Inconsistent problems with Oxford Journals

The relatively new Oxford Academic platform is experiencing some “instability.” Oxford is aware of and working on the problem. Below is one problem scenario. If you encounter this or any other problem, please report it to eaccess-admin@middlebury.edu, including the journal title and issue.

We subscribe to the journal African Affairs. This morning, if I click on the current issue, I see the shopping cart icon next to all the article titles, which normally would indicate we do not have access:However, if I click on the article link, I see the full text of the article. If I then navigate to the journal page and choose the same issue, I see the unlocked green padlock next to all the articles, which indicates we do indeed have access. Oxford has asked libraries to report these problems, with as much information about the journal, issue, article, etc., as possible. If you encounter this or any other problem with Oxford journals or any of our other library resources, please let us know by emailing eaccess-admin@middlebury.edu

One thought on “Inconsistent problems with Oxford Journals

  1. Arabella Holzapfel Post author

    The following update was received from Oxford Journals service:
    “Update: Oxford Journals migration to the Oxford Academic platform
    “In February we completed the migration of journals to the new Oxford Academic platform, powered by Silverchair. While we are pleased to be offering our customers a much improved platform designed with users’ needs in mind, the transition has caused some temporary issues with our service. We would like to thank you for your feedback and patience during this transition period.
    We are aware that some academics and library users have expressed concerns about these issues and we would like to reassure you that we are working to resolve them as quickly as we can. Please see below for an update on where we are with the priority issues that we have identified.
    Proxy-related access icon (shopping cart). OUP is aware that some customers accessing journals through a proxy server like EZProxy have seen shopping cart icons next to articles despite having valid subscriptions, making the user think purchase is required for access. While users are able to click on the article and successfully access the full text, the inaccurate icon is misleading. This issue is currently under investigation and OUP and Silverchair are committed to resolving it as soon as possible, ensuring our customers are able to quickly and easily access content.

    “Incorrect institution name. The Oxford Academic platform uses an institution’s IP address for initial identification, which customers can administer for their convenience. There have been some instances where accounts have been incorrectly configured with part of an IP range from another institution, causing an incorrect institution name to display. This issue can be corrected very quickly by contacting Customer Services using the details below.

    “Indexing services. Some indexing services (including PubMed) were initially unable to work with some detailed aspects of the data supply from the new Oxford Academic platform. This has meant that there has been a hiatus in their indexing of new content. We are working closely with all our partners to restore full functionality.

    “Missing content. Some content has been missing from some journal sites, ranging from specific articles and supplements, advanced access articles, and supplementary material. Content is now 99.5% complete on the new platform and we expect all remaining article XML and PDF content to be live by April 7th. Remaining missing content is mostly supplementary material, which requires specialist work to extract and represent on the new platform. We expect to complete the migration of the remaining supplementary content during April.

    “We are pleased to report that the issues listed below have been resolved by our technical teams.
    Institutional access. During the transition to the new Oxford Academic platform, some institutions experienced inconsistent or unreliable access to subscribed content in Oxford Journals due to an error in the interface into our account management system. This has now been corrected, but should you experience any further access issues please reach out to our Customer Services team who will be able to work with you to resolve any issues.

    “Broken links. Some readers may have noticed broken links – e.g. links leading to error messages. This was due to a problem with the DOI presentation for about 0.4% of DOIs. The vast majority of DOI links have now been resolved.

    “Stability. Like any newly launched platform, our site has seen a considerable upsurge in traffic as crawlers on the web try to crawl the new site. This activity can affect the performance of the site. Undesirable crawlers are identified and blocked. The site is not currently experiencing any issues that affect the user experience and we continue to monitor traffic and stability closely.

    “Thank you for your patience and support during this transition period. We have appreciated both the positive response we have had to the new platform, as well as the flagging of issues, bugs, and potential future developments.”

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *