My journey to open access: Reflections of a newcomer

Cheryl Hodgkinson-WilliamsOpeningScholarship Project

26 March 2008

Getting my head aroundopen access …

• What I thought was open access was:– Access to the online databases such as

EBSCOHost, Science Direct, etc. confusing “online access” (for which Universities pay vast amounts of money each year) and “open access” which is usually “online”, but gives immediate access to a user without the user having to pay for access to a journal article or a book.

The advantages of open access in my view …

• The immediate access - current research a click away – was the most self-evident

• What took a little longer to realise was the benefit of:– Having research published more quickly (NB in my line of work –

ICTs in Education)– Having a “voice from the South” that does not necessarily make

the priority list of Northern journal editors– Linking back to other publications (PhD, conference papers,

(abstracts only in proceedings, reports, presentations) that I would like to refer to but because they are not publicly available I could not do so

http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Previous.html#2006Accessed 26 March 2008

http://eprints.ru.ac.za/es/index.php?action=show_detail_eprint;id=212;year=0;month=0;range= Accessed 26 March 2008

http://eprints.ru.ac.za/es/index.php?action=show_detail_eprint;id=575;year=0;month=0;range= Accessed 26 March 2008

What was the urgency of OA?

• As other academics around the world – I was being required to publish more and competing heavily with other academics from around the world for the same ISI and IBSS journals (we have no dedicated journal for ICTs in Education in South Africa) – have to find another platform to make my SA research available to SA readers – otherwise the SA research is “locked up” until one can pay for access.

Open access and peer review

• Open access journals have the same peer review system as traditional journals – and many are accredited on the ISI and IBSS lists

• Many journals are now offering both routes – traditional publishing route (which could be online but only to subscribers) or an open access route for which you pay an author fee upfront.

• Some open access journals even have options for online comments from readers – even more comprehensive than just the peer review system

So what’s the catch?

• Upfront author fees for journal publications – but can be written into research proposals

• Institutional repositories (e.g. Rhodes) – but can create your own website too or persuade the department to add articles (make sure you have permission from the journal to “self-archive”), conference papers, presentations, etc. to the departmental website