Rob Johnson

Rob Johnson

Nottingham, England, United Kingdom
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About

I help research funders, institutions, publishers and not-for-profits develop strategy…

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Activity

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Experience

  • Research Consulting Limited Graphic

    Research Consulting Limited

    Nottingham, United Kingdom

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    Nottingham, United Kingdom

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    Nottingham, United Kingdom

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    Nottingham

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    Christchurch

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    Nottingham

Education

Licenses & Certifications

Volunteer Experience

  • UKSG Graphic

    Member, Board Of Trustees

    UKSG

    - 1 year

    Science and Technology

  • The Open Scholarship Initiative Graphic

    Summit Group member

    The Open Scholarship Initiative

    - 5 years 1 month

    Science and Technology

    OSI is a project created and led by the Science Communication Institute (SCI), a US-based 501c3 nonprofit public charity. The OSI summit group serves as the strategic management arm of OSI, and is comprised of representatives from most of OSI’s stakeholder groups, as well as OSI’s steering committee.

  • ARMA UK (Association of Research Managers and Administrators) Graphic

    Conference Planning Committee Member

    ARMA UK (Association of Research Managers and Administrators)

    - 4 years 6 months

    Science and Technology

    As I member of ARMA's conference planning committee I support the Conference Director in shaping the programme for ARMA's annual conference, reviewing proposals, and working with presenters to ensure the quality of the event.

  • Researcher to Reader Graphic

    Conference Advisory Board

    Researcher to Reader

    - 6 years 1 month

    Science and Technology

    The Advisory Board oversees the themes and content of the Conference, to ensure that it is relevant to the community and representative of a wide spectrum of opinion.

  • Member of the Finance, Sustainability and Legal Committee

    Open Library of Humanities

    - 2 years 1 month

    Science and Technology

    The Open Library of Humanities aims to provide a platform for Open Access publishing that is:
    •Reputable and respected through rigorous peer review
    •Sustainable
    •Digitally preserved and safely archived in perpetuity
    •Non-profit
    •Open in both monetary and permission terms
    •Non-discriminatory (APCs are waiverable)
    •Technically innovative in response to the needs of scholars and librarians
    •A solution to the serials crisis

  • UKSG Graphic

    Treasurer, Board of Trustees

    UKSG

    - 2 years 1 month

    Science and Technology

    Voluntary position, overseeing the financial strategy and health of UKSG, a non-profit association that connects the knowledge community.

  • UKSG Graphic

    Vice-Chair, Board of Trustees

    UKSG

    - Present 1 year 8 months

    Science and Technology

    In addition to their responsibilities as Trustee of UKSG, the Vice Chair deputises for the Chair where required, works with the Executive Director to organise Board meetings, maintains the UKSG Risk Register, with input from the Officers and Executive Director and attends the annual meeting of the Remuneration Committee (with the Chair and Treasurer), to decide on pay and bonuses for UKSG employees.

  • Cranfield University Graphic

    Independent Member - Audit & Risk Committee

    Cranfield University

    - Present 1 year 4 months

    Education

    In this role, I contribute to ensuring the University's operations adhere to the highest standards of governance and risk management. My responsibilities include overseeing financial reporting, monitoring internal controls, and assessing risk management strategies.

  • Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Graphic

    Co-opted member of the Publications Committee

    Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

    - Present 2 months

    Science and Technology

    Advising Scotland's oldest antiquarian society on publication strategy, including the transition of their flagship journal (PSAS, est. 1851) to open access and the development of sustainable funding models for their scholarly publishing programme.

Publications

  • Operationalising Open Research Europe as a collective publishing enterprise

    This is an independent expert study commissioned in the context of the ERA to support the future development of Open Research Europe (ORE), the European Commission open access publishing platform, as a collective pan-European publishing initiative supported by funders and institutions across Europe. The study focuses on the business model that ORE should adopt in the future. It assesses the current funding and organizational model and proposes a model for the future of ORE. The study provides a…

    This is an independent expert study commissioned in the context of the ERA to support the future development of Open Research Europe (ORE), the European Commission open access publishing platform, as a collective pan-European publishing initiative supported by funders and institutions across Europe. The study focuses on the business model that ORE should adopt in the future. It assesses the current funding and organizational model and proposes a model for the future of ORE. The study provides a unique insight into ORE and the possibilities for the future and will be very interesting for funders wishing to participate, and other policymakers, amongst others.

