The impact of academic journals at CRECS 2017

This year, CRECS focused on post-publication tasks, and the social and economic impact of the contents published. The event, organized by El profesional de la información, OCNOS, the University of Castilla-La Mancha and ThinkEPI, was attended by nearly two hundred experts from the fields of publishing, library science and research. Among those attending were Mari Vállez, research support librarian, and Elsa Corominas, the UOC's academic publishing manager.

A full programme

The event included a number of sessions to present papers, talks and round tables. Specifically, the subjects covered included the marketing of journals, the impact of works, strategies to increase academic impact and the different metrics to measure this impact. The conference also covered the peer-review process and journals' social media strategies. Impact and open access were subjects that often came up in the debates in sessions. A number of experiences, innovative projects and best practices were presented from the field of Spanish and Latin American academic journals.

The UOC's participation at CRECS

Twenty-two posters were presented and the prize for best content went to Àlex López-Borrull, director of the UOC's Bachelor's Degree in Information Science, and Candela Ollé, UOC professor in Information Science, alongside other experts. They laid out ten things to take into account when designing a data policy for social sciences journals. Likewise, Àlex López-Borrull also gave the closing keynote speech on the new models for journals, which underlined the fundamental role played by university libraries. On the final day, the organizers announced that next year, 2018, CRECS will be held for the first time outside Spain, in Barranquilla, Colombia.

This conference confirmed that the UOC is on the right track when it comes to academic journals. An infographic was published a few days ago showing the scientific impact that the articles published in the UOC's academic journals have had.

Mari Vállez is a specialist in the UOC's Library Services for Research team and adjunct professor in Pompeu Fabra University's Department of Communication; and Elsa Corominas is the executive editor of the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education (ETHE).

Author

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  Elisabet Cervera

  Operative subgroup: Librarian for Law and Political Science, Doctoral School Operative group: Library for Learning