Category Archives: Electronic Journals

New: COVID-19 Resources Library Guide

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In the past few months, there has been a vast amount of biomedical information produced about COVID-19. The Health Sciences Digital Library and Learning Center has created a new COVID-19 Resources Library Guide to quickly refer the UT Southwestern community to high-quality – i.e., primarily clinical and research – information about COVID-19. The guide includes:

  • Recommendations for searching PubMed
  • Expanded resources from existing subscriptions
  • COVID-19 tracking dashboards
  • Related open access resources

The COVID-19 Resources Library Guide supplements but does not supersede the COVID-19 information provided by the UT Southwestern Emergency Operations Center. The Guide will be updated as the COVID-19 information landscape evolves. Please email the Library if you have identified other key resources that we should consider for inclusion.

Wall Street Journal online access now available

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The Library has recently acquired a Wall Street Journal academic institution subscription. One-time registration is required to access WSJ online, and you must use your utsouthwestern.edu email address.

Once registered, you may use a variety of features including:

  • WSJ app access
  • WSJ+
  • WSJ Podcast
  • WSJ Newscast

For more subscription information, contact Liberesources@utsouthwestern.edu.

New York Times web access now available

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The Library has recently acquired the New York Times. This web access subscription is only available on-campus with UT Southwestern IP ranges. No access will be available off-site or via EZProxy.  New York Times archival content is still available via a separate UT System license from ProQuest without access stipulations.

For more subscription information including temporary remote access passes, contact Liberesources@utsouthwestern.edu.

Consensus Definition for Predatory Journals

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In 2019, leading scholars and publishers crafted the following consensus definition:

“Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.”1

In addition to stating the definition, the commentary in the Nature December 2019 issue describes the process taken to achieve consensus and next steps.

Efforts to fight predatory publishing require collaboration and support.  In 2019 the Library added Cabell’s Predatory Journals as an additional resource to be used in combination with a checklist to assist researchers/authors make an informed decision about where to publish. 

Questions?  Feedback?  Use the Ask Us form or call 214-648-2001 Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

REFERENCES

1.  Grudniewicz A, Moher D, Cobey KD, et al. Predatory journals: no definition, no defence. Nature. 2019;576(7786):210-212.

Protocols at your fingertips

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Over 30 videos filmed at UT Southwestern appear in JoVE Journal of Visualized Experiments, including a recent contribution by Michael Kalwat, PhD and Melanie H. Cobb, PhD, “Measuring Relative Insulin Secretion using a Co-Secreted Luciferase Surrogate,” filmed at UT Southwestern in May 2019.

Protocols—also known as methodologies, procedures, techniques, or experiments—are invaluable and popular resources for anyone involved in scientific research, bench work, grant writing, and/or research project planning. Protocols provide practical guidance by describing the design and implementation of a scientific experiment. The foundational information found in protocols is indispensable for fostering standardized research methods and reproducible results.

Protocols offer many benefits, such as:

  • Save time by accessing highly tested, peer-reviewed techniques and procedures from some of the most established books and journals in your field
  • Stay up-to-date with the latest cutting-edge methods
  • Accelerate scientific discovery by accessing the most reliable protocols in the various scientific disciplines
  • Ensure reproducible results, safeguarding and validating research results
  • Utilize step-by-step guidelines and troubleshooting tips from authoritative, reliable sources
  • Avoid reinventing the wheel

The Library provides online access to many popular protocols resources. Most individual protocols articles appearing in these resources are indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase. Here are a few major protocols options currently offered by the Library:

  • Cold Spring Harbor Protocols – This resource continues the renowned Cold Spring Laboratory’s long-standing practice of providing trusted, step-by-step laboratory techniques, covering cell and molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, protein science, and imaging.
  • Current Protocols (Wiley) – Creators of the standard protocol format over 30 years ago, this long-standing, “gold standard” offers rigorously reviewed and curated protocols in fields such as molecular biology, microbiology, and stem cell biology.
  • JoVE Journal of Visualized Experiments – This scientific methods video journal publishes protocols articles along with detailed videos of laboratory procedures for novel methods, innovative techniques of existing techniques, and gold standard protocols for the life and physical sciences.
  • Methods in Enzymology (Elsevier) – This is one of the most popular and heavily used eBook series offered by the Library, with complete full-text access back to volume 1 (1955). These critically acclaimed, individually themed volumes have served as one of the most highly regarded life sciences standards for more than 50 years, covering research methods in fields such as biochemistry, microbiology, cancer research and genetics.
  • Methods in Molecular Biology (part of the SpringerProtocols database; click on “Protocols” link) – This respected series offers step-by-step protocols, tips, tricks, shortcuts, and troubleshooting advice in the more than 2,000 MIMB volumes. MIMB is a standard resource in labs throughout the world with each volume providing focused, in-depth coverage on a specific sub-discipline. Online access to MIMB is now part of the SpringerProtocols database, which combines MIMB and other high quality laboratory protocols in biomedicine and the life sciences.
  • Springer Nature Experiments – SpringerNature developed this specialized search tool for researchers by researchers. It searches more than 60,000 references from the SpringerProtocols database, Nature Methods, Nature Protocols, and Protocol Exchange (open repository for scientific research protocols). Advanced search options allow filtering by technique, video availability, publication year, article category, etc. to identify relevant content more quickly. While this tool is freely available, UT Southwestern affiliates benefit with direct access to the Library funded full-text articles from the SpringerNature suite of resources.