    See publication

  • Research4Life Landscape and Situation Analysis

    Research4Life

    The findings of a landscape and situation analysis of trends in the research and scholarly communication landscape in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).The landscape analysis considers three levels of analysis:
    • Firstly, it seeks to identify global megatrends relevant to research and international development.
    • Then, it narrows the focus to key trends in research in and for LMICs.
    • Finally it identifies the key trends in scholarly communication.

    At each level of this…

    The findings of a landscape and situation analysis of trends in the research and scholarly communication landscape in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).The landscape analysis considers three levels of analysis:
    • Firstly, it seeks to identify global megatrends relevant to research and international development.
    • Then, it narrows the focus to key trends in research in and for LMICs.
    • Finally it identifies the key trends in scholarly communication.

    At each level of this analysis, the study identifies political, economic, social and technological trends using a simplified version of the PESTLE conceptual framework.

    The report and other outputs were prepared by Research Consulting for Research4Life, a public-private partnership which provides low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) with access to academic literature, to inform the initiative’s strategic direction. More on Research4Life can be found here: https://www.research4life.org/

    See publication

  • STM Report 2018

    International Association of STM Publishers

    Released for STM’s 50th Anniversary year, the fifth edition of the STM Report is essential reading for all interested in the shape, size and future of the scholarly publishing industry

    Other authors
    See publication

  • Towards a Competitive and Sustainable OA Market in Europe

    OpenAIRE

    Deliverable 5.3 of OpenAIRE WP5: FP7 Post Grant Gold Open Access Pilot.

    This study considers the economic factors contributing to the current state of the open-access publishing market, and evaluates the potential for European policymakers to enhance market competition and sustainability in parallel to increasing access. It was commissioned within the scope of the OpenAIRE FP7 Post-Grant Open Access Pilot, and it will be accompanied by a Roadmap document developed with inputs from an…

    Deliverable 5.3 of OpenAIRE WP5: FP7 Post Grant Gold Open Access Pilot.

    This study considers the economic factors contributing to the current state of the open-access publishing market, and evaluates the potential for European policymakers to enhance market competition and sustainability in parallel to increasing access. It was commissioned within the scope of the OpenAIRE FP7 Post-Grant Open Access Pilot, and it will be accompanied by a Roadmap document developed with inputs from an expert workshop to be held in The Hague on 20 April 2017. In accordance with the project brief, the study aims to:

    Explore the current status of the OA publishing market
    Analyse existing OA publishing business models
    Evaluate how different national and international policies are complementing each other as a means to achieve a transition to OA
    Evaluate the impact of the Framework Programme 7 Post-grant OA pilot and its implications for future similar initiatives and the transition to OA.
    Provide a roadmap leading to a sustainable and competitive market
    The transition to open access concerns all kinds of academic research outputs, including monographs, journal articles, and data. This study focuses on open access to peer-reviewed research articles, which constitute the bulk of the market and the primary mechanism through which research is disseminated across disciplinary communities and beyond.

    Other authors
    See publication

  • Text and data mining in higher education and public research

    Association des Directeurs & personnels de direction des Bibliothèques Universitaires et de la Documentation (ABDU)

    A report drawing on case studies from researchers in the UK and France to assess the value of a copyright exception for text and data mining.

    Other authors
    See publication

  • Effective Practice in Knowledge Exchange

    HEFCE

    A study of effective practices that support and catalyse knowledge exchange between universities and society.

    See publication

  • Securing the Future of Open-Access Policies

    The 10th Munin Conference on Scholarly Publishing 2015

    Presentation from the 2015 Munin Conference explaining how open-access policies rely on services and infrastructure to be effective, arising from a project for Knowledge Exchange (www.knowledge-exchange.info).

