Belk Library and Information Commons

Much progress has certainly been made in the last 20 years to devise solutions to the scholarly communication crisis, including:

• the open access movement to provide scholarly information freely on the Internet; [See short video that explains academia's need for open access]
• new publishing models like BioOne, which is a cost-effective model for access to biological literature;
• institutional repositories such as NC DOCKS (locally administered through ASU Library) which offer access to scholarly works produced at specific institutions and other works that otherwise may not be published, such as data and supporting material;
• legislation such as the new NIH Policy to ensure public access to research results funded by taxpayers.

Although the impact of these efforts is growing, this arena needs imagination, creativity, and energy to produce additional results.

What Can Faculty Authors Do?

1. Increase the impact of your work by depositing a digital copy in NC DOCKS. Using an online open archive such as the UNC-System supported NC DOCKS, faculty can deposit research materials (including pre- and/or post-prints of articles plus supporting data) and link to it from a personal website. Benefits include increased citations, access for scholars without subscriptions to that journal, a stable, online URL for your publications, and a strong preservation policy.

2. Try to retain copyright and control of your own scholarship. When you choose a journal in which to publish, look closely at their policies on copyrights, including self-archiving and other uses of your work. Consider modifying your contract by using an author addendum. SPARC's author addendum is a legal agreement that allows you to retain specific parts of your copyrights.

3. Consider publishing in an open access venue. The Directory of Open Access Journals lists more than 3,900 journals. To publish in open access journals, you may be required to pay a publication fee. The Library is willing to support faculty by paying this fee. Contact Allan Scherlen in Belk Librarys at scherlnag@appstate.edu for more information.

4. Research your journal before publishing to decide if it represents a sustainable publishing model.

   • Journal Cost Effectiveness: Ranks internationally-published journals by price per article or citation.
   • Publisher and Journal Profiles: Lists publisher, list price, impact factor, and average annual price increase.
   • Role of Scholarly Societies: Discusses best practices among high-profile societies.
   • SHERPA/RoMEO: Investigate whether the journal allows you to self archive your paper in NC DOCKS or another repository.

   
   

Please contact Allan Scherlen in Belk Library at scherlnag@appstate.edu for more information.