreement with Elsevier, the world’s largest academic publisher.
This successful outcome is the result of UC’s faculty, librarians and university leadership coming together to stand firm on our goals of making UC research freely available to all and transforming scholarly communication for the better.
The new four-year agreement will go into effect on April 1, 2021, restoring UC’s direct online access to Elsevier journals while accomplishing the university’s two goals for all publisher agreements:
(1) Enabling universal open access to all UC research; and
(2) Containing the excessively high costs associated with licensing journals.
These goals directly support UC’s responsibility as a steward of public funds and its mission as a public university to make its research freely available. The agreement with Elsevier will significantly increase the number of articles covered by UC’s open access agreements.
What the agreement means for the UC community
- Reading access: Effective April 1, UC will regain access to articles published in Elsevier journals the libraries subscribed to before, plus additional journals to which UC previously did not subscribe.
- Open access publishing in Elsevier journals: The agreement will also provide for open access publishing of UC research in more than 2,500 Elsevier journals from day one. The Cell Press and Lancet families of journals will be integrated midway through the four-year agreement; UC’s agreement is the first in the world to provide for open access publishing in the entire suite of these prestigious journals.
- Library support for open access publishing: All articles with a UC corresponding author will be open access by default, with the library automatically paying the first $1,000 of the open access fee (also known as an article publishing charge or APC). Authors will be asked to pay the remainder of the APC if they have research funds available to do so.
- Discounts on publishing: To lower those costs even further for authors, UC has negotiated a 15 percent discount on the APCs for most Elsevier journals; the discount is 10 percent for the Cell Press and Lancet families of journals.
- Full funding support for those who need it: To ensure that all authors have the opportunity to publish their work open access, the library will cover the full amount of the APC for those who do not have sufficient research funds for the author share. Authors may also opt out of open access publishing if they wish.
The economics of the deal
As with UC’s other recent open access agreements, the Elsevier agreement integrates library and author payments into a single, cost-controlled contract. This shared funding model enables the campus libraries to reallocate a portion of our journals budget to help subsidize authors’ APCs — assistance that makes it easier and more affordable for authors to choose to publish open access.
Even with library support, authors’ research funds continue to play a critical role. This funding model only works if authors who do have funds pay their share of the APC.
In the other open access agreements UC has implemented, we are already seeing a significant proportion of authors paying their share of the APC. If this promising trend continues, UC can blaze a path to full open access that is sustainable across ever more publishers.
Partnering with publishers of all types and sizes
Meanwhile, the university continues to forge partnerships with publishers of all types and sizes. In addition to Elsevier, UC also signed open access agreements with three more not-for-profit and society publishers this month — The Company of Biologists, The Royal Society and Canadian Science Publishing. These agreements are in addition to those secured previously with Springer Nature, Cambridge University Press, society publisher ACM, and native open access publishers PLOS and JMIR.
Ultimately, UC’s goal is to make it possible for all authors to publish their work open access in whatever journal they choose — providing broad public access to the fruits of UC’s research. This month, we have made a tremendous stride in that direction. We know that this has been a lengthy process and we thank you for your patience and support as we worked to reach this outcome.
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Tiffany Moxham, Associate University Librarian for Content and Discovery, at any time.
New archival collections available for fall quarter 2017
Special Collections & University Archives staff are constantly working to process recently acquired collections and make those materials ready for use by students, faculty, and researchers.
Each quarter, we will provide a list of UCR Library's newly processed archival and primary source collections. Check out the list below to see if there are any items that fit your research area, or share with a friend!
Below you'll find brief descriptions and links to the finding aids or collection guides for each new collection. To use any of these materials, simply click the "Request Items" button at the top to submit a request, and log in with our Special Collections Request System. For more on conducting research in Special Collections, see this page.
SCUA is open to the public on weekdays from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. Check here for closures or other changes to our regular hours.
For questions, email specialcollections@ucr.edu.
Newly Processed Collections – Fall 2017
1.92 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The collection contains photographs, notes, articles, and other materials from explorer Edna R. Webster and her daughter Marjorie Webster. The majority of materials in the collection relate to Edna's exploration and study of Mayan ruins on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, and Marjorie's interest in Atlantis and its possible connection to Mexico.
2.54 linear ft. (5 boxes)
This collection consists of the papers of author Jean Paiva, including manuscript drafts, notes, research, and short stories. Materials in the collection also include literary contracts, earnings statements, and correspondence between Paiva and other authors, editors and literary figures.
