OATP conventions

This list is part of the Open Access Directory.

Project conventions are decisions or agreements among the participants on how to carry out the project. For suggestions on how to help or be helped by the project, see the page on project tips.

[edit] Tag syntax

OATP tags are composed of these elements: oa + dot + subtopic (word or phrase). For example: oa.something, not oasomething and not something.
- The oa. prefix separates our tags from other tags using the same words or phrases. For example, tags like policies and journals could cover developments unrelated to OA, but oa.policies and oa.journals only cover developments related to OA.
- The oa. prefix means "in connection with OA" or "related to OA", not necessarily "in support of OA". Hence even an article criticizing OA journals should be tagged oa.journals. So should an article focusing on TA journals and comparing them with OA journals.

Omit spaces. For example: oa.something, not oa something. (Connotea would regard the latter as two separate tags, oa and something, and we'd lose the benefit of the oa. prefix.)

Use lower case letters only. For example: oa.something, not oa.Something. This is the rule even for proper nouns. For example: oa.france, not oa.France.

Use an underscore for phrases. For example: oa.fair_use, not oa.fair use or oa.fairuse or oa.fair-use.
- Or use an acronym for phrases. For example, oa.pd, not oa.public_domain. See the tags page to see whether the underscore or acronym version is recommended for a given phrase.

Use a hyphen where the original used a hyphen. For example: oa.wiley-blackwell.

Use an ampersand (without flanking spaces) where the original used an ampersand. For example: oa.taylor&francis.

Use additional dots for additional levels of subtopic subordination. For example: oa.case is for case studies, while oa.case.policies is for case studies on OA policies, and oa.case.policies.universities is for case studies on OA policies at universities.

In general, use plural nouns rather than singular nouns. For example: oa.repositories, not oa.repository.
- But use a singular noun for the genre of the item you are tagging. For example, when tagging an editorial, use oa.editorial. And so on for oa.article, oa.case, oa.comment, oa.interview, oa.letter, oa.preprint, oa.presentation, oa.report, oa.review. In short, in an article is about preprints, use oa.preprints, but if it is itself a preprint, use oa.preprint.
- Also use the singular for nouns used in an adjectival sense, for example, oa.crowd.

Not all existing tags conform to these conventions. But Connotea supports retroactive tag revision and over time we hope to bring noncompliant tags into compliance.

OATP started as an informal folksonomy but is evolving toward a more formal ontology. The subtopic tags will always be user-defined, but over time project participants will agree on which are the best tags to use for certain subtopics.
- OATP is still in Phase 1. In Phase 2 we'll do much more to foster tag convergence and make it easier. Stay tuned.

As project participants agree on the best tags to use for certain subtopics, we record them on the page of project tags. Please follow the usage on that page.
- For example, if oa.books is recommended and oa.ebooks is deprecated, then OATP taggers should use the former. They should not only avoid the latter, but change any of their own uses of the latter to the former. (Connotea makes this kind of retroactive tag revision easy.)

We are considering a discussion forum for proposing and discussing tags. But until then, use the "discussion" tab on the OATP tags page.

Not all existing tags conform to the emerging OATP ontology. But over time we hope to bring noncompliant tags into compliance.

New items. Use oa.new for items that are new within the last six months or so. Also use oa.new for new articles and comments about older developments.
- To tag older items, use any subtopic tags you like, but omit oa.new.

Duplicates. Try to avoid applying a project tag to any item already carrying the same tag. Repeating a tag tag will insert duplicate tag records into the tag feed, cluttering the feed for our busy users. This is a greater problem for oa.new than for subtopic tags, if only because more taggers apply oa.new than any other tag, and more readers subscribe to the oa.new feed than any other tag feed.
- Hence, for now, it helps to check before adding duplicate tags to a relevant item. We know this can be time-consuming, and we can agree that some duplication in a feed is better than missing a relevant item.
- We don't expect to eliminate all duplicates with the current technology. Some taggers will be more conscientious than others about reading the feed before tagging. (Indeed some will be more conscientious on some days than others!) Moreover, tagged items may not appear in the feed for a few hours, giving even conscientious taggers no reason not to tag it again.
- We're working on tools to remove duplicates and make this kind of checking unnecessary and hope to have news to report soon.

Primary sources. Tag primary sources when you can. If you learn about a relevant article from a blog, try to tag the original article. If the blog posts adds more than an excerpt (for example, a comment or links to related items), then tag the blog post too.

On-topic and off-topic items. OATP focuses on OA to research. There are many topics that overlap with this focus. Tag new developments on those topics when the new developments do overlap with OA but not otherwise. Here are some examples of neighboring topics which sometimes do and sometimes don't overlap with OA to research:
- academic freedom; academic publishing; copyright and fair use; data and text mining; digital divide; digital publishing; digitization; DRM; ebooks and ebook readers; free and open-source software; free online non-academic content (like music or news); freedom of speech; impact metrics; legal regulation of the internet, libraries, and publishing; licensing terms for online content; media concentration and monopoly; metadata; online teaching and learning; open government; P2P file-sharing; peer review reform and variations; plagiarism, defamation, and scientific misconduct; preservation; priced online research literature; privacy and anonymity; research funding; search engines; the semantic web.
- Exceptions: in a small number of cases, OATP tries to tag all items on a certain topic even though some items on that topic are not strongly connected to OA. These evolved for different reasons, usually because OATP had a good start on a comprehensive list. We'll try to keep a complete list of those exceptions here:
  - Google Books (oa.google.books)
  - Google Book Settlement (oa.google.settlement).
  - Public sector information (oa.psi)

If an article has a DOI, mark the DOI as if for copying and leave it marked when you click on the Connotea bookmarklet. Connotea will incorporate the DOI into the tag record, helping users with institutional subscriptions click through to the full-text. If you get a Connotea error message when you do this, then unmark the DOI and tag the page as usual. (Unfortunately, some articles display unworking DOIs.)