What is the Optimal Funding Cycle in Academic Publishing?

by Jessica Grant

Scholarship and Open Access

According to (Creative Commons, 2020) The purpose of scientific inquiry at a university is the fundamental search for knowledge. Teaching, the open exchange of ideas, and the process of publishing original research are all methods by which academic faculty,learners, staff, and others contribute to advancing scholarship.

The lack of access to scholarly publishing has an impact on our education system and the advancement of research and science. Without access to published research professors are unable to transfer findings on to students. Furthermore, less affluent countries are prevented from accessing scholarly publishing because of financial barriers and hitting paywalls. This, in turn, puts them at a disadvantage in their education and research contributions. (Open Access Explained, 2012)

person holding a swab and test tube glass — Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.com

woman writing on a whiteboard — Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.com

Government grants are secured to conduct research
The research results are prepared in the form of a scientific journal submission for publication without any expectation of payment, but rather to increase education.
Peer reviewers (experts in the field) review each others work for publication without payment.
Upon publication, the work that has been paid for by the public taxpayers and the institutions that contributed to the work must pay again to access the work.

The current funding cycle for research articles is not conducive to the advancement of science. Researchers are passionate and dedicated to their work, often contributing countless hours and decades of their lives to advance knowledge of mankind. Without a progressive approach to publication, manuscripts remain locked behind paywalls, only available to elite academic institutions, leaving science stagnant and slowly progressing.

This work, “Current Funding Cycle”, is a derivative of “Current funding cycle for research articles”
by Billymeinke | Creative Commons Wiki used under CC BY 4.0 remixed by Jessica Grant.

In the above infographic I remixed the work of Billymeinke to demonstrate the current funding cycle.

‘CLOSED’ ACCESS SYSTEM For-profit publishers are selling back access to scholarly produced research journal publications that have been generated under government grant funded research projects.

OPEN ACCESS SYSTEM This system is not only the optimal public investment but also accelerates scientific research by allowing open access.

Open Access publishing creates an inclusive learning environment for all, leaving behind the elitist education and corruption public investing. Open Access not only empowers the researchers authoring the manuscripts but also the students, university faculty, staff, and the public by allowing open access to research publications conducted under government grant funding.

Changing Academic Publishing

1. University Policies

Individual colleges and universities are adopting open access policies. These policies frequently specify requirements for open access publishing and disseminating intellectual work by university faculty as well as rules for doing so, usually through the campus institutional repository. The materials listed below can be helpful for librarians who may be supporting or assisting with the implementation of an institutional open access policy:

Canadian University Open Access Statements – A list of statements that recommend repository deposit.
Good Practices for University Open Access Policies – A guide to good practices for college and university OA policies.
Coalition of Open Access Policy (COAP) – Documents to assist with policy development,promotion, and implementation.
ROARMAP Registry of Open Access Repository – A searchable international registry charting the growth of open access mandates and policies adopted by universities, research institutions and research funders that require or request their researchers to provide open access to their peer-reviewed research article output by depositing it in an open access repository.

(“Scholarly Communication”, 2022).

2. Public Policies

Public policies can guarantee that publicly funded research is made available to the public on an Open Access basis.

Canada’s Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications In Canada the Tri- Agencies released an open access policy on publications in 2015 which now requires all funded research published in academic journals to be made open access within 12 months of publication.

Notable funders requiring OA:

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
National Institue of Health (NIH)
National Science Foundation

3. Authors Publishing Rights

There are several tools for authors to assist in understanding their rights including; The Termination of Transfer Tool, The Scholars Copyright Addendum Engine, and the Authors Alliance and PLOS provide an abundance of resources. (Creative Commons, 2020)

For publisher copyright policies and self archiving:

OASIS(OpenAccess Scholarly Information Sourcebook): Web Archive. The OASIS site provides answers to 35 frequently asked questions about authors’ rights and self-archiving.
SHERPA/RoMEO Searchable by journal title or publisher name, this site provides information on publisher permissions related to the self-archiving of journal articles.
The Scholars Copyright Addendum Engine can be used by faculty and other authors to amend publication agreements when they are submitting an article to a traditional publisher.
Authors Alliance publishes resources about these tools and open access, and
PLOS offers resources and articles about the benefits of open access .

crop barista putting signboard with open inscription on glass wall — Photo by Tim Douglas on Pexels.com

a close up shot of letter dice — Photo by Tim Douglas on Pexels.com

Academic publishing is still very much based on archaic principles. With the advances of the internet and more recently, the Covid19 pandemic, it is time to advance past the “double-dipping” publishing companies and open up access to scholarly publishing. According to Creative Commons (2022) Academic institutions have a significant role in advancing scientific research, and faculty must publish their work in order to share their discoveries with colleagues and the general audience. Librarians can collaborate with university researchers to advance information access because they are the knowledge organizers within institutions. They can do this by teaching them on the “how” and “why” of open access, offering information on copyright, advice, and suggestions to increase the impact and reach of scholarly publishing in particular fields.

References + Attributes:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Open Access Policy. (1991-2022). Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved from:

https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/policies-and-resources/openaccess-policy

Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI).(2007-2022). SPARC*. Retrieved from: https://sparcopen.org/coapi/

Creative Commons for Educators and Librarians. (2002). Creative Commons Organization. (2022). ALA Editions. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w2Kz8c7xpf-fRIqRvkUjqt9drSRl7MRG/view

Creative Commons for Educators and Librarians/Chapter 5.(August 20,

2020). Wikisource. [Wikimedia]. Retrieved from: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_for_Educators_and_Librarians/Chapter_5

C-SKI. (2017, Oct. 2). Canadian University Open Access Statements. Open Scholarship Policy Observatory. Policies. Retrieved from:

https://ospolicyobservatory.uvic.ca/canadian-university-open-accessstatements/

Daniels, J. (2013, June 27). Legacy vs. Digital Models of Academic

Scholarship. Just Publics @365. [blog] Retrieved from:

https://justpublics365.commons.gc.cuny.edu/06/2013/legacy-vs-digitalmodels-

of-academic-scholarship/

Engle, W. et al. (2021, Oct.6). Program for Open Scholarship and Education.

The University of British Columbia. Retrieved from:

https://pose.open.ubc.ca/open-access/pathways-to-open/open-accessmandates/

Good practices for university open-access policies. (October 10, 2022).