0.83 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The collection consists of materials relating to the political career of John Phillips, who served as a California state legislator from 1932-1942, then as a member of the House of Representatives from 1943-1947. Items in the collection include correspondence, reports, pamphlets, and other documents related to Phillips work and research on topics like government food subsidies, universal military training, and the Republican Party platform.
1.42 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The Sunkist Growers Inc. records consists mostly of agreements between various growers and the Fruit Growers Supply Company and the Exchange By-Products Company, which were parts of the organization that provided wholesale supplies and developed markets for citrus by-products like oil and citric acid. The collection also includes brochures, photographs, and a photo album including research information from the University of California Citrus Experiment Station.
1.46 linear ft. (2 boxes)
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Betty Clark Moore, a biologist and former research associate at UC Riverside. Materials in the collection include correspondence, photographs, research notes, and scientific publications written by Moore and others.
11.5 linear ft. (20 boxes)
This collection contains correspondence, notes, and other material from J. Lloyd Eaton, a physician and book collector whose collection of science fiction, fantasy, and horror publications formed the foundation of the Eaton Science Fiction & Fantasy Collection at UC Riverside. Included in his papers are the index card catalogs Eaton kept documenting his collection, which include his notes on many of the works.
0.42 linear ft. (1 box)
This collection consists of photographs and postcards from John W. Dady, depicting various Native American tribes and ranches in the Midwest and California during the early 20th century.
0.23 linear ft. (1 box, 1 flat folder)
This collection contains photographs, slides, and programs from races held at the Riverside International Raceway, a race track in Riverside, California that was in operation from 1957-1989.
1.25 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The collection contains two scrapbooks of news clippings, correspondence, political mailers, and other materials related to efforts to pass two ballot propositions related to state bonds in the June 2, 1970 election in California.
7.19 linear ft. (6 boxes, 1 flat folder)
This collection contains records and research on the date palm industry and date palm farming throughout the 20th century, including photographs of date palm farms, brochures, and newspaper clippings. Additionally, the collection contains photographs, programs, correspondence, and pamphlets pertaining to the United States Department of Agriculture Date Station, and items from date palm researchers Walter T. Swingle, and Roy W. Nixon.
2.17 linear ft. (4 boxes)
This collection includes materials from Alfred M. Boyce, an entomologist and first dean of the University of California, Riverside's College of Agriculture. Items in the collection include agricultural research, photographs, information on the Citrus Experiment Station, and materials related to the publication of Boyce's memoir, Odyssey of an Entomologist: Adventures on the Farm, at Sea, and in the University.
0.42 linear ft. (1 box)
The collection contains working papers, articles, proposals, and other documents on solar sails created by Carl A. Wiley, an engineer and mathematician that authored one of the first accounts of how solar sails could be assembled in orbit and used as spacecraft propulsion devices.
0.21 linear ft. (1 box)
This collection contains correspondence from numerous British artists during the 19th and early 20th century received and collected by British painter Edith Hipkins. The majority of the correspondence consists of personal letters sent to Hipkins and her father, musician Alfred J. Hipkins.
Patents & Trademarks Collection
Located in: Orbach Science Library, Special Collections & University Archives
As a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC), we provide resources for trademark, patent, and intellectual property research.
Neon in the Gutters: Cyberpunk Visions of the Future
A new generation of comics writers and artists, who have slowly been diversifying the industry, has brought new perspectives and ideas along with them.
Their exciting new artistic visions and energy have utilized the fruitful spaces of cyberpunk to explore how identity, conceptions of the self, and different bodies and peoples fit into modern technological societies. Cyberpunk is tailor-made for these kinds of conceptual explorations of transhumanism, posthumanism, and societal change, as technology is increasingly interfacing with the human body, mind, and culture.
This exhibit will explore some of the ways cyberpunk has changed since its inception, how the visual design and language has evolved, how it has engaged with concepts like transhumanism and posthumanism, and how it continues to reshape itself as our technological landscapes change and evolve. View a digital version of the exhibit guide here or pick up a print copy in-person when you visit the exhibit.
| Event | Neon in the Gutters: Cyberpunk Visions of the Future |
| Location | Tomás Rivera Library, 4th Floor in Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA) |
| Dates | Monday, April 21 - Ongoing |
| Hours | View this exhibit during SCUA's operating hours: Monday - Friday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Exceptions to regularly scheduled hours:
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| Parking | Free Visitor Parking is available on Fridays, starting at 12:00 PM through 6:00 AM Monday morning in the unreserved spaces of the following parking lots/structures:
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Three new open access agreements available to UCR authors
Effective March 10, 2021, UC authors can make their research freely available for anyone to read through three new transformative open access publishing agreements with The Royal Society journals, Canadian Science Publishing (CSP), and The Company of Biologists (CoB).