    See publication

  • On shifting sands: assessing the financial sustainability of UK learned societies

    Learned Publishing, Volume 28, Number 4

    This article provides a quantitative assessment of the extent to which UK learned societies rely on publishing revenues. Drawing on work completed as part of a Universities UK project to monitor the transition to open access in the United Kingdom, it considers the risks that increased market consolidation and a shift to open access publishing present for societies' financial sustainability in the coming years. The project identified 279 UK societies that publish peer-reviewed publications. It…

    This article provides a quantitative assessment of the extent to which UK learned societies rely on publishing revenues. Drawing on work completed as part of a Universities UK project to monitor the transition to open access in the United Kingdom, it considers the risks that increased market consolidation and a shift to open access publishing present for societies' financial sustainability in the coming years. The project identified 279 UK societies that publish peer-reviewed publications. It is estimated that publishing accounts for just over £300 million, or 26%, of these societies' overall revenues of £1.2 billion, but an in-depth analysis of 30 societies found that the proportion is as high as 80% in some cases. Publishing is typically a profitable activity for societies, and thereby supports their charitable activities and makes an important contribution to their overall financial sustainability. Although most societies are presently in good financial health, the combined pressures of market consolidation and open access, coupled with early indications of an increase in the costs of publishing, suggests that their reliance on publishing could prove an uncertain foundation in the years to come.

    Other authors
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  • Business process costs of implementing “gold” and “green” open access in institutional and national contexts

    Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology

    As open access (OA) publication of research outputs becomes increasingly common and is mandated by institutions and research funders, it is important to understand different aspects of the costs involved. This paper provides an early review of administrative costs incurred by universities in making research outputs OA, either via publication in journals (“Gold” OA), involving payment of article-processing charges (APCs), or via deposit in repositories (“Green” OA). Using data from 29 UK…

    As open access (OA) publication of research outputs becomes increasingly common and is mandated by institutions and research funders, it is important to understand different aspects of the costs involved. This paper provides an early review of administrative costs incurred by universities in making research outputs OA, either via publication in journals (“Gold” OA), involving payment of article-processing charges (APCs), or via deposit in repositories (“Green” OA). Using data from 29 UK institutions, it finds that the administrative time, as well as the cost incurred by universities, to make an article OA using the Gold route is over 2.5 times higher than Green. Costs are then modeled at a national level using recent UK policy initiatives from Research Councils UK and the Higher Education Funding Councils'​ Research Excellence Framework as case studies. The study also demonstrates that the costs of complying with research funders'​ OA policies are considerably higher than where an OA publication is left entirely to authors' discretion. Key target areas for future efficiencies in the business processes are identified and potential cost savings calculated. The analysis is designed to inform ongoing policy development at the institutional and national levels.

    Other authors
    See publication

  • Counting the costs of open access

    Research Consulting

    See publication
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Projects

  • Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

    - Present

    I am an advisor to the US-based Copyright Clearance Center on the needs of authors and academic institutions in the area of open access publishing.

    See project

  • Assessing the Impact of Wellcome’s COVID-19 Data Sharing Statement

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    In January 2020, Wellcome released a statement urging the scientific community to openly share research and research data relating to the Coronavirus pandemic. A total of 160 organisations signed the statement including research funders, publishers, and policymakers.

    Research Consulting and Science-Metrix, an Elsevier company, were commissioned by Wellcome, UK Research & Innovation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, to explore the impact of the statement on open sharing behaviours…

    In January 2020, Wellcome released a statement urging the scientific community to openly share research and research data relating to the Coronavirus pandemic. A total of 160 organisations signed the statement including research funders, publishers, and policymakers.

    Research Consulting and Science-Metrix, an Elsevier company, were commissioned by Wellcome, UK Research & Innovation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, to explore the impact of the statement on open sharing behaviours during the pandemic. The work sets out recommendations for organisations who may wish to develop similar statements as a policy tool.

    Other creators
    See project

  • University of Oxford - Research Data Management Review

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    We were asked by the University of Oxford to review its approach to research data management, which covers the ways in which researchers organise, structure, store and care for the information used or generated as they carry out their research. Research data management is a policy requirement of most major funders, and good data handling practices are essential for access to key datasets from partners in government, the NHS and industry.
    Research Consulting, together with Charles Beagrie…

    We were asked by the University of Oxford to review its approach to research data management, which covers the ways in which researchers organise, structure, store and care for the information used or generated as they carry out their research. Research data management is a policy requirement of most major funders, and good data handling practices are essential for access to key datasets from partners in government, the NHS and industry.
    Research Consulting, together with Charles Beagrie, are examining how strategy, infrastructure, skills and training for research data management at Oxford, talking to support staff and researchers, and delivering a report and roadmap on how the University should tackle the challenges of the future.

