Aaron James

Open Research Week Ireland 2026 - lots of reassuring talk about rights retention from today’s presentations.

The safety net of read and publish renewals appear to have slowed down adoption in some institutions, although its not uncommon to hear it can take 2+ years to implement 👀

International Open Access Week International Open Access Week is held annually to inspire global momentum toward the open sharing of knowledge in order to address important social issues affecting people around the world. Open Acce...

Save the Date: International #OpenAccess Week will be October 19-25, 2026. #OAWeek is an opportunity to join together, take action & raise awareness of the benefits of openly sharing knowledge. www.openaccessweek.org

A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

Help us make hope normal again.

Join the Green Party now.

Cat wandered in front of the camera during the #aurora long exposure

2025 has been a tough year. The stresses of finishing my MRes, months of job uncertainty, then the shock of suddenly losing my grandad.

Finishing the year exhausted, but hopeful that the new year will bring new opportunities 🤞

Finished now until 2026. Interested to see what the new year brings in terms of open access. Predictions seem to be that Gold OA will go into decline, with Green OA potentially on the rebound (in part due to Rights Retention).

My two faves are in the dance off - noooo 😫 #scd

Late posting this, but I’m delighted to have been awarded a Master of Research from Queen Margaret University 🎓

Great initiative...

First issue of the Scottish Journal of Open Research:

doi.org/10.36399/f74...

The finale of #celebritytraitors was just… wow 😮

arXiv will no longer accept review articles and position papers unless they have been accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review.

This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.

Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.

I’m really enjoying Spiced Pumpkin Latte - feels like a nice seasonal treat for this time of year 🍂🎃

Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when

When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.

Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

The Library has a page linking to open resources that can help you find research papers, open access books, policy papers, patents, web archives and more!

Happy #OAWeek

www.brookes.ac.uk/library/coll...

International Open Access Week International Open Access Week is held annually to inspire global momentum toward the open sharing of knowledge in order to address important social issues affecting people around the world. Open Acce...

Today marks the start of International Open Access Week. This year's theme focuses on the ownership of knowledge www.openaccessweek.org

At Oxford Brookes, you can make your research Open Access either through the Gold or Green route. Find out more: www.brookes.ac.uk/library/reso...

I’m true neutral and have a selection of bookmarks to choose from

“When there’s so much misinformation around and distrust about science, it’s more important than ever that we are transparent about how exactly science goes on” - RoRI's @scurry.bsky.social calls on the research sector to end the “publication bias” against negative results: tinyurl.com/ux5xtm4d

12 months on from publishing a paper about EDI in our library, it’s reassuring to see the research being cited and showing some impact 😮‍💨

The battle for people, culture and environment Lizzie Gadd makes the case for embracing People, Culture and Environment and sets out why reverting to REF 2021 would be a mistake

Adding my voice to the chorus battling to retain an increased focus on people, culture, and environment in the next REF... wonkhe.com/blogs/the-ba...

If you’re a librarian, involved in open research or scholarly communications, give @brookesscholcomms.bsky.social a follow.

a woman in a yellow shirt wipes her forehead with a towel and the words it 's hard work are on the bottom Alt: a woman in a yellow shirt wipes her forehead with a towel and the words it 's hard work are on the bottom

Editing down a research paper to fit a journal’s word limit can be tough.

Knowing what to keep and what to delete is hard work, especially knowing all the hours put in.

Today is OBP's 17 year anniversary! We have... published 434 books; received 24 awards; surpassed 250 book reviews & 380 endorsements; worked on software development projects; and amassed 273 member libraries.

The code 17OBP2025 provides 17% off our books, available for 17 days! buff.ly/8tQiAjG

How exactly is “low quality” going to be defined?

The Lord of the Rings soundtrack is a masterpiece. My absolute favourite.

Access to Web of Science will end on 1 January 2026 The university library has decided not to renew the licence for access to the Web of Science citation database (including Journal Citation Reports).

What might seem like a small announcement—it’s just one institution—actually carries substantial weight and has a strong symbolic meaning.

@utrechtuniversity.bsky.social, has taken another bold step: it won't renew its Web of Science license. www.uu.nl/en/news/acce...

A character walks into a shop. The sign reads: “Books” Across the floor of the bookshop, past the bookshelves, is a stair down with a sign reading: “Used Books” Across the used books floor is a stair down marked: “Antiquarian Books” Across the antiquarian books floor is a stair down marked: “Forbidden Books of the Elden Ones” Stalactites hang. Strange tomes sit on plinths. Unearthly creatures scuttle in the gloom. A figure stands before a cash desk where a cyclopean, tentacled staff member says: “Yes, we do have the new Stephen King but it's back up on the ground floor.”

My latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books

‘Business-as-usual’ offers from publishers raise walk-away fears Disappointing offers which ‘miss financial reality’ faced by UK higher education have heightened speculation that institutions will ditch proposed deals

Many UK universities likely to walk away from journal agreements after publishers put forward proposals with “year-on-year price rises” rather than cheaper deals demanded by national negotiators, @davidprosser.bsky.social tells @jgro-the.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/busines...

Latest piece in Scholarly Kitchen argues that Subscribe to Open is doomed to failure.

I feel it’s barely had chance to take off yet.

Is there actually no-one in the UK Library landscape who wants to become Chair of the CILIP LGBTQ+ Network, or are we just not getting the message out.

I can't continue - way to much going on, but without a chair, the network folds... If you've been mulling it over, now is the time to get in touch!