Friday, July 13, 2007

“Creating an Open Scholarly Archive on Paulo Freire”


Presenter: Joe Kincheloe, McGill University

Time: 9:40 - 10:40 AM July 13, 2007

Place: SFUHC Fletcher Challenge Theatre


Joe Kincheloe defined Critical Pedagogy - as the interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on the social, cultural and political features of schooling - and spoke to the impact of the Frankfurt School of Philosophy and Paulo Freire’s work. Kincheloe highlighted Freire's contribution to the field of critical pedagogy, particularly his passion and impact in the field of education by looking at how the discourse of power works to oppress. His conflict theory regarding the roles institutions and education play in shaping perceptions and re-enforcing dominant ideology provided a new path to insight, voice and emancipation.

Critical pedagogy has been criticized for not considering the interests, experiences and perceptions of indigenous people and women. There are also questions around the appropriation of the Latin school of thought Freire founded, as it has been tinged with a decidedly Eurocentric approach. Within critical theory, the notions of who is speaking and how those thoughts are being represented is crucial, so these major criticisms must be addressed. That is the aim of the second phase of critical theory.

In general terms, this phase would keep the idea of criticality and open it up to include indigenous and oppressed knowledge, while trying to change the ways knowledge is seen through epistemological, ideological and ontological terms. Kincheloe points to the very nature of scholars as being a privileged elite, yet ones who are often 'illiterate' with regard to the works of authors from outside the traditional North American/European boundaries. He spoke to the notion that the works generated outside of the said realm are often unread, yet these are the very works that need to be heard and read in order for scholars and readers to become truly 'global'. In a broader sense, the same mechanism is present in the relationship between Universities and the representation of indigenous or oppressed knowledge, frequently disregarded as a form of knowledge.

Kincheloe believes that instead of perceiving everything from our frame of reference as the 'center' we need to "engage in the genius of the periphery" - that we need to read the world. The project can be seen as a challenge to critical pedagogy, as it needs to become international, multilingual and less Eurocentric in order to remain critical. Kincheloe sees this as a challenge against the colonialist and patriarchal systems of the past which still influence the present. His major focus is to re-visit the idea of knowledge in a more inclusive way. Naturally, there are concerns, which include maintaining the integrity of indigenous/oppressed knowledge as it migrates to a western technology and the potential consequences therein. Kincheloe, however, pointed out that local knowledge would not be appropriated, but shared by indigenous authors and by utilizing open access, this knowledge becomes more visible. His aim is not to make profit from this knowledge, but to benefit indigenous and oppressed people by raising awareness and to transform western thinking and pedagogical mindsets around what constitutes as knowledge.

The Project:
The Paulo and Nita Freire Centre is a project that features the open access model – digitizing and archiving multi media for critical pedagogy. This network will help indigenous, colonial, and oppressed knowledge gain visibility; the intention behind the project is not to be an “add-on” to curriculum or academic canon, but to archive and disseminate the articulation of oppressed voices, told from authentic experience and highlight the transformative power behind that knowledge. As this project will challenge the critical canon, it will be a useful tool to foster critical thinking for students and the general community. It will also create a space for an international network of scholars and practitioners to engage in discussing and reframing critical pedagogy.

The foundation of the website is under construction and will be up and running by August 1, 2007. October is the grand opening at McGill and plans include having Nita Freire attend the ceremony.

"The future isn't something hidden in a corner.
The future is something we build in the present."--Paulo Freire

Embracing Electronic Scholarly Publishing In Africa; The Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science And Technology Library, Kumasi, Ghana As A Case Study

















Presenter
: Helena Asamoah-Hassan, Library, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
Time: 9:40 AM - 10:40 AM, 13 July 2007
Location: SFU Harbour Centre, Westcoast Energy Executive Meeting Room, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract
Paper


“the wind of ICT revolution…has also blown onto the continent”

Helena Asamoah-Hassan presented on her university library’s consideration of publishing a scholarly journal electronically. What follows is a case-study of their assessment, evaluation and conclusions. While a study of her particular library’s experience, her observations are relevant to e-publishing throughout Africa.

