Articles tagged with: Open Access

  • Library supports for open access publishing

    Library supports for open access publishing 

    Global celebrations of International Open Access Week from Oct. 23-29 are a good opportunity to highlight how the Library supports Brock researchers in achieving broad reach and deep impact for their publications. 

    Open Access refers to free, immediate online access to research and brings many benefits, including increased visibility for Brock research, higher citation rates and public access to publicly-funded research. Supporting open access has always been a key priority for the Library, which: 

    • Provides free hosting support for 12 open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journals operated by Brock researchers 
    • Disseminates Brock research globally via the open access Brock Digital Repository 
    • Invests in a wide range of open access platforms which benefit researchers and readers around the globe 
    • Participates in a growing number of read-and-publish agreements which allow Brock authors to publish for free, or at a discount, in journals which charge fees for full or hybrid open access publication 
    • Supports researchers in meeting the expectations of Brock University’s Open Access Policy  

    To learn more, please consider participating in Brock’s Open Access Week activities or email Elizabeth Yates, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian ~ eyates@brocku.ca

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  • Resources to learn more about Open Access

    As part of 2023 Open Access Week activities at Brock, a virtual collection of books and ebooks focused on open access and information sharing activities is available to browse. Discover how free, unrestricted online access to research outputs can benefit society, researchers included!

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  • Open Access Week 2023: Celebrating community over commercialization

    Community over Commercialization is this year’s theme for International Open Access Week, Oct. 23-29. This is more than a slogan. It is a timely statement for a movement that has seen much growth in open access infrastructure and alternative providers in research years. These alternative publishing options for researchers emphasize and facilitate the building of an open access community of researchers and scholars, a deliberate alternative to commercial publishers, which are for-profit companies that extract profits from the work of scholars.

    The Brock Library continues to invest in several such open access platforms. The overall goal of these platforms is to make research freely available to readers around the world. These open infrastructure initiatives are examples of part of this growing movement that takes the products of publicly funded scholarly research out of the commercial sphere- a space largely controlled by a small number of actors, and moves this into a community-operated system of research sharing. The impact of such developments for open access research is far reaching. In this system, both the writers and readers of scholarship have access to the most current findings without having to navigate a paywall.

    To learn more, join Elizabeth Yates, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian, and Laurie Morrison, Collections Librarian, on Oct. 24, 12-1 pm, for a discussion of the perils of prioritizing profit over the public good and the promise offered by community-controlled publishing platforms. Registration via ExperienceBU.

    This workshop is part of the Library’s Open Access Week activities, which also include an Oct. 26 workshop focusing on planning for open access publishing at little or no cost, a virtual collection of books and ebooks focused on open access and information sharing activities.

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  • Applications now being accepted to the Library Open Access Publishing Fund

    The Library Open Access Publishing Fund, which assists Brock researchers who wish to publish in a journal which levies article processing charges, is now taking applications for the 2022-23 budget year 

    As always, the fund operates on a first-come, first-served basis and applicants must meet the fund’s eligibility criteria. 

    This year’s criteria have been updated to help ensure the limited grant funding available will have maximum impact and effectiveness: 

    • Researchers who received a grant in 2021-22 may only apply for a 2022-23 grant after January 2023 
    • This grant is intended to support researchers with limited or no funding. Recipients of grants from funders such as the Tri-Agencies or other agencies are not eligible to apply 

    The Library provides other supports to help researchers make their work openly accessible for low or no cost: 

    • Researchers can make their scholarly articles open access – for free – by depositing a copy in the Brock Digital Repository, an online archive of Brock research which can be freely accessed by anyone. Authors can submit papers themselves or use the Library’s supported-deposit process. 
    • The Library has negotiated open access agreements and discounts with a growing number of publishers which allow Brock authors to publish in their journals for free, or at significantly lowered costs. 
    • And finally, researchers can search the Directory of Open Access Journals to select one of more than 12,000 scholarly, peer-reviewed open access journals which do not charge article processing fees. 

    As a reminder, the Brock University Open Access Policy stipulates that Brock authors are expected to make their research articles openly accessible by depositing copies in the Brock Digital Repository 

    Questions? Contact Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian Elizabeth Yates ~ eyates@brocku.ca 

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  • Open Access Publishing Fund update

    While the Library Open Access Publishing Fund is fully expended for the 2021-22 budget year, the Library continues to support Brock authors in making their research openly accessible – in many cases, at low or no cost.

    Researchers can make their scholarly articles open access – for free – by depositing a copy in the Brock Digital Repository, an online archive of Brock research which can be freely accessed by anyone. Authors can submit papers themselves or use the Library’s supported-deposit process.

    The Library has negotiated open access agreements and discounts with a growing number of publishers which allow Brock authors to publish in their journals for free, or at significantly lowered costs.

    And finally, researchers can search the Directory of Open Access Journals to select one of more than 12,000 scholarly, peer-reviewed open access journals which do not charge article processing fees.

    Questions? Contact Liaison and Scholarly Communication Librarian Elizabeth Yates ~ eyates@brocku.ca

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  • International Open Access Week at Brock

    The Brock University Library will join in the global celebrations of International Open Access Week with two workshops highlighting how researchers can maximize the impact of their scholarship.

