New and Alternative Directions in Scholarly Publishing: The Berkeley Electronic Press Experience Tim Tamminga 2010

Bepress history

Berkeley Electronic Press

Bepress has two primary activities: Scholarly journal publishing Bepress journals list Bepress journals list Software developed to promote scholarly communications (Digital Commons) DC journals DC sites DC journalsDC sites

Journals

Traditional scholarly publishing and tenure

25,000 active scholarly peer-reviewed journals, collectively publishing about 1.5 million articles a year Between 8000 to 8500 of these are owned by commercial publishers Almost 5000 journals are published by these publishers on behalf of societies and associations There are about 9,000 non-commercial journals There are almost 2500 journals published within universities & colleges, e.g., department titles, editor-driven, student run law reviews, managed titles and titles held smaller societies “The stm report: An overview of scientific and scholarly journals publishing,” Mark Ware. Sept 2009

Print vs electronic The vast majority of STM journals are now available online, with 96% of STM and 87% of arts, humanities and social sciences journals accessible electronically in The average cost of publishing an article in a subscription-based journal with print and electronic editions was estimated by a RIN/CEPA 2008 study to be $3800 (excluding non-cash peer review costs). The study estimated that eliminating print editions would save about $1.5 billion globally. There’s incentive to eliminate print journals. “The stm report: An overview of scientific and scholarly journals publishing,” Mark Ware. Sept 2009

Publishing cycle “The stm report: An overview of scientific and scholarly journals publishing,” Mark Ware. Sept 2009

Peer-review All the major publishers use an online article submission system and peer-review process even if the result is a print journal An international survey of journal editors conducted in late 2007 reported that 76% of journal editors were using online submission systems on their journals Journals without electronic submission and peer-review tend to be published by small publishers and societies, and they are struggling to survive

Benefit of e-journals Electronic journals support new types of impact measurements, i.e., usage or download counts. Authors can get reports of how many people are reading their articles and where these readers come from

Incentives for libraries to favor electronic journals The very low marginal costs of electronic distribution have allowed publishers to offer access to sets of journals (up to and including the complete output of the publisher) for relatively small additional license fees compared to the previous total print subscriptions at the institution. No requirement for physical facilities.

Business model for commercial journals The “Big Deal” and similar discounted packages have been extremely successful in widening researchers’ access to journals while simultaneously reducing the average cost per subscription and the average cost per article download. “The stm report: An overview of scientific and scholarly journals publishing,” Mark Ware. Sept 2009 Although the bundle model is under pressure from librarians (e.g. for reasons of inflexibility, lack of control or outdated pricing models) its benefits appear sufficient for it to remain the dominant business model for some time

Scholarly Publishing: In Crisis?

Historical perspective Scholarly publishing was largely based on the principle of gifts: authors give their treatises to others in exchange for access to theirs. In the 1960s, commercial publishers began to produce scholarly journals and charge prices that produced a profit for them. This profit motive now drives many scholarly societies as well David Shulenburger, Vice President for Academic Affairs, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), in the closing keynote, SPARC Digital Repositories meeting, November 2008

Publishing today “Vice Chancellors for Research and Deans are witnessing the gradual diminution of publishing options and opportunities for UC faculty, particularly in the arts and humanities.” “Junior faculty are beginning to struggle to get the book contracts they need for tenure and promotion; faculty working in innovative fields or non-traditional projects are constrained by a publishing model that cannot serve their needs; and campus resources are increasingly compromised by the commercial publishing culture” University of California taskforce on University Publishing by Catherine Candee & Lynne Withey

Small scholarly publishers are struggling Many small publishers struggle with declining subscription bases, particularly domestically and even research libraries report regular journal cancellations projects. Most of the journals that are lagging in the development of electronic formats are from publishers who print one or a handful of titles Research Library Publishing Services: New Options for University Publishing. Karla Hahn, March Published by ARL

Small societies are struggling Most small societies have a journal or newsletter. The societies cannot sustain these publications in print form. They also are losing members, especially younger members. They don’t know how to transition from print to electronic Publications tend to lack the credentials of more mainstream journals Additional services are needed to retain members and keep them involved Peer-review is difficult to provide and sustain in print. Medieval Feminist Forum

Libraries are struggling economically January 19, from the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) to the world: “The ICOLC library consortia consider the current [economic] crisis of such significance that we cannot simply assume that libraries and publishers share a common perspective about the magnitude of the crisis and the best approaches to cope with it.”

Bepress publishing alternatives

Characteristics of bepress journals Fast peer-review and publication (10 weeks) Flexible issue structure (traditional or incremental series) Journal of Homeland SecurityJournal of Homeland Security Extensive dissemination. Optimized for Google and Google Scholar searching Low cost compared to other publishers Guest access: free access for individuals Guest access slideGuest access slide Access for developing countries. Impact factor: wide readership increases citations

Let’s stretch the meaning of publishing Publishing that supports teaching faculty

Digital Commons: publishing hub

Publishing: Journals, peer-reviewed series… McMaster University: Russell Journal Okayama University: Acta Medica Policy Studies Organization (PSO) Bond University: Spreadsheets in Education

Books University of Nebraska's Online Dictionary of Invertebrate Zoology Cranes of the World

Applied research University of Massachusetts: Scholarly engagement University of Massachusetts: Community engagement University of Nebraska: Community engagement

Student Scholarship USU's Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies University of Pennsylvania: CUREJ Colby College: Atlas of Maine Texas State University - San Marcos: Thesis Bryant College: student scholarship and the historical material

Events Publishing: conferences University of Pennsylvania's Proceedings Macalester College: Library Technology conference Illinois Wesleyan University: John Wesley Powell Conference Pacific University: College of Optometry conference Utah State University: IR Day

Providing a destination for teaching and research