These new, cost-neutral agreements will apply retrospectively to articles accepted after January 1, 2021 and will run through December 31, 2023. The contract with CSP is the first such agreement for a Canadian journal publisher.
The agreements achieve both of UC’s key goals for transformative open access journal agreements: controlling costs and providing for open access publishing in the full portfolio, including hybrid (subscription-based with open access options) and open access journals of The Royal Society, Canadian Science Publishing, and The Company of Biologists.
UC authors can now publish an unlimited number of research articles immediately open access. The CoB agreement covers all 10 UC campuses, while SCP and The Royal Society agreement are available to all campuses except UCSF. Under the agreement, the UC libraries will automatically pay the first $1,000 of the open access fee, or article processing charge (APC), for all included UC authors who choose to publish in a contracted journal.
Authors are asked to pay the remainder if they have research funds available to do so.
Authors who do not have research funds available can request full funding of the APC from the libraries, ensuring that lack of research funds does not present a barrier for UC authors who wish to publish open access in these journals.
By combining funding from the libraries with authors’ grant funds, the agreement provides a model for how research-intensive institutions can create a sustainable and inclusive path to full open access.
Publishers are exploring how to shift from subscription-based business models to models that make it easier and more affordable for researchers to publish their work open access.
The agreement also provides researchers on participating UC campuses with unlimited access to the full portfolio of Royal Society journals, Canadian Science Publishing journals, and The Company of Biologists’ journals and their archives.
For more detail about these agreements, please see:
- The Royal Society open access agreement
- The Company of Biologists open access agreement
- Canadian Science Publishing open access agreement
About UC’s Transformative Open Access Agreements:
Transformative open access agreements support UC’s mission as a public university and advance the global shift toward sustainable open access publishing by making more UC-authored research articles open to the world, while maintaining journal affordability. UC seeks to partner with publishers of all types, sizes and disciplines to jointly advance a worldwide transition to open access across the entire landscape of scholarly journal publishing. For more on these aims and principles, see UC’s Call to Action for Negotiating Journal Agreements at UC, the UC faculty Academic Senate’s Declaration of Rights and Principles to Transform Scholarly Communication, and UC’s priorities for publisher negotiations.
Krista Ivy Shares California Citrus History at LA Nature Fest
On Saturday and Sunday, March 18-19, Reference/Instruction Librarian Krista Ivy represented the UCR Library at LA Nature Fest.
Presented by the LA Natural History Museum, LA Nature Fest welcomed more than 30 exhibitors and 7,600 visitors to their Nature Gardens for the festival. Activities included live animal presentations, nature walks, stage performances, nature crafts, bird walks, and expert tips on how to attract wildlife to your garden.
“It was an amazing opportunity,” Krista explained. “We were invited to share information about Riverside's pivotal role in the development of the California citrus industry.” For her presentation, Krista collaborated with rangers from the California Citrus State Historic Park.
Krista's booth included a colorful timeline depicting the significant points in California’s citrus history and when the first citrus trees were brought to California. Krista said "I can’t tell you how many times I heard, ‘Oh I didn’t know citrus wasn’t native to California!’”
For the children’s craft activity, Krista brought coloring pages of citrus-related images from UCR Library’s Special Collections, inspired by the #ColorOurCollections movement.
The citrus crate labels that Krista used to decorate the library’s booth were a crowd favorite. The labels highlighted Riverside citrus brands and were reproductions from a large collection of citrus and fig labels (MS 038) housed in the UCR Library's Special Collections. "People would point to familiar images and relate to the artworks often depicting an idealized time in California history," observed Krista.
The library’s booth was located in a prime spot, which proved to be an excellent promotional opportunity both for the UCR Library and for the UC Riverside campus. “I spoke with several alumni, and some prospective students who were anxiously waiting for their acceptance notification from UCR,” Krista said.
Conversation starters: innovation through engagement
Over the past year, librarians in the Research Services Department have taken an old-fashioned approach to innovation: one-on-one, face-to-face meetings over coffee with faculty and researchers to ask how the library can best support their work.
Director of Research Services Brianna Marshall first launched this initiative, called the Conversation Project, in winter quarter 2018, basing the idea on a similar project started by Martin Tsang, a University of Miami librarian. Research Services librarians plan to continue the project during next fiscal year, as well.
