This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
Electronic Highways

Planning for an open access journal

Published: December 2, 2010

Starting an open access (OA) journal can be an exciting, albeit daunting, professional endeavor. The reasons for the OA journal revolution are compelling; readers benefit from free access and authors benefit from increased visibility and citations, as well as from retaining ownership of their own work. OA journals are an increasingly prominent part of the scholarly communication landscape—so much so that they account for 20 percent of all peer-reviewed articles currently being published. Still, the pros and cons of OA journal publishing are debated in many academic and commercial forums, and as a matter of full disclosure, the author of this article is co-founder and co-editor of one such publication.

For readers who may be unfamiliar, OA journals are scholarly periodicals available to readers online without cost or any other barriers other than access to the Internet itself. The Directory of Open Access Journals currently lists more than 5,600 peer-reviewed titles, and indexes better than half of them. However, prospective publishers should take note: starting an OA journal requires significant advanced planning in terms of scope, readership, peer review, editing, platform, web hosting, design, finances and distribution.

Perhaps the most common question related to the OA journal movement is one of financing and economic viability. Generally speaking, there are two economic models for OA journals: fee-based and no-fee. The fee-based model requires payment on behalf of the author—sometimes known as an article processing charge—though that often is provided for by an author’s research grant or employer. The no-fee model assumes other sources of funding, such as institutional subsidies, advertising or membership. These differing models generally are indicative of the distinctions between for-profit, commercial publishers and not-for-profits, which usually are associated with universities or professional organizations.

Selection of an appropriate platform is critical and by far Open Journal Systems (OJS) is the most popular one for OA publishers. OJS was developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), an open-source development community sponsored by Simon Frasier University in partnership with the University of British Columbia and the Stanford University School of Education. OJS is just one of several scholarly communication-related products they have developed since founding PKP in 1998, but it has become their flagship product and it currently is used as the platform for more than 6,600 journals.

Presumably, an OA publisher will have a good sense of a prospective journal’s scope and readership; that is its area of expertise and scholarly community. In terms of peer review and editing, the publisher may require some assistance with identifying appropriately skilled scholars in relevant fields of study. This is where one’s subject librarian can be particularly useful. The subject librarian also can be of significant use in helping to plan an OA journal’s distribution methods. As an information expert, he or she can help identify the appropriate directories for listing and the relevant bibliographic databases for indexing. Albeit OA journals are freely available on the Internet, these traditional methods of dissemination are critical for an OA journal’s success.

Web hosting is another important consideration. With for-profit, commercial publishers, this service is provided. Not-for-profits may have web-hosting services available to them by way of an employer, an institution or a professional association. Still, many not-for-profit OA publishers must rely on independent hosting services and this is an essential part of their economic model. Web-hosting services are plentiful, but publishers must be wise in terms of costs, stability, technical support and the ability to generate relevant reports. It is highly recommended that OA publishers exercise due diligence before selecting their web host.

For more functional and practical information on starting an OA journal, there are numerous sources available on the free Web. Of particular note is the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, which was formed in 2008 “to support and represent the interests of OA journal publishers globally in all scientific, technical and scholarly disciplines.”

—Christopher Hollister, Arts and Sciences Libraries