Demerits of Electronic Scholarly Publishing in Africa:

- lack of standardization
- lack of knowledge that many journals maintain both online and print versions and only a small proportion are strictly online
- few journals have put back issues online
- URLs change and crash
- lack of a permanent archive
- e-journal articles may not be recognized for promotion decisions

Merits of Electronic Scholarly Publishing in Africa:
- online access to journals
- ease and speed of use
- access available at anytime to multiple users
- embedded links add value to article
- articles may be available ahead of complete issue
- reduces space issues and labour costs at libraries
- multi-media options (sound, video etc) that unavailable with print

Both the merits and demerits have a strong relationship with libraries so it is logical that libraries get involved in publishing and work to find solutions to the demerits.

African Libraries as Electronic Publishers:
Africa produces a lot of scholarly journals and reports, most in print form. African researches, however, also need information from other parts of the world. While it is important to provide access to knowledge created elsewhere, it is more important to promote the creation of knowledge within Africa. Further, it is imperative that an avenue is created to disseminate this knowledge. Libraries are age-old conduits for information acquisition, repackaging and dissemination.

KNUST Library:
- consists of Main Library and 6 College Libraries.
- total stock ~320,000 volumes, 500 print and e-journal subscriptions as well as fee e-journals (mostly through INASP)
- in total ~19,000 e-journal titles for 22,000 students and 650 faculty and researchers

KNUST as Publisher:
- training programmes begun on setting up Institutional Repository (IR) with plans to set up an IR for KNUST with the server in the Main Library
- workshop held in Kumasi 23-24 November 2006 to introduce OJS to editors, grad students and IT administrators from 6 research institutions and 5 universities
- KNUST planning a multidisciplinary journal that will feature research reports, technical reports, theses, conference papers, articles and other scholarly communication between staff (this journal will be in addition to KNUST’s journal the Journal of Science and Technology (JUST) already featured in African Journals Online (AJOL)

KNUST must still decide:
1) whether to institute a referee system for the journal
2) whether to make journal online only or also produce a print version
3) whether to place copyright with library or author
4) amount of information to make freely available and timeframe for doing so
5) whether author role will differ from role in print publishing
6) what type of reading software to be used
7) whether services will be performed voluntarily, how to fund
KNUST is currently working on a budget so hopefully the journal will be able to launch by early next year.

Having been introduced to OJS, Helena Asamoah-Hassan then offered some comments and recommendations for PKP software in Africa. Generally, from her own experience and from conversations with others who had used the software, she indicated that it is considered user-friendly (not filled with technical jargon) with a logical process and built in guides that are easily understandable. She offered the following suggestions for PKP software in Africa:
1) Government approval of software from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports is required in order for it to be used by institutions. Approval is more likely if the Ministry is approached by the software manufacturer and not the institutions.
2) A CD-ROM of the software would be valuable to institutions with no regular Internet access or slow bandwidth
3) Regular updates on developments and full training on the use of OJS after installment would be helpful
4) Training should be provided to core IT staff in each country
5) Software requires a regular automatic saving function given regular breaks in electricity
6) OJS developers should consider assisting in sourcing equipment support to interested institutions who lack basic equipment
7) Public relations work is need to demonstrate OJS software will last (skepticism attached to fact that it is free “too good to be true”)

References:
http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/03-03/rohe.html
http://www.bookrags.com/electronic_publishing

Blogger's Blurb:
“The publisher of an Africa scholarly journal is faced with the rapid expansion of higher education and an increased number of disciplines. This results in many small niche markers of isolated scholars, who either look to the North for specialized journals or are tempted into creating one of their own.”
- Jaygbay, J. 2007 Jun 29. The Politics of and Prospects for African Scholarly Journals in the Information Age. Developments in Scholarly Publishing

Helena
Asamoah-Hassan’s presentation was followed with a presentation by Charles Kiven Wirsiy, Library Services, University of Buea, Cameroon. The presentations are closely related to the extent that Helena visited Cameroon to help launch the Consortium of Cameroon University and Research Libraries. Both presenters, and the libraries discussed, suffer from a dearth of information and resources and are constrained by small budgets. While electronic journals and open-access seem an ideal means of enabling small libraries to access a wealth of information, the disparity of the “digital divide” is evident in the African context. Access to computers and reliable Internet connections were noted by both presenters and scholars at the University of Buea now depend on their mobile telephones to download and Internet cafés play a crucial role. Both presenters however expressed optimism and interest in electronic journal publishing and open access. Crucial insight was offered on how to introduce software such as OJS despite fear, skepticism and the challenges of government bureaucracy in Africa. While global access to information is the ultimate vision and hope, both presentations highlighted that global access still requires knowledge of regional and cultural issues.

