Finding Alternative SHERPA/RoMEO Colours

Peter MillingtonOpen Repositories 2014

SHERPA/RoMEO Colours

• Everyone uses them– Even publishers

• …but…• Everyone thinks they are out of date– They’re about which combination of versions can be

archived – i.e. Pre- and/or Post-prints• Some people think pre-prints are a bad idea

– They do not distinguish between Published and Accepted versions – They’re both post-prints• But we all think Published is better than Accepted

What people want to do is…

• Have the best open access version1. Published version2. Accepted version3. Submitted version

• As soon as possible– Immediately – ideal– Shortest possible embargo

• But…

…if you could only have one option…

• Is it better to have, e.g.– The accepted version at the time of publication

• Or– The published version 12 months after publication?

• Opinions will vary according to…– Role – e.g. researcher, librarian, publisher, etc– Subject – e.g. medicine, physics, humanities, etc.

Here is tool to gather opinions• Grid of versions versus embargoes• Users assign colours to cells in the grid

A medical researcher might say…• Submitted versions might be dangerously

incorrect, so…

…and a publisher might say…• There must be embargoes, so…• They would set a low ‘green’ barrier

This tool…

• Gathers opinions– from a wide range of interested parties

• Analyses the results– to see if there is a consensus

• Possibly leads to a new set of RoMEO colours– More relevant– More useful

Such as…

• Green– Authoritative version immediately

• Blue– Authoritative version within a reasonable

timescale• Yellow– Something eventually

• White– Archiving not permitted

Example RoMEO Colour Matrix• Earliest dates for each version• The new RoMEO colour is the ‘best’ colour

et voilà

http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/trials/newcolours.php

Give it a try!