2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the ISSN International Centre and its Network which were formally established in 1975. This article exposes the role of the ISSN number, some key facts and figures, and a roadmap of the events involving the ISSN IC for the year 2015.

This release adds significant new features that will help research library staff make local collection management decisions such as a title list comparison service, a SRU and Z39.50 machine-to-machine interfaces, and direct linking to records.

The Keepers Registry Beta service provides easily accessible information about the archiving arrangements for electronic journals.

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) announces the publication of a new recommended practice, Protocol for Exchanging Serial Content (PESC) (NISO RP-23-2015), which provides guidance on the best way to manage the elements of digital serial content packaging in a manner that aids both the content provider and the content recipient in understanding what has been delivered and received.

The meaning and the importance of citations, the main assessment tool for scholarly impact alongside anecdotes and altmetrics.

Highlights from the CERN Workshop on Innovations in Scholarly Communication which was held at the University of Geneva (June 17–19) to discuss current and emerging issues in the ever-changing field of scholarly communication. Among the broached topics: barriers to and the impact of OA, and the new OA tools.

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research.

All the presentations, and some videos are now available in the Programme pages.

Selecting a journal to submit a manuscript to is an important decision for any researcher. To find out the factors that influence this decision for early-career researchers, a survey has been conducted among PhD students and postdocs at Max Planck Institutes across Germany.

EDP Sciences, an international STM publisher, has released information on the findings and recommendations of a working group into the peer review process.

The aim of the workshop, held in Paris in May, was to consider whether peer review is adapting to present day demands and constraints, and to consider and make recommendations to the European Physical Journal (EPJ) and its partners regarding new practices and improvements that could be made to their procedures.

The Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Committee has published the TOP Guidelines, a set of author guidelines that journals can adopt to enhance the transparency of the research they publish. These guidelines represent a concrete and actionable strategy toward improving research and publishing practices.

ICSTI 2015 General Assembly & Workshops took place on 4th July in Hannover, Germany. The workshops organized by the Information Trends and Opportunities Committee (ITOC) and the Technical Activities Coordinating Committee (TACC) gathered a panel of international experts addressing the themes of Open Science and Open Data  from the political point of view. Innovation was the second red thread, with keynotes and experiences about making collections discoverable and open and the ways to facilitate access to research data.

ALA Annual Conference (June 25th – 30th 2015) programs, updates, conversations, and other events cover key issues such as innovation and transformation, ebook lending and usability, digital content, community engagement, leadership, the impact and potential of new technologies, books and awards, development, teaching and learning, and best practices on a range of library-related concerns.

The presentations are now available online as well as the highlights.

24-26 June 2015 saw the 44th LIBER Annual Conference take place in London, organised by Imperial College London, the University of London, UCL and the London School of Economics and Political Science. LIBER is the Association of European Research Libraries with over 400 library members across Europe. The theme of the Conference was Towards Open Science – a global movement which sees openness and sharing as crucial themes in the processes involved in research and education.

The presentations are now available online.

IATUL, the International Association of Technological University Libraries held its annual conference in Hannover, Germany (5 – 9 July 2015) at the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB). From the red thread “Strategic Partnerships for Access and Discovery”, the conference enabled librarians from 42 countries to exchange on current and future developments in the area of strategy, management and practice in libraries. Making access to scientific information easier and faster for the benefits of users was at stake, with a strong focus on digital preservation programmes and experiences, as well as management of research data. The presentations are now available online.

Peter Burnhill / EDINA made a presentation about the ways to ensure continuity of access to the scholarly record.

There is a growing rift between those who believe the library’s most fundamental purpose is to support and advance the goals of its host institution and those who believe the library’s most important role is as an agent of progress and reform in the larger world of scholarly communication. Although these two areas of endeavor are not mutually exclusive, they are in competition for scarce resources and the choices made between them have serious implications.

In the absence of a market for academic publishing, the concept of average publication fees cannot be used for this purpose. A number of attempts are being made to create such a market, but new contracts for hybrid journals may thwart these initiatives. Libraries are at a crossroads. Will they continue in their current role of money collectors for publishers or revert to their original profession: independent quality control?

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) joined forces with Europeana and Creative Commons (CC) to create a collaborative, interoperable platform for international rights statements. The International Rights Statement Working Group (Working Group), composed of representatives from the three organizations, spent the past 12 months outlining a proposal for a common framework to provide rights statements for both national and international cultural heritage objects.