Thomas Abraham’s presentation on scholarly publishing in India raised many similar concerns and considerations. His discussion of customizing OJS software in Hindi and the potential to extend this to other Indian languages seems particularly relevant in the African context. While the coordination and sharing between the libraries in Ghana and Cameroon is promising, extending such dialogue to other countries outside of Africa, such as India, would not only be valuable for all involved but very much in the spirit of expanding lines of communication with the aim of improving the quality of information that underlies the Public Knowledge Project.


Related conference presentations:

On libraries
"Rethinking Collections: Libraries and Librarians in an Open Age", "Librarians as campus OA leaders: the University of Alberta experience", "The Library as a mediator for e-publishing. A case on how a library can become a significant factor in facilitating digital scholarly communication and open access publishing for less web savvy journals", "The National Library of Australia: open access to Open Publish", "A content management strategy – implementing OJS and OCS at Swinburne University library", "Beyond the Experiment: The Scholarly Publishing Office and the Maturation of Library-Based Publishing", "Survey of Librarian Attitudes about Open Access", "A Critical Theory of Library Technology: Libraries & Electronic Publishing"

On Africa
"Strengthening African Research Culture and Capacities Project", "Scholarly publishing in sub-Saharan Africa in the twenty-first century: challenges and opportunities", "Open Source Software in Education in Africa", "The State of Acquisition, Organization and Use of Open Access Information Resources in Cameroon University Libraries: The Case of the University of Buea and University of Yaounde I Libraries"

Open Access Web-Only Peer-Reviewed Journal for Radiology Case Reports: Development and Implementation
















By:
Felix Chew
Michael Richardson
Kira Lichtenfeld
Annemarie Relyea-Chew

Presented at

PKP Scholarly Publishing Conference

11-13 July, 2007

Vancouver, BC

Canada

Presenter: Felix Chew

Department of Radiology, University of Washington

The presentation covers the following:

  • What we did
  • Why we did it
  • How we did it
  • How are we doing
  • Future challenges

What we did:

A number of diseases have entered the scientific medical literature in the form of case reports such as Paget's disease, Parkinson's disease, and AIDS. However, the established radiology journals have focused their efforts on bringing major research studies and review articles to their readers, while simultaneously de-emphasizing case reports. Therefore, authors of case reports have less chances of their work being published.

Because of the case reports significance and because of level of attention paid to case reports by established radiology journals the presenter and others have decided to establish the Radiology Case Report journal. The journal is peer-reviewed, open access, and specializes in case reports.

Why we did it:

Because there is no place to publish case reports. In addition, they have a business plan for case reports journal, and the presenter has the knowledge of being author, editor, and publisher.

The decrease rate of case reports acceptance made the presenter and his colleagues to think seriously about publishing a journal that focuses on case reports. For example, the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), the last large-circulation general radiology journal to accept case reports has announced that they will not publish case reports any more.

How we did it:

  • UW Technology Transfer
  • Open Journal Systems (OJS)
  • Open Access business model
  • No capital required
  • Revenues and profits increase with size
  • Personal relationships to recruit peer reviewers and authors

How are we doing?

The Radiology Case Report is becoming popular day by day, downloads are increasing, and it is becoming visible via search engines such as Google.

