Incentivizing Open
Access: the Library
as Publisher
Timothy S. Deliyannides
Director, Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing
and Head, Information Technology
SPARC Open Access Meeting
Kansas City, March 11-13, 2012
Libraries as Publishers – Current Trends
 More than 75% of ARL libraries offer or plan to offer
publishing services.
 Most expect to expand these services in future.
 Dedicated publishing staff are rare.
 Most do not have sustainability plans.
 Most plan to expand cost recovery mechanisms
moving forward.
Source: Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success Research