Possibilities in Library Digital Initiatives:

Digital Open Access Publishing

by Libraries

or

with Library Support

Julie D. Shedd

Introduction

  • Journals are expensive
  • We're basically buying our own work (bundled with work no one wants or needs)
  • Access to good research is restricted to those who can afford it
  • Librarianship champions free and equal access to information
  • Many libraries say: NO MORE
    • April 2012 Harvard memo: We can't afford journal subscriptions; faculty, please publish in open access journals
    • Increasing support for self-publishing platforms, publishing support and advice, etc.
    • Increasing push for institutional repositories

Researcher / Author Information, Support & Advice

Provide expertise and help to authors seeking to make their work open access - lists of good journals and publishers, copyright and licensing information, data management tools, and more

Researcher / Author Information, Support & Advice

Considerations

  • What level of service will you offer other than what you already offer?
  • Are there services that you don't currently offer that faculty want/need?
  • If you're adding services, will you hire new staff, or expand current staff's responsibilities?
  • How will you ensure that faculty knows you're offering help?

Researcher / Author Information, Support & Advice

Possible Information & Services

  • Information about copyright, including authors' rights, fair use, new licensing models like Creative Commons, and open access
  • Information about managing research and personal data
  • Tools and services for preserving and presenting research data
  • Information about finding funding
  • Grant-writing review and advice services
  • Institutional repositories
  • Information about impact measures
  • Impact/metrics reporting services

Researcher / Author Information, Support & Advice

Pros

  • Most libraries are already doing much of this work
  • May not need to hire more staff or do much training of existing staff
  • Depending on services and tools offered, may not cost much more
  • Good entry point

Cons

  • Staff without a legal background might not want to be seen as an "expert" in copyright and licensing
  • Will need to do additional outreach to faculty so that they know services are available
  • Some tools may have associated costs

Researcher / Author Information, Support & Advice

Examples

Open Access Publishing Fund

Create a fund to reimburse faculty for article processing or membership fees associated with making their articles open-access

Open Access Publishing Fund

Considerations

  • Do faculty know what open access is? Will you work to educate them?
  • Do they want to publish open access articles?
  • Is the associated cost a barrier for them?
  • Where will the money come from?
  • Can you make the fund sustainable?
  • Can you partner with other campus units? (ORED, departments, etc.)
  • What is your goal? ("Encourage open access publishing," "Support new forms of publishing," "Support and encourage collaboration within the University," etc.)
  • What types of journals will you support? (Full open access only, "hybrid"/"open choice" journals, etc.)
  • What types of content will you support? (Articles, monographs, data sets, audiovisual, etc.)
  • Who can receive money? (Faculty, post-doc, students?) What if they already have grant funding? Do collaborators from elsewhere get money?

Open Access Publishing Fund

Pros

  • Staffing commitment may not be burdensome
  • Processing applications doesn't take long
  • Reimbursement can greatly help new faculty, adjuncts, graduate and undergraduate students
  • Shows a concrete commitment to supporting research 

Open Access Publishing Fund

Cons

  • You have to find money (and keep it coming)
  • Amounts disbursed may be large
  • Disbursement gets tricky with multiple authors, collaborations with non-affiliates, authors with grants, etc.
  • Supporting "hybrid"/"open choice" journals may not truly support the open access movement, as they can "double-charge" both authors and readers
  • Possible tax consequences for some authors; questions about whether reimbursement is a "fringe benefit" (and thus excludible from income) or not (and thus taxable as scholarship payments)

Open Access Publishing Fund

Examples

Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Provide a platform for faculty to create and publish their own open-access, digital-first journals. Offer server space, software, technical support, and help with copyright and licensing issues.

Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Considerations

  • How much will you do?
  • Do you have the technology?
  • Who will staff it?
  • How will you pay for it?
  • Will you have help with business issues?
  • What formats will you publish?
  • Will you print copies automatically, or prefer print-on-demand?

Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Pros

  • Many journal publishing software programs are themselves free and open-source 
  • Encourage innovation and collaboration among faculty
  • No issues with providing resulting journals to library users
  • Shows unmistakable commitment to open access publishing and scholarly communication
  • Helps standardize and aggregate journals and other publications that were previously scattered

Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Cons

  • Need money for hardware and software
  • Need knowledgeable staffing for technical and publication support
  • Need lots of planning and a businesslike attitude
  • May upset vendors who have legitimately tried to be helpful
  • May inadvertently contribute to a growing problem: research that really doesn't need to be published

Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Popular Publishing Platforms

Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Library Publisher Examples

Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Helpful Resources

Assorted References

Thank you!

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