Downloads of articles per day from RCR

June 06 = 18

Dec 06 = 84

June 07 = 127

Downloads per article per day

June 06 = 2.08

Dec 06 = 2.20

June 07 = 2.52

Future challenges:

Indexing (Pubmed Central, Pubmed, ISI)

Journal Operations

Cash flow, revisions, editing, layout

Marketing, marketing, marketing

Competition

BMC Medical Imaging

BMC Medical Case Reports

Additional information:


Abstract: http://ocs.sfu.ca/pkp2007/viewabstract.php?id=16


Radiology Case Reports Journal:

http://radiology.casereports.net/index.php/rcr/about/editorialTeam

When Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practitioners Use PubMed: Responses of 18 Practitioners to Searching and Retrieving Knowledge in Pubmed

















Presented at

PKP Scholarly Publishing Conference

11-13 July, 2007

Vancouver, BC

Canada

By: Mia Quint-Rapoport

OISE/UT, Higher Education, Theory and Policy Studies

Study research questions:

How do ‘non-target’ users use the OA index Pubmed?

Do Pubmed search tools facilitate use of lit. for these groups?

Which tools are most/least useful?

The Open Access question

The study:

  • Interviews with 18 CAM practitioners.
  • Varying degrees of education.
  • Recruited from 3 different sources.
  • 1-1.5 hour lesson in use of Pubmed.
  • Some face to face, some over the phone

Methods:

Semi-structured interviews.

Interviews were transcribed.

Transcriptions were coded for themes.

Codes were synthesized and analyzed.

Based on grounded theory research methods.

Results:

Favorite tools:

Limits: (e.g. by gender).

Related Articles - liked to browse.

Boolean (in combination with above).

Clipboard.

Conclusion:

Participants frustrated by lack of access.

Pubmed not for an exclusive user group - broader applications.

Search and retrieval tools facilitate engagement.

Scholarly and scientific information is ‘useful’ for this non-target group.

For further information:

Abstract: http://ocs.sfu.ca/pkp2007/viewabstract.php?id=62

Article: http://www.jmir.org/2007/2/e19


The State of Acquisition, Organization and Use of Open Access Information Resources in Cameroon University Libraries


Full Title: The State of Acquisition, Organization and Use of Open Access Information Resources in Cameroon University Libraries: The Case of the University of Buea and University of Yaounde I Libraries Photo: Charles Kivin Wirsiy at PKP Conference

Presenter: Charles Kiven Wirsiy, Library Services, University of Buea, Cameroon
Time: 9:40 AM - 10:40 AM, 13 July 2007
Location: SFU Harbour Centre, Westcoast Energy Executive Meeting Room, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Photo: University of Buea

Background:
In 1992 Cameroon saw higher education reforms that led to the creation of 5 more universities that went to functional in May 1993. At the time the University of Yaoundé was the lone university in Cameroon. The new universities are either English, French or bilingual, including the University of Buea created in the Aglo-Saxon tradition. The University of Yaoundé has a bilingual and bicultural tradition but the French influence is more dominant. All six universities are funded by the government and suffer a perennial problem of inadequate funding. As a consequence, electronic journals can play a vital role in the delivery of information.

Wirsiy, of the University of Beau, examined the state of acquisition, organization, and use of electronic resources at the universities of Buea and Yaoundé I.

University of Buea:
- 14,000 students in 2006/7
- 80,00 volumes of manuals and serials (bulk in English)
- subscriptions to 8 journals
- access to electronic information on-line or on CD-ROM (including ADL, HINARI, AGORA, World Bank, TUFH, AJOL, OpenDOAR, DOAJ)
- connected to the Internet in 2003/4 but not functional due to issues with bandwidth
- automation underway
- directory of open access resources available on CD ROM and printed
- licenses with HINARI, AGORA, and World Bank - passwords provided to users to use from cafes or IT centre
- user education

University of Yaoundé I:
- 25,000 students in 2006/7
- 120,00 volumes of manuals and serials (bulk in French)
- no journal subscriptions
- access to HINARI and AGORA
- connected to Internet but not functional
- media center with 50 computers
- directory of open access resources available on CD ROM but not current
- licenses to HINARI and AGORA – passwords to users “timid”
- user education limited

Wirsiy’s comparison indicated that while open access is gaining ground in Africa, the state of affairs in Cameroon’s two prominent university libraries leaves much to be desired.