    • Oct. 26, 12-1 p.m. – Opening up graduate scholarship via the Brock Digital Repository, with Tim Ribaric, Acting Head of the Brock Digital Scholarship Lab and Map, Data and GIS Library, and Elizabeth Yates, Liaison and Scholarly Communication Librarian. This workshop will explore the process of showcasing graduate research via the Brock Digital Repository and highlight key considerations around publishing, copyright and embargoes. Register here.
    • Oct. 28, 12-1 p.m. – Maximizing Access and Impact: Support for Open Access Publishing at Brock, with Cal Murgu, Instructional Design Librarian, and Elizabeth Yates, Liaison and Scholarly Communication Librarian. This workshop will explore the benefits of open access publishing and highlight financial support available via the Library Open Access Publishing Fund and funding memberships with major publishers. Register here.

    Open Access refers to free, immediate online access to research. The theme of International Open Access Week is: It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity. This theme aligns with the recent UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, which centres the need to “embrace a diversity of knowledge, practices, workflows, languages, research outputs and research topics”.  Open science, and open access publishing, can advance structural equity by ensuring equitable sharing of research outputs from scholars in both developed and developing nations.

    The Library strives to advance equitable open access practices by providing infrastructure to disseminate Brock’s research outputs via the Brock Digital Repository and Scholarly Journals at Brock, through education and advocacy, and by making financial investments to support a variety of open access platforms and projects.

    “During Open Access Week, we invite everyone in the Brock community to reflect on how they can break down barriers in how knowledge is created and shared,” says Elizabeth Yates, Liaison and Scholarly Communication Librarian. “And we hope that these workshops will spur conversations and actions which can help all of us advance equity – both individually and in our academic systems and communities.”

    More Open Access Week events from around the world can be found here.

     

     

     

     

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  • Agreement with SAGE gives Brock authors more options for publishing Open Access

    Brock Library is pleased to share that The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and SAGE Publications have signed a transformative agreement that will give Brock authors increased support for Open Access publishing. 

    As of January 1, 2021, Brock-affiliated authors may now publish Open Access with no Article Processing Charges (APCs) in over 900 SAGE Choice journals. Brock authors will also receive a 40% discount on APCs in SAGE’s Gold Open Access JournalsMore information for authors is available here. 

    Much of academic publishing output is behind paywalls that limit who can access and learn from this research. Transformative agreements are an emerging vehicle to shift scholarly publishing towards Open Access and broader availability of this researchThese agreements transform libraries’ existing subscriptions to publishers journals so that they include not just access to articles, but also cover affiliated authors’ APCs. This is CRKN and Brock’s first transformative agreement. 

    Questions? Read more about Library support for Open Access publishing, or email Evelyn Feldman, Collections/Liaison Librarian, at efeldman@brocku.ca 

     

     

     

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  • Celebrating Open Access Week and Brock’s new Open Access Policy

    October 19-25 is the thirteenth International Open Access Week, an event for the research community around the world to spread awareness of the benefits of Open Access.

    Join in at Brock by attending a presentation on Tuesday, October 20 at 1pm, which will introduce the Open Access movement broadly, delve into how it works in journal publishing, and finish by tying this all together with Brock’s new Open Access Policy.

    The policy, recently adopted by Senate, calls for Brock researchers and scholars to deposit an electronic copy of their academic journal articles into the Brock University Digital Repository, an online collection of scholarly output produced by the Brock community and managed by the Library.

    Researchers can submit work themselves to the repository or use a Library service called Support for Sharing Your Work – complete a form, attach your articles and Library staff will deposit them on your behalf.

    More information about the open access policy, including answers to frequently asked questions and an opt-out form, can be found on the policy webpage.

    For event details and connection information, please visit ExperienceBU. For more information, please contact your Liaison Librarian.

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  • Library supports Brock’s new Open Access Policy

    With Brock becoming the 12th university in Canada to adopt an Open Access Policy, the Library is here to support researchers in making their work openly accessible. 

    The policy, recently adopted by Senate, calls for Brock researchers and scholars to deposit an electronic copy of their academic journal articles into the Brock University Digital Repository, an online collection of scholarly output produced by the Brock community and managed by the Library. 

    Researchers can submit work themselves to the repository or use a Library service called Support for Sharing Your Work – complete a form, attach your articles and Library staff will deposit them on your behalf. 

    More information about the open access policy, including answers to frequently asked questions and an opt-out form, can be found on the policy webpage. 

    For more information, contact Liaison and Scholarly Communication Librarian Elizabeth Yates – eyates@brocku.ca or your Liaison Librarian 

     

     

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  • Library supports Brock researchers publishing in Frontiers journals 

    Brock University Library has signed an institutional agreement that provides a 50% discount on article processing charges for Brock researchers who choose to publish with Frontiersa major international publisher of peer-reviewed open access journals. 

    This discount is the latest demonstration of the Library’s strong commitment to investing in open access resources, reflecting its mission to enhance access to information and accelerate knowledge production. Recognizing that some Brock authors choose to publish in open access journals which charge APCs, these investments include: 

    The library also provides financial support to several open platforms such as the Directory of Open Access Journals and partnering with Scholars Portal to offer Open Journal Systems to our users for free. In addition to advancing free, immediate access to scholarly resources for all, the Library thus signals the importance of open scholarship to the Brock community and is pursuing a longer-term goal of reforming a dysfunctional scholarly publishing system.    

    Brock authors may claim the Frontiers APC discount during the article submission process by selecting ‘Brock University’ as institutional payer in the invoice section of the process. Frontiers will then verify authors’ eligibility with Brock University Library, and if confirmed, 50% of the APC will be paid by the Library upon acceptance. Researchers will receive an invoice from Frontiers for the remaining 50% of the article processing charge.  

    Questions? Contact Scholarly Communication Librarian Elizabeth Yates ~ eyates@brocku.ca 

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