In early December Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announced a one-year pilot which will enable researchers who have individual subscriptions or access to institutional Nature subscriptions, the option to share content from these titles with their colleagues as well as those individuals who are non-subscribers via email, social media and web pages. This will be made possible with ReadCube, a software platform, that will host and display read-only versions of the articles’ PDFs.

In speaking with NPG representatives, their intent is focused on supporting researchers and providing a seamless and transparent way for scientific research to be shared as well as the ability to annotate the shared paper to include personal comments and reactions to the content. Their goal is ultimately to support and accelerate scientific discovery.   A short video (3.41 min) highlights Timo Hannay, Managing Director of Digital Science and Steven Inchcoombe, CEO of Nature Publishing Group, and their views on this initiative.

While I am a firm believer that nothing ventured, nothing gained – don’t our researchers already share among their colleagues and collaborators the .PDF paper regardless of whether or not the receiver has access to these subscriptions? ReadCube will certainly allow for read and write access; however the sharing of papers has always existed as part of a researcher’s workflow and drive to advance science.

As this pilot project progresses, I would be interested in understanding what our researchers think. Has it made a difference in their work lives? Have they changed their current sharing practices? How many researchers don’t have access to Nature titles? Will it impact visiting researchers and scholars who might not have access to these journals in their home countries? Will the phrase “beggar access” be part of the conclusion once this experiment is over?

I look forward to seeing how this endeavor plays out and impacts the work life of our busy researchers.

Donna Gibson
Director of Library Services