Improvement Prospects:
- improvement of ICT and bandwidth
- creation of “Centre Interuniversitaire des Resources Documentaires” (CIRD) and “Centre interuniversitaires des technologies de l’information et de la Communication” (CITI) by Minister of Education to act as clearinghouses
- creation of virtual libraries in state universities (UB given go-ahead but no prospects at UYI yet)
- increasing availability of cheap wireless broadband via mobile telephone companies (using mobile phones to download at UB)
- creation of Consortium of Cameroon University and Research Libraries (COCUREL) though assistance from the Electronic Information for Libraries Network (Helena Asamoa-Hassan from KNUST in Ghana went to Cameroon to help launch a functional consortium)
- creation of institutional information repositories

What’s Still Needed in terms of Open Access?
- improved Internet connectivity
- training
- increased knowledge of resources by those in education community

Blogger's Blurb:
“The publisher of an Africa scholarly journal is faced with the rapid expansion of higher education and an increased number of disciplines. This results in many small niche markers of isolated scholars, who either look to the North for specialized journals or are tempted into creating one of their own.”
- Jaygbay, J. 2007 Jun 29. The Politics of and Prospects for African Scholarly Journals in the Information Age. Developments in Scholarly Publishing

Wirsiy’s presentation was preceded by Helena Asamoah–Hassan’s presentation on the KNUST library in Kumasi, Ghana’s experience with electronic scholarly publishing The presentations are closely related to the extent that Helena visited Cameroon to help launch the Consortium of Cameroon University and Research Libraries. Both presenters, and the libraries discussed, suffer from a dearth of information and resources and are constrained by small budgets. While electronic journals and open-access seem an ideal means of enabling small libraries to access a wealth of information, the disparity of the “digital divide” is evident in the African context. Access to computers and reliable Internet connections were noted by both presenters and scholars at the University of Buea now depend on their mobile telephones to download and Internet cafés play a crucial role. Both presenters however expressed optimism and interest in electronic journal publishing and open access. Crucial insight was offered on how to introduce software such as OJS despite fear, skepticism and the challenges of government bureaucracy in Africa. While global access to information is the ultimate vision and hope, both presentations highlighted that global access still requires knowledge of regional and cultural issues.

Thomas Abraham’s presentation on scholarly publishing in India raised many similar concerns and considerations. His discussion of customizing OJS software in Hindi and the potential to extend this to other Indian languages seems particularly relevant in the African context. While the coordination and sharing between the libraries in Ghana and Cameroon is promising, extending such dialogue to other countries outside of Africa, such as India, would not only be valuable for all involved but very much in the spirit of expanding lines of communication with the aim of improving the quality of information that underlies the Public Knowledge Project.


Related conference presentations:

On libraries
"Rethinking Collections: Libraries and Librarians in an Open Age", "Librarians as campus OA leaders: the University of Alberta experience", "The Library as a mediator for e-publishing. A case on how a library can become a significant factor in facilitating digital scholarly communication and open access publishing for less web savvy journals", "The National Library of Australia: open access to Open Publish", "A content management strategy – implementing OJS and OCS at Swinburne University library", "Beyond the Experiment: The Scholarly Publishing Office and the Maturation of Library-Based Publishing", "Survey of Librarian Attitudes about Open Access", "A Critical Theory of Library Technology: Libraries & Electronic Publishing"

On Africa
"Strengthening African Research Culture and Capacities Project", "Scholarly publishing in sub-Saharan Africa in the twenty-first century: challenges and opportunities", "Open Source Software in Education in Africa", "Embracing Electronic Scholarly Publishing In Africa; The Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science And Technology (Knust) Library, Kumasi, Ghana As A Case Study"

Newfound Press: Digital Imprint of the University of Tennessee Libraries



PKP Scholarly Publishing Conference
13 July 2007
9:40-10:40 SFUHC Sauder Industries Policy Room

Presenter:
Linda L. Phillips, University Libraries, University of Tennessee.
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America.