During the project, Marshall and her team discovered that researchers are often surprised by what the library is doing and the kinds of tools and support it can provide, such as guidance on research data management, scholarly publishing, geospatial resources, and emerging technologies like virtual reality and 3D printing.
So far, the librarians have gathered a wealth of suggestions about how they can improve library outreach, resources, and services. Marshall sees the Conversation Project as a starting point to enable the UCR Library to continue to assess – and evolve – its service-delivery model and content in order to meet researchers’ needs.
At times, contacting researchers who work in unfamiliar disciplines required stepping outside librarians’ comfort zones. “It was important to be able to reach out, remain open to learning about research workflows and needs that were new to us, and reflect as a group about how our conversations went,” Marshall said. “These discussions continue to help us understand a wider variety of researcher perspectives.”
“One takeaway that emerged was that researchers aren’t sure where to go to learn what research resources they have available to them on campus,” Marshall added. “That's a gap that the library can help bridge.”
The unexpected – and perhaps most valuable – outcome was the fortification of relationships between the librarians and the faculty and researchers who participated in the project.
“The proactive and open-ended engagement that the Conversation Project has produced between the librarians and faculty has been both exciting and empowering -- as well as serving as a measure to make sure we continue to support the areas and research that are most vital,” said Ann Frenkel, Deputy University Librarian.
If you would like to participate in the Conversation Project or if you have suggestions for the Research Services department, please contact Brianna Marshall.
History/Social Sciences Instructional Materials Now Available for Review
California’s textbook adoption process is ready to take its next step forward – but first, the State Department of Education needs your input.
All of the History/Social Science instructional materials currently up for consideration are now available in Room 217, the Learning Resources Display Center (LRDC), on the second floor of Tomás Rivera Library. These materials are intended for use by elementary and middle school students, ranging from kindergarten through eighth grade.
“The LRDC provides a way for all interested parties to have some input into the textbook adoption process,” said Christopher Martone, UCR Library’s Coordinator of Education Services and one of the State Board-appointed reviewers for History/Social Sciences instructional materials.
“If you want to review any of the materials, you can make an appointment to meet Christopher in Education Services,” explained Christina Cicchetti, Education / Reference Librarian. “He will make the materials available for your review.”
This invitation is open not just to educators but also to interested students, faculty, staff, and community members. After reviewing the materials, patrons can submit their comments directly to the California State Department of Education by following these instructions.
“California has a network of Learning Resource Display Centers throughout the state,” Cicchetti added. “We serve Riverside County specifically, but anyone could come from anywhere to use our LRDC.”
Each LRDC can choose whether they want to display the materials while they are being reviewed, or only after the state's adoption has been approved. In the inland southern California region, UCR Library's LRDC is the only one that has instructional materials currently under review. “The next closest LRDCs that have materials under consideration for adoption are in Ventura, Santa Barbara, or San Diego,” Cicchetti said. “San Bernardino County and Cal State Fullerton are post-adoption only.”
In addition to evaluating instructional materials during the review process, school district personnel can also come to the LRDC after the adoption has been finalized. They can review the wide variety of approved textbooks to determine which ones to use in their classrooms.
Honoring the life of a treasured colleague
On Monday, Mar. 29, library employees gathered virtually to celebrate the life and enduring contributions of Christina Cicchetti, a UCR librarian for the past 14 years, most recently the Social Sciences Teaching Librarian.
Christina passed away on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021 from complications related to COVID-19.
In 2007, Christina joined the UCR Library as an Education / Reference Librarian, after more than 30 years of experience in higher education, including librarian roles at La Sierra University and the University of La Verne.
Christina was well-known as a supportive and caring colleague who fostered fruitful and warm partnerships between the faculty and the library. She formed deep and lasting collaborations with UCR’s Graduate School of Education faculty and students. In 2019, her librarian position expanded to include support for all social science disciplines.
She oversaw the Learning Resources Display Center at Tomás Rivera Library. Beyond UCR, Christina connected with local educators on college readiness and became a founding member of a regional group of K-12 and academic librarians to create a library bridge to college.
She consistently enhanced the patron experience at the library with book fairs, dynamic displays, professional development events, and faculty orientation sessions.
Christina is deeply missed and remembered fondly by her colleagues at the UCR Library and around campus.
