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

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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Researcher / Author Information, Support & Advice

Examples

• University of Minnesota Libraries
  https://www.lib.umn.edu/researchsupport
   
• University of Washington Libraries
  http://www.lib.washington.edu/scholpub
   
• Duke University Libraries
  http://library.duke.edu/research
   
• North Carolina State University Libraries 
  http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/services/research-support
   
• Temple University Libraries
  http://library.temple.edu/services/faculty/research-support

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Open Access Publishing Fund

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

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Open Access Publishing Fund

(http://www.sparc.arl.org/initiatives/funds for more information)

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?

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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 

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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)

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Open Access Publishing Fund

Examples

• University of Pittsburgh Libraries 
  http://www.library.pitt.edu/about-open-access-author-fees-fund
   
• Florida International University Libraries 
  http://libguides.fiu.edu/OAP
   
• Colorado State University 
  http://libguides.colostate.edu/oars
   
• Columbia University Libraries 
  http://scholcomm.columbia.edu/services/coap-fund/  
   
• Concordia University Libraries 
  http://library.concordia.ca/research/openaccess/OAauthorfund.php

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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.

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Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Image from https://flic.kr/p/4YVJXw

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

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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

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Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Popular Publishing Platforms

• Digital Commons (BEPress)
  http://digitalcommons.bepress.com/repository-software/journals/
   
• DSpace
  http://www.dspace.org/
   
• Open Journal Systems
  https://pkp.sfu.ca/ojs/
   

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Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Library Publisher Examples

• Boston College Libraries (http://www.bc.edu/libraries/collections/eScholarshipHome/Journals.html) – 11 journals, OJS
• York University Libraries (http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/ydj) – 39 journals, OJS
• University of Pittsburgh Library System (http://www.library.pitt.edu/e-journals) - +35 journals, OJS
• University of South Florida (http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/journals.html) – 14 journals, Digital Commons
• Pacific University Libraries (http://commons.pacificu.edu/peer_review_list.html) – 7 journals, Digital Commons
• Kresge Law Library, Notre Dame (http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/journals_list/) – 6 journals, Digital Commons
• MSU Libraries (http://epubs.library.msstate.edu/index.php/MSLib/index) - 1 journal, OJS

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Open Access Digital Journal Publishing Platform & Support

Helpful Resources

• Library Publishing Coalition
  http://www.librarypublishing.org/
   
• The Lib Pub (blog on library publishing)
  https://librarypublishing.wordpress.com
   
• SPARC initiatives:
  • Campus-Based Publishing
    http://www.sparc.arl.org/initiatives/campus-based-publishing
     
  • Digital Repositories
    http://www.sparc.arl.org/initiatives/repositories

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Assorted References

• "The Harvard Memo"
  http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k77982&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup143448
   
• "Harvard University says it can't afford journal publishers' prices," The Guardian, 24 April 2012
  http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/apr/24/harvard-university-journal-publishers-prices
   
• "Research Librarians discuss new ways to support scholars," Library Journal, 11 March 2013
  http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/academic-libraries/research-librarians-discuss-new-ways-to-support-scholars/
   
• "Publishing services a major growth area for academic libraries, suggests new research report,"  SPARC, 1 November 2011
  http://www.sparc.arl.org/news-media/news/11-1101 
   
• "Libraries as journal publishers," Serials Review, 2011
  http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:11246

Thank you!