Abstract
Full Text HTML

The University of Tennessee Newfound Press is positioned at the start of a new movement in scholarly publishing. Linda L Phillips, Alumni Distinguished Service Professor and Head of the University's Collection Development & Management provided reasons why the library made the move into digital availability of documents and some of the challenges of this move into the digital imprint.



The homepage of the Newfound Press site illustrates the four components of the library's work in web-based document access. Click on the logo to visit the site.

Developing the Newfound Press started with the familiar, the monograph, and lead to the non-traditional, incorporating video-streaming of conference presentations. In the future, journal articles could contain sound clips, video links, and further context to content in the electronic environment - adding value to textual content.

The wide disciplinary background of the Newfound Press editorial board reflects the interdisciplinary work that is possible and thrives with OA products. As the Press moves forward, building on a growing and positive interest by University of Tennessee faculty in OA and OJS publishing, the board is committed to providing a place for high quality and significant scholarly work as well as specialized work that might not be published in a print environment.

Current and ongoing work at the Newfound Press includes:
  • Creating a sustainable labour pool (this includes collection management, learning to use OJS, and transitioning staff)
  • Appropriate funding
  • Documentation
  • Marketing (convincing potential authors that Newfound Press benefits them personally as it benefits the scholarly community)
Phillips' closing anecdote related the reason for the the name of the University of Tennessee's press as a reference to the Newfound Gap between North Carolina and Tennessee. The university library, through digital imprints and digital publishing is venturing into this territory where there are unimaginable possibilities in the field of scholarly communication.



Question from the audience:

In Phillip's presentation, she noted the importance of attracting tenured faculty as authors to contribute to OA and OJS. So, is the perception that OJS and similar ventures are not of yet of value to those in established academic positions?

-Fair statement. Phillips explained that as those with tenure do not face the same pressure to establish their reputations via publication, OJS is not the risk that it might be for newer members of academia. Currently, creating and establishing a publishing persona in the print journal world might be the better option for scholars just starting out in their respective fields. As the perceptions of digital publishing change and if senior tenured faculty continue to contribute to OJS, this reputation bias will change as well.

Commentary

As Phillips explained, marketing will be key to expanding contributions to OJS and developing the Digital Imprint at the University of Tennessee. Funding for Newfound Press projects has come thanks to librarians using internal leverage within their institutions and building on past grants that suggest there is an interest in funding OA ventures.

The commitment to publishing high quality and significant scholarly work as Newfound Press moves forward should combat the reputation bias (regarding questions of peer-review and the inherent value of articles that are free to access) that can be associated with OJS. Instead of requiring continued funding to access the same material via subscription on-line publications, OA publishing needs the most investment at the idea stage – making possible the presentation of scholarly knowledge to a wide community, not the long-term management of institutional subscriptions.

Scholarly publishing will always be rooted in an economy. Moving from a monetary for-profit publishing scheme to a for-knowledge circulation scheme is possible. (See Paul David’s chapter for a discussion of “Economic Logic” and Dominique Foray's chapter in The Economics of Knowledge) For this to happen, universities can lead the way by recognizing that an initial investment in OJS start-up and maintenance can allow for a greater return to students, faculty, and staff who can freely access and share ideas with colleagues around the world and outside the academic fields. Continuing to pay increasing subscription fees to for-profit publications not only limits the number of projects libraries can fund, it limits the access to ideas that form the basis of the knowledge economy.



Links:

The Digital Library Center at the University of Tennessee


Gamut - The Newfound Press online journal for the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic
This summer marks the journal's adoption of the OJS format and Newfound Press is working to integrate the homepage with the on-line journal format.

Goodness Gracious, Miss Agnes, Newfound Press' first fully digitized monograph available for on-line viewing. The memoirs of Lera Knox, a Tennessee woman who documented life in the state during the Depression and onward.

Newfound Press adds value to textual contents of digital imprints by designing the images like the one at left, producing page-like pdf documents for easy readability, fully editing the monograph, translating documents, and providing authoritative introductions to the works.

