“Beyond citation analysis: a model for assessment of research impact” was recently published and describes a project whereby the authors examined the research impact of a large clinical trial study, the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS). The study found that using citation analysis as a sole tool was not sufficient, nor was it predictive of subsequent clinical applications resulting in meaningful health outcomes. As a result, the Becker Medical Library Model for Assessment of Research was developed in order to provide a more robust and comprehensive evaluation of research impact.

To read the full article and to learn more about the Becker Model: Beyond citation analysis: a model for assessment of research impact. J Med Libr Assoc 98(1) January 2010.

A new tool in MyNCBI  to assist NIH-funded authors was announced yesterday:

“A new feature now available in My Bibliography facilitates the management of publication compliance with the National Institutes of Health (NIH)Public Access Policy. From the new Awards View, eRA Commons users are able to see whether their publications are compliant with the Policy, start the manuscript submission process, associate their NIH extramural awards with their publications, and designate delegates to manage their bibliography via My NCBI.”

View the full announcement including step-by-step guidance and screen shots.

Review this interesting study by Bahr and Cohen that investigated the synergistic features of published researchers at the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) to see how scientists with different specializations could work together to improve translational research.

The newest addition to thePubMed Central (PMC) International effort, PubMed Central Canada, is now publicly available. PMC Canada is the result of a three-way collaborative effort by the National Library of Medicine®, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the National Research Council’s Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI).

Full Announcement

I found this interesting blog posting:

The next decade is likely to bring more change to scientific publishing than the decade that just ended. However, it will likely continue to be incremental change that builds on the existing infrastructure rather than destroying it. It will be change that puts pressure on publishers to become even more innovative in the face of declining margins on traditional knowledge products. It will be change that requires new expertise and new approaches to both customers and business models. Despite these challenges, it will be change that improves science, improves publishing, and improves the world we live in.Michael Clarke under, The Scholarly Kitchen, Jan 2010

PubMed (freely available database) and Web of Science  (subscription database) allow for searching of publications by NIH grant award numbers.

PubMed: Go to “Advanced Search.” In the “Search by Author, Journal, Publication Date, and more box,” select “Grant Number” from the drop down menu search box to search by grant award number. 

Web of Science: Go to “Advanced Search.” In the search box, use “FG=” to search by grant award number.

Searches in PubMed and WoS can be saved as email alerts. Registration is required to set up alerts.

Another resource to use is RePORTER. There are a number of options for searching of NIH grant awards including by “Principal Investigator.”  On the Project Information page, select the ”Results” tab to view publications affiliated with a grant award.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy recently launched a public forum on public access policies.

“The Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and the White House Open Government Initiative is launching a “Public Access Policy Forum” to invite public participation in thinking through what the Federal government’s policy should be with regard to public access to published federally-funded research results.”

Comments will be accepted until January 7, 2010.

Federal Register link

The Royal Society, the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth, has launched, Trailblazing, an online, interactive timeline launched to commemorate three and a half centuries of Royal Society publishing.

Trailblazing is a user-friendly, virtual journey through science. It showcases sixty articles selected from an archive of more than 60,000 articles published by the Royal Society between 1665 and 2010.

Take a look at this interesting slide show titled “Technology Enabled Research.” It reviews how authors can establish a digital identity, keep track of research being done in their field and how to find collaborators using a variety of digital tools.

The Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF) is an outstanding example of a web-based application to advance  neuroscience research.  What is NIF?

The Neuroscience Information Framework is a dynamic inventory of Web-based neuroscience resources: data, materials, and tools accessible via any computer connected to the Internet. An initiative of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, NIF advances neuroscience research by enabling discovery and access to public research data and tools worldwide through an open source, networked environment.

The NIF project is designed to serve the biomedical research community. The more participation from the community, the better the NIF. We welcome all feedback and suggestions and are actively looking for resource providers to make their resources accessible through the NIF. We offer a variety of methods for making resources searchable through the NIF. For more information or to recommend a resource, follow the link to Register Your Resource, or send us an e-mail at curation@neuinfo.org.

Collaborating institutions working on the current version of NIF include University of California, San Diego, California Institute of Technology, George Mason University, Yale University Medical College, and Washington University.