“In addition to Christina’s genuine heart and professionalism was also her spirit and perseverance. Especially the past few years. Christina was an inspiration to us all. Christina made me want to be more than just an excellent librarian, she made me want to be an excellent individual and human being. I will truly miss her.” - Michael Yonezawa, Early Experience Teaching Librarian
“Christina brought so many great qualities to the workplace! I always appreciated her calm, reasoned, and collaborative approach, as well as her wry, realistic views on whatever was happening. She’ll be sorely missed. Wishing comfort and strength to all who mourn her loss.” - Janet Reyes, Geospatial Information Librarian
“Christina was a compassionate and beautiful soul. She truly cared about the work she did, and she cared about the people she worked with. She definitely embodied Colossians 3:23-24. It reads, ‘And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.’ Christina will be missed on earth, but blessed to know she is now in Heaven with the Father. Thank you Christina for every story you shared and every word of encouragement you gave me. I love you always.” - Leslie Settle, Access Services Desk Coordinator
“Thank you Chris for your kindness, encouragement, and friendship over the years. Chris was kind and caring. I remember the care she took as a librarian whether at reference or in the early days at the curriculum resource center. She will be missed. My deepest condolences to the Cicchetti family.” - Elisa Cortez, Medical Education and Clinical Outreach Librarian
"Christina was a kind and thoughtful colleague, who embodied a quiet assuredness. She was always supportive, professionally and personally. Even though my office was in Orbach, she would still come over to my office or the reference desk, to follow up on a project, offer support for something, or just to say hi. More recently, she reached out to offer support to me when I experienced a personal tragedy due to the pandemic. Her example as a colleague and librarian encourages me to be better. She will be missed. My deepest condolences to her friends and family." - Kat Koziar, Data Librarian
"We were all so fortunate to get to work with Christina at UCR. She embodied an ethic of care with her colleagues, and was always so kind to everyone she met. May her memory be a blessing." - Dani Cook, former Director of Teaching & Learning
"Christina was a gift to the Graduate School of Education. She looked out for our library needs and shared her expertise with our faculty and students. She was one of my favorite people at UCR. Thank you for sharing all of the stories about Christina’s wonderful life. She will be remembered and missed by all." - Sharon Duffy, former Dean, UCR Extension
"Christina was remarkable; such an amazing help to students in the GSOE. Every time she came to a class to open the exploration of a search, I learned something new." - Rollanda O'Connor, Professor, Graduate School of Education
"Christina was a wonderful colleague, librarian, researcher and teacher--always quick to help and with a serene and healing smile on her face. I am thankful for Christina's presence in my life and in the lives of our students, staff, and faculty. We miss you very dearly, Christina." - Robert Ream, Interim Associate Dean and Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education
International Open Access Week 2016
The University of California, Riverside Library hosted International Open Access Week 2016, an event that was part of a global effort called Open Access Week.
Open Access Week is an opportunity for the academic and research community to learn about the potential benefits of sharing what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to make “open access” a new norm in scholarship and research.
The Open Access movement is made of up advocates (librarians, publishers, university repositories, etc.) who promote the free, immediate, and online publication of research. The event was held on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in the Orbach Science Library, room 240, from 1-3 p.m. “Open in Action” was the 2016 event theme – the program provided information on new publishing models, including those based on Open Access and other alternative publishing models for faculty. The panel at UC Riverside discussed, “Challenges of Open Access in the Digital Age.”
“We organized this panel to provide a thoughtful discussion space for these emerging open access models and show how faculty can benefit from wider and more visible distribution of their research articles,” said Rhonda Neugebauer, the Open Access coordinator at UCR. “We will also discuss UCR’s current Open Access discount and waiver agreements, and ways the library can assist faculty to increase the citing and impact of their research.”
The program included:
- Gabriel J. Gardner, Senior Assistant Librarian for Criminal Justice, Linguistics and Romance, German, and Russian Languages and Literatures at the California State University, Long Beach. Gardner discussed the guerilla open access movement.
- Alison Scott, Associate University Librarian for Collections and Scholarly Communication at UCR, addressed the significance of transformative scholarly publishing projects and best practices.
- Kent LaCombe, Water Resources Librarian at UCR, talked about how librarians at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln fostered high deposit rates of faculty scholarly articles into the “Digital Commons,” the campus institutional repository.
The program concluded with a presentation from three UCR librarians, Kat Koziar (engineering), Tiffany Moxham (medicine), and Michele Potter (engineering), who provided an update on UCR’s Open Access discount and waiver agreements, and a brief look at emergent open access publishing models.
This was the seventh International Open Access Week program hosted by the UCR Library.