For assistance with these tools or other reference inquiries, please contact us. We’re here to help.

Predatory Journal – Yes or No??

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Open access publishing continues to grow across all academic disciplines.  Increasingly, the open access publishing model, which provides immediate access to peer-reviewed research once published, has become susceptible to misuse by predatory publishers.  These predatory publishers aggressively solicit academics with requests for manuscript submissions, reviews and editorial board services, creating negative publicity for legitimate open access journals.1,2  Jeffrey Beall, formerly at the University of Colorado in Denver, first described predatory publishers in 2008, and developed the first (now defunct) list of predatory journals.3

While there is no universally accepted definition of predatory journals, recent publications review key characteristics of potential predatory journals.  These journals often use questionable business practices, lack scientific rigor with minimal or no peer review and have little or limited editorial oversight.  Predatory journals are usually not indexed in established bibliographic databases, such as MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO or Web of Science Master.  With more than 10,000 identified potential predatory journals, the dangerous implications to scholarly quality and integrity, academic standards and evidence-based practice cannot be overestimated.1,4-6

“To assist researchers/authors make an informed decision about where to publish, the Library is providing access to a pre-defined checklist that offers guidance on identifying trusted journals,” said Kelly R. Gonzalez, MSIS, MBA, Assistant Vice President for Library Services.  “Additionally, at the UT Southwestern Library’s Writing Portal, the Publication Support for Author Article Processing Charges (APC) handout summarizes a list of select UT Southwestern Library journal subscriptions which provide discounted article processing charges.”

For additional information, call 214-648-2001 or click “Live Chat” on the Library’s website to chat Monday – Friday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.

REFERENCES

  1. McCann TV, Polacsek M. False gold: Safely navigating open access publishing to avoid predatory publishers and journals. J Adv Nurs. 2018;74(4):809-817.
  2. Shen C, Bjork BC. ‘Predatory’ open access: a longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics. BMC Med. 2015;13:230.
  3. Butler D. Investigating journals: The dark side of publishing. Nature. 2013;495(7442):433-435
  4. Cobey KD, Lalu MM, Skidmore B, Ahmadzai N, Grudniewicz A, Moher D. What is a predatory journal? A scoping review. F1000Research. 2018;7:1001.
  5. Lalu MM, Shamseer L, Cobey KD, Moher D. How stakeholders can respond to the rise of predatory journals. Nature Human Behaviour. 2017;1(12):852-855.
  6. Ross-White A, Godfrey CM, Sears KA, Wilson R. Predatory publications in evidence syntheses. J Med Libr Assoc. 2019;107(1):57-61.

Looking to increase productivity and efficiency? Try the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE)!

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Did you know that the Library offers a resource that can help UT Southwestern labs increase productivity and efficiency?

JoVE’s Science Education collection offers simple, easy-to-understand videos that teach and reinforce laboratory fundamentals. JoVE developed this on-demand learning approach in collaboration with experts at top institutions, ensuring high quality, trusted content. The Library-funded Basic Biology Science Education video database can reduce time spent teaching laboratory basics or providing refreshers to research assistants, students, post docs, and other researchers.

Read about a recent case study at one of UCLA’s labs, which describes how they were able to increase productivity and reduce lab expenses with the animal research training videos that are part of the Basic Biology collection.

Users can view concise lessons repeatedly at any time to help improve learning and retention. An added bonus is the accompanying translation option that allows one to watch the videos and download the accompanying text in other languages such as Chinese, German, and Spanish.

