How (and why) LSHTM Research Online works and why we need you!

LSHTM Research Online automatically imports records for all current LSHTM staff research which is published. We harvest these from PubMed, Web of Science and the Schools existing Publications Database run by Andy Reid. If an article is from an open access journal or you have paid for it to be open access we should have automatically pulled in the publisher’s full text PDF of the article.

Where we and the School vitally needs your input is filling the gaps where your articles are not available as free full text because you have published in a traditional-model academic journal. Although we cannot use the publisher’s PDF in these cases, we can make much of your research freely available without breaking copyright.

What we need you to do is:

•    check your records by going to ‘Browse LSHTM author’ and finding your name
•   review where there is no article attached to a record
•   the 'author manuscript' or 'pre-print file' of these articles: this is the peer-reviewed word document, accepted by the publisher, but without any of the publisher's typesetting and copy-editing
  

We will then upload them to your records, always with a full reference and link to the final publisher’s version. 

Open access policies differ for each publisher, and sometimes each journal. That is why we ask you to contact our team who are experienced in navigating open access publisher policies and will check all rights on your behalf and advise you as to what we can make freely available.
We recently had a public launch for the site where staff involved in trialling updating their full text explained their experiences and the reasons they felt it important to become actively involved. Aside from assuring people about the knowledge and support repository staff can offer Diana Elbourne, Professor of Healthcare Evaluation, declared “If I can do it - anyone can!”

Diana Elbourne speaking at the launch

So you know it’s easy, and you will receive a lot of help, but why take the time to find these files and send them to us?
Speaking at the launch, Peter Piot, our Director, said: “Our work will have a greater impact on policy because people in all organisations including government, charities and development agencies now have easy access to the research we are doing at the School." By participating you are not only increasing access to knowledge for your colleagues in low income countries or smaller institutions; you are contributing to a culture of transparency for taxpayer funded research which showcases the product of public funding.

You are also instantly increasing your own online research profile by exposing records to major search engines like Google. Importantly LSHTM Research Online links will bring visitors back to records often containing free full text - that everyone can access and therefore cite - rather than a pay-to-access gateway to your work. We can also provide you with feeds for other websites where you want your research to be visible, again often with links back to freely available content. If you wish you can monitor activity around your work by reviewing download statistics from LSHTM Research Online.

Want to improve your profile on LSHTM Research Online? Have questions for us? Email researchonline@lshtm.ac.uk