bringing history into the digital age: a case study of an online journal transition
DESCRIPTION
Given the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 scholarly journals in existence (Morrison, 2009), the long-term sustainability and growth of a subject-specific publication can seem tenuous. Such longevity becomes even more precarious when the publication does not have an electronic counterpart. This is the challenge facing Canadian Military History, a journal that has been attracting both scholars and enthusiasts for over twenty years. In an effort to broaden their readership, increase visibility, and streamline workflows, CMH enlisted the services of the Laurier Library and WLU Press to transition to an online format through Scholars Commons @ Laurier, an institutional repository using Berkeley Electronic Press’s Digital Commons software. This case study offers an illustration of the challenges faced and the strategies used to overcome them, including issues surrounding copyright, access, and digital publishing. Presenter: Caitlin Bakker, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityTRANSCRIPT
Bringing History into the Digital Age: A Case Study of
the Transition of a Journal
Caitlin BakkerWilfrid Laurier [email protected]
Some Background• Part of a much larger project (the
university’s institutional repository—http://scholars.wlu.ca)
• Connections to the V.P. Academic & Provost, the V.P. Research, and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
• Since October 1, 2011, 22,500 full-text downloads from 3,083 cities in 150 countries
• Joint initiative of the Library and the University Press
“What distinguishes communication from publication is that publication is created by a whole process of selection, processing, formatting, distribution, institutionalization of forums, recognition and archiving of papers submitted. This is the territory of journals.”
(Boismenu & Beaudry, 2004, p. 9)
Canadian Military History
• A quarterly publication of the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies
• Editorial board and contributors include some of the foremost scholars in the field
• In print since 1992, no complete electronic edition until this point
• Initial assumptions had been that working with an existing journal would be simpler than launching a new journal (partially true)
• 84% of SSH journals in English are available online
• Approximately 23,700 peer-reviewed journals publishing 1.59 million articles every year
• Enormous public interest in the discipline• But, there is a resistance to electronic
publication based on a perceived lack of quality and recognition
The Central Problem: How do we maintain prestige while broadening
our readership?
SSHRC’s Aid to Scholarly Journals
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council program to assist existing journals• Up to $30,000 CAN per journal per annum
• Prerequisites for consideration include:• “Diversity and relevance of the journal’s proposed
strategies for reaching the appropriate readership”• “Nature and extent of the journal’s readership, and the
journal’s efforts to increase or broaden that readership”
• “Impact of the journal’s articles”
Lessons Learned
• Understand the journal’s mandate and motivations• Learn what is not yet in place (by-laws, policies,
agreements)• Leave the “fun stuff” for last• Put it in writing! • By-laws (internal)• Policies (external)
• Expect resistance• Manage expectations
Author Editor Reviewers
Accept
Reject
Aims & scope? Mission statement? Submission
guidelines? Style guide? Conflict of
interest? Simultaneous
submission? CTA? Moral rights?
Selection? Function and responsibility (Recruitment?
Submission? Review?) Managing editor or
editorial teams? Division of duties?
Selection? Recruitment? Guidelines?
Accountability? Conflict of interest?
Timelines?
Revision? Agreement? Page proofs? Timelines?
Complaints? Resubmission?
The Copyright Conundrum
• No author agreements• Economic Rights and
Moral Rights to be considered
• An index for articles from 1992 to 2003, but nothing after
• Little or no contact information for authors
Copyright Transfer Agreements
• A statement of authorship and originality• Indemnification for libelous materials and
assurance that the article contains no violation of any personal or property rights
• Provisions regarding further use, including education use, deposit in IRs or subject repositories, revision and republication
• Author’s rights and responsibilities (page proofs, etc.)
• Moral rights
Key Point: Define your terms!
Gratis
• “Free beer” open access
• Removal of price barriers
• Individuals are free to consume/read as they please
Libre
• “Free speech” open access
• Removal of permissions barriers
• Individuals can consume, but can also revise, reproduce, etc.
Access
• 2-year moving wall• A calculated risk• Risk can be lessened by included copyright
symbols (©) and registering copyright • Considering journal objectives
• Multiple revenue sources considered• Subscription• Advertising• Author pays• Pay-per-view
Creating an e-Readership
• Benefits of working with an established journal• Maintaining prestige rather than building it• Steady stream of submissions
• Extensive scholarly networks of editorial boards
• Large back catalogue• Exposing metadata, even for subscription
materials• Some journals use an incremental
publishing model
The Formula for Success
• A critical mass of high-quality materials• Well-formed metadata and carefully
chosen keywords• A long-term investment of time, energy,
and resources• Sheer luck
Questions? Comments?
Canadian Military History is now electronically available at http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh
References• Boismenu, G., & Beaudry, G. (2004). Scholarly journals in the
new digital world. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. • Gould, T.H.P. (2011). Protocols and challenges to the creation of
a cross-disciplinary journal. Journal of Scholarly Publishing, 42 (2), 105-141.
• Harris, L.E. (2001). Canadian copyright law. (3rd ed.). Toronto: McGraw-Hill.
• Phillips, A. (2009). Business models in journal publishing. The Future of the Academic Journal. Eds. B. Cope & A. Phillips. Oxford: Chandos. 87-104.
• Solomon, D. (2008). Developing open access journals: A practical guide. Oxford: Chandos.
• Xia, J. (2009). Library publishing as a new model of scholarly communication. Journal of Scholarly Publishing, 40 (4), 370-383.