“Living Reviews - Open Access Online Publications”

Presenter: Christina Weyher, Max Planck Digital Library (in the Max Planck Society)
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM July 13, 2007 Place: SFUHC Bank of Nova Scotia Lecture Room

Abstract:

Christina Weyher is the Project Manager for Living Reviews, an open access, on-line only publishing platform for science-based journals, which operates out of Germany. The presenters area of speciality is in information science and she share her experience working in the field of scientific scholarly publishing.

As Christina Weyher discussed the Living Reviews project she draws attention to the importance of having innovative editorial content access through open publication platforms. The publication highlights current research and the challenges that are faced in future research. As interest and visibility are growing, the site now acts as a platform for four key areas: relativity, solar physics, european governance and landscape research. The Living Review portal necessitated certain functions through the library and since 2002 Living Reviews has been supported by the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation as part of the Center for Information Management in the Max Planck Society (ZIM) - non-profit research organisation

What is unique about these journals?

Articles are updated and remain current by authors via open access service. The target group is for the scientific community, but authors are asked to keep the content accessible, so the journals are read by members outside the scholarly community as well. Some of the features of Living Journals include:


  • peer-reviewed articles
  • insightful surveys on research progress in the field
  • guiding readers to pertinent and current iliterature
  • research solicited from experts in the field by an international Editorial Board
  • open access publications
  • 'living articles' meaning regularly updated by the authors to incorporate latest developments and discoveries

In terms of the latter feature, the publication has requirements for updates, usually after two years of submission; a substantional revision review covers recent developments and uncovers any new aspects. After a full peer review a new publication number is generated, but linked to original article through special tracking macro and citation tracking tools. The publication now boasts a fast track revision for minor updates, which usually consist of short notices or the addition of new references. This is reviewed by the subject editor and all changes are tracked.

Online interface and challenges: Some articles are lengthy (which brings to mind Ray Siemen's REKn discussion of how efficient reading need not be the entire document) and require a large amount of space as do the high resolution illustrations that often accompany the submissions. These articles are both in HTML and PDF.

Weyher discussed the need for quality control and how the journal is looking at having referee reports published along with the articles. She also brought up the blind referee model as necessary to provide objectivity. As the portal grows, new considerations and discussions emerge, which also keeps the publishing process 'living' much like the author's submissions.

Open access has brought down barriers and is a key factor in the success of the portal (3000 downloads per month). As all journal context is exposed to search engines, the publication is viable, visible and accessible. The presenter echoed a common theme heard throughout the PKP conference - the need to have enthusiastic, dedicated people involved in an open-access project.

Christina Weyher spoke about the collaboration involved in electronic publishing and the ease with which migration for other journals occurred as they had a successful model to draw from. She also stressed the need for institutional support and the important role that foundations play.


Reflections:
Christina Weyher's presentation illustrated the continuity between current open access models of publishing with the original collaborative process seen in the days of Oldenberg's Philosophical Transactions. In the Living Review model, authors are encouraged to revise and update their findings, making for a collection of relevant and accurate research, reviewed and commented on by peers in the scholarly community. This also meen the publishers and authors are engaged in a collaborative communication as they strive to produce affordable, efficient methods of disseminating relevant scholarly information. In keeping with the democratic principles of open access, the articles are free, and being offered in HTML format lessens the technical challenges in access for users in developing nations, a practice seen in other journals, such as Bioline, and recommended by authors like Subbiah Arunachalam. This lessens the gap of access and heightens the visibility for potential authors from developing countries who wish to submit articles. This project is equitable in that operates as an entry point for graduate students and a collaborative network for experienced researchers, but also remains accessible - in language and cost -to the general public as well. Seeded, supported and published through the foundational support, all publication software is open source and can be used for non-commercial purposes without attached licensing fees. Unlike the traditional journal models, Living Review publishers allows authors to retain copyright. As publishing and editorial services are available to any journals affiliated with the Max Planck Institutes, the platform is expanding as the distribution grows - generating greater visibility for authors and journals alike. Clearly, the shape of publishing and research access is changing and Living Review demonstrates that open source journals can be an economically sustainable option. Maintaining the balance between retaining intellectual property rights and public knowledge is critical, as is fostering positive relationships between publishers and scholars. Living Review is demonstrating a protection of the commons while fostering the principles of innovation and scholarly incentives.