    See project

  • Bid support for £5m Technology Entrepreneurship Centre

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    I prepared the business case and financial forecasts for a £5.2m, 2,200 square metre Technology Entrepreneurship Centre on the University of Nottingham’s Innovation Park. My input helped the University develop a successful bid for University Enterprise Zone status, securing grant funding of £2.6m from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

  • JISC Open Access Pathfinder Project - University College London

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    I am working with University College London, Newcastle University and the University of Nottingham on a JISC Pathfinder project to produce a set of resources that will help other institutions develop advocacy programmes, monitor and manage institutional publication activity and use open access funds effectively.

    See project

  • Jisc-ARMA ORCID pilot - cost/benefit analysis

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    ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-based effort to provide a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers. In late 2014, Jisc and ARMA commissioned Information Power and Research Consulting to undertake a review and cost-benefit analysis of ORCID based on the experiences of 8 pilot implementations within UK universities. After consulting with a wide range of stakeholders, we were able to estimate the…

    ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-based effort to provide a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers. In late 2014, Jisc and ARMA commissioned Information Power and Research Consulting to undertake a review and cost-benefit analysis of ORCID based on the experiences of 8 pilot implementations within UK universities. After consulting with a wide range of stakeholders, we were able to estimate the time and cost-savings provided by ORCID in the UK higher education sector, and develop a good practice checklist for institutions seeking to implement ORCID. For further information please refer to http://orcidpilot.jiscinvolve.org/wp/.

    See project

  • The impact of the HECToR national high performance computing facility

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    I led a project commissioned by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to evaluate the impact of HECToR, the UK’s high end computing resource from 2007 to 2014. Working with Research in Focus, Bulletin and Elsevier, we provided an independent, evidence-based assessment of the benefits that this high performance computing facility delivered for UK science, the economy and society. The final report arising from this project can be found at http://www.storyofhector.org/.

    See project

  • Review of research contracts management - King's College London

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    I undertook an independent review of the arrangements for managing research and research-related contracts at King’s College London. This included consideration of organisational structures, resourcing levels and skill-sets across the pre-award, EU, consultancy and clinical trial functions of the College’s Research Management Directorate.

  • Effectiveness Review of the Research Finance Function - Goldsmiths, University of London

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    I undertook an effectiveness review of the research finance function for this London-based institution, consulting with a range of stakeholders via an engaged and structured process in order to deliver an evidence-based analysis of the current position and actions required.

  • World Class Research Outcomes Workshop - Abu Dhabu

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    I facilitated a 4 day workshop on research management for representatives of institutions and research funders from the Middle East and beyond. Topics covered ranged from development and implementation of a research strategy, to contracts negotiation, spin-out companies and licensing.

    See project

  • International Research Collaboration - Benchmarking Project

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    I completed a benchmarking study of levels of international collaboration at the University of Nottingham against a group of 8 peer institutions, using Scopus data to identify areas of strength and weakness by region and discipline area, and investigating the relationship between levels of collaboration and the University's academic reputation in each region.

  • Open Access - Panel discussion at the Frankfurt Book Fair

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    An engaging panel discussion hosted by Copyright Clearance Centre with Robert Kiley (Wellcome Trust), Karen Hawkins (IEEE) and Ellen Collins (Research Information Network) on the subject of Open Access - The Force Remaking Scholarly Publishing

    Other creators
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  • Managing Research Contracts - Benchmarking Report

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    I completed a benchmarking study on the management and negotiation of contracts for research services across 20 large research intensive universities in the United Kingdom. The project comprises a web-based survey, followed by visits to each institution to discuss survey maps, map processes and identify good practice. Results were shared by means of a workshop with the participating institutions and a final report.

    See project

  • Business case development for adoption of a Current Research Information System

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    I worked with the University of Nottingham to prepare the business case for implementation of a Current Research Information System (CRIS). This involved a series of interviews with key stakeholders in the academic and administrative community, understanding and mapping the existing systems environment, and preparing a business case that linked this development into the institution’s broader Information Systems strategy.

Organizations

  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

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    - Present

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