Open Access (OA) & Scholarly Publishing

Open Access (OA) & Scholarly Publishing

Scholarly publishing is the process of creating and sharing research findings with other academics and the public. The dissemination of research findings through peer-reviewed open access (OA) journals fosters transparency and accessibility within the academic community. This process, however, entails a specific sequence with considerations regarding copyright, author rights, and institutional repositories.

Manuscript Preparation and Journal Selection

• Author Guidelines: Meticulously adhere to the target journal's author guidelines regarding manuscript formatting, content structure, and reference styles.
• Peer-Review Process: Recognize that your work will be evaluated by qualified experts in your field, resulting in potential revisions and refinements before acceptance.

Submission and Copyright Considerations

• Copyright Transfer Agreements: Carefully evaluate the copyright transfer agreement presented by the journal. Open access journals often utilize Creative Commons (CC) licenses, which allow for varying degrees of author rights retention alongside open access dissemination.
• Author Addenda: Consider including an author addenda within your submission that clarifies your intended CC license and any desired embargo periods to restrict access for a limited time.

Peer Review and Author Response

• Reviewer Feedback: Engage constructively with reviewer comments to strengthen your manuscript's methodological rigor, clarity, and overall contribution to the field.
• Revisions and Re-submission: Be prepared to revise and resubmit your work based on reviewer feedback.

Publication and Open Access

• Author Rights and Self-Archiving: Understand the extent of your retained rights under the chosen CC license. Explore options for self-archiving your accepted manuscript in your institutional repository, adhering to the journal's embargo period if applicable.
• Institutional Repositories: Leverage your university's institutional repository as a means to showcase your research and maximize discoverability by a wider audience.

Dissemination and Scholarly Impact

• Promotion and Sharing: Actively promote your published work through social media platforms and relevant academic networks to enhance its visibility and scholarly impact.

This guide offers general information on scholarly publishing considerations and links to resources on:

• the publishing and scholarly communication process
• evaluating academic journals
• publishing in open-access
• copyright and author rights information
• institutional repositories

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) defines scholarly communication as "the system through which research and other scholarly writings are created, evaluated for quality, disseminated to the scholarly community, and preserved for future use. The system includes formal communication, such as publication in peer-reviewed journals, and informal channels, such as electronic listservs." Scholarly communication is frequently defined or depicted as a lifecycle documenting the steps involved in the creation, publication, dissemination, and discovery of a piece of academic research. However, it embodies the entire cycle of scholarship, from conducting research to managing data, and making decisions about publishing options, and copyright.