The University of Kansas Libraries

Libraries and the Changing System of Scholarly Communication

What Faculty Can Do

Faculty play various roles in the system of scholarly exchange.  Here are some ways we can encourage the wider dissemination of the products of scholarship and benefit from the use of new technologies that aid in such dissemination and novel forms of expression.

As a researcher and author
Open access can increase the impact of our work and make it visible to every search and retrieval tool on the Web. Consider some ways we can expand the audience for our work:

• Modify contracts we sign with publishers, ensuring our right to share our work, including posting on an open archive. Use the Addendum for Authors' Publication Contracts document at http://www2.ku.edu/%7Escholar/docs/KU_AUTHOR_Addendum.pdf  to ensure we retain a bundle of key rights to share our research articles.
• Deposit research materials (including pre- and/or post-prints of our articles plus supporting data) in an online open archive, such as KU ScholarWorks or a discipline's repository. Link to it from our personal websites.
• When possible, publish in open access journals, which employ funding models that do not charge readers or their institutions for access. (For a list of open-access journals, see the Directory of Open Access Journals, http://doaj.org/.)

As a reviewer
Without our efforts as reviewers, journals wouldn’t exist. Consider using valuable time wisely:

• Referee papers for an open-access journal.
• Consider declining to review for journals that don’t allow authors to post their work in an open archive or that are too expensive. The SHERPA/RoMEO Publisher Copyright Policies site, http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php  summarizes publisher policies.

As an editor or editorial board member
A journal trades on our good name when it lists us as an editor or editorial board member. We need to be certain that we approve of its policies. Consider the following issues and actions:

• Read the copyright transfer agreement used by journals. If it does not allow authors to deposit their papers in open archives, ask the publisher to change its policy.
• If a journal is available by subscription, ask the publisher to provide free access to articles published more than six months ago. An increasing range of journals do this without losing subscribers.
• Encourage publishers we work with to investigate open-access business models.
• Consider resigning or refusing to serve on editorial boards of journals whose publishers have uncooperative or unfair policies that unnecessarily restrict access to the public.
• If the publisher is uncooperative and pursues policies that unnecessarily restrict access, consider following the example of journals in disciplines such as biology and mathematics by “declaring independence.” Along with the rest of the editorial board, consider resigning from the journal and launch a new, open-access journal to serve the same niche.
• Serve on editorial boards for open-access journals. (See the Directory of Open Access Journals.)

As a society member
Consider helping our society and disciplinary groups understand that the days when its journal is a “cash cow” are fast nearing an end. Get a discussion started about the purposes of the society in the age of digital scholarship:

• Encourage the society to consider open access or delayed open access (e.g., free access after six months) for the society’s journals. Serve on society committees and governing boards, and write opinion pieces for society newsletters.
• If the copyright transfer agreement used by a society’s journals doesn’t allow authors to deposit their papers in open archives (such an institutional or disciplinary repository), ask them to change the policy.

As a KU faculty member
Work with colleagues to advance understanding of digital scholarship and foster sharing of research:

• Put the Resolution on Access to Scholarly Information Passed by the KU University Council, http://www2.ku.edu/%7Escholar/docs/ScholarlyInformationResolution.pdf into practice.
• Encourage discussion of scholarly communication issues and proposals for change in our departments, colleges, and university. Invite library participation in faculty departmental meetings and graduate seminars to discuss scholarly communication issues.
• When sitting on grant-review panels or hiring, tenure, or promotion committees, give due weight to peer-reviewed publications regardless of their price, medium, or business model. And don’t rely solely on prestige or impact factor — this discriminates against new journals that may be of high quality.
• Familiarize ourselves with The University of Kansas Intellectual Property Policy for the Lawrence Campus, http://www.provost.ku.edu/policy/updates/intellectual_property_policy/intellectual_property_policy_11_06.pdf.

As a teacher
Shouldn’t our students have more complete and convenient access to the information they need?

• Educate the next generation of scientists and scholars about the benefits of sharing their research. Explain that open access is compatible, not in conflict, with peer review, copyright, and career advancement.
  
• Reserve the right for our published articles to be used in the classroom without fee — consider using the Addendum for Authors' Publication Contracts document at:, http://www2.ku.edu/%7Escholar/docs/KU_AUTHOR_Addendum.pdf.

For additional information please visit the KU Scholar Services site at http://www.scholarservices.ku.edu/

Adapted from Create Change, http://createchange.org/ Accessed on August 12, 2007. Used with permission of the Create Commons license. Create Change was developed by the Association of Research Libraries and SPARC  (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). Association of Research Libraries. Except where otherwise noted, this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.