JoVE’s Basic Biology Science Education collection includes the following components:

In addition to the Basic Biology Science Education collection, the Library provides access to all JoVE video journals that focus on biological and medical research. The journals provide experimental techniques, using the same high-quality visual format, with detailed text protocols for increased scientific reproducibility and productivity. JoVE is the leading peer-reviewed, PubMed/Medline indexed methods journal with more than 8,000 published articles. JoVE journal sections include Behavior, Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Biology, Cancer Research, Developmental Biology, Genetics, Immunology and Infection, Medicine, and Neuroscience.

Resources on demand using Wiley Article Select Tokens

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Over the past few years, the Library implemented and subsidized a pilot project to allow single, pay-per-view access to non-subscribed Wiley content. This overview describes the service and summarizes best practices for use based on project outcomes.

What is the Wiley Article Select Token service?

Wiley’s Article Select Token service is a pay-for-view option that allows users instant, 24/7 access to non-subscribed content seamlessly. Periodically, the Library purchases a set amount of tokens, which allows any authorized user from one of our reported campus IP addresses to “spend” a single token for a single journal article/book chapter/unit. To make access as easy as possible, we implemented the least restrictive control option. Users can seamlessly download Wiley content without any intervention by staff.

A user will see this message if an Article Select Token is required: “Select the confirm option to access the material. All users at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas will have access to this material for 24 hours.”

What material is available through the Wiley Article Select Token service?

  • Journal back files collection (pre-1997 content for 1,600+ journals)
  • Over 18,000 online books
  • 185 major reference works
  • Current Protocols Laboratory Methods

Selected journals and reference works are specifically excluded from this service due to third party societies’ or publishers’ restrictions.

What “best practices” can users take to help conserve available Wiley tokens?

Since the Wiley Article Select Token service requires Library budgetary support (average token fee is $19.00), we have identified a few best practice guidelines based on behavioral patterns identified during the pilot project.

  • Download your article/chapter/unit and save it locally once you confirm use through a token. Downloading ensures that you won’t need to use a second or third token to re-access the same content at some future date.
  • Consider using ILL (interlibrary loan) If you need multiple chapters from a book. A single token allows access to a single chapter. Compare the cost of five requests using routine interlibrary loan ($25.00) versus the cost of the same five requests using the token service ($95.00).
  • Try to coordinate access if you know that multiple users will need access to the same material. A single token provides unlimited concurrent user access to material for a 24-hour period.

Next steps for the Library:

The Wiley Article Select Tokens pilot period has provided indisputable evidence of both user need and campus cost benefit. The breadth of content being used is exceptional, and users have embraced the easy accessibility and speed of this service. We’ve been extremely pleased with the outcomes to date. We expect to spend less than the subscription costs that would be involved to add requested materials, and users gain immediate access to an expanded amount of content.

We will continue to assess whether this approach could serve as an effective long-term, supplementary (and economical) collection strategy to the expanding number of expensive materials that are routinely requested.

If you have any questions or feedback about this pilot, please contact Mori Lou Higa at mori.lou.higa@utsouthwestern.edu or 214 648-2989.

Prices change for Interlibrary Loan on July 1

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Beginning July 1, 2017, all affiliated clients will be charged for all Interlibrary Loan requests. This change, which was recommended by the Library Advisory Committee and supported by the Dean’s Office, will mark the first time that the UT Southwestern Library has ever charged students, residents, and fellows for regularly delivered materials.

The pricing model will look like this:

Delivery Speed Cost per Item
*(Affiliated)		 Cost per Item
**(Not Affiliated)
Regular
(2-10 Days)		 $5.00 $13.00
Rush
(By the end of next business day)
Not available for book requests		 $15.00 $60.00

Please note: We will continue to provide materials – both books and articles listed in our catalog at the Joint Library Facility (JLF) – at no cost for a regular delivery.

This change is being made for two main reasons:

  • Decline in state revenue funding
  • UTSW clients making requests for items to which we already have access

In 2016, approximately one in every three InterLibrary Loan requests were for documents that UTSW clients can currently access.  To remind clients to first look to see if the Library has access to their articles before placing the request, we have recently added links to Ejournals A to Z and related tutorials and PubMed on the ILLiad login page.

Once this policy takes effect, Library staff will cancel article requests that can be obtained through Ejournals A to Z to help save our clients money.

The Sage Premier 2017 journals collection has arrived!

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As a member of The University of Texas System Digital Library (UTSDL) consortia, the UT Southwestern Health Sciences Digital Library and Learning Center now has online access to the 2017 Sage Premier Collection of online scholarly journals.

Sage Premier provides online access to more than 900 peer-reviewed, full-text journals, including high-impact research titles published on behalf of nearly 300 scholarly and professional societies. The collection offers broad interdisciplinary coverage of a wide range of subject areas, including business, humanities, social science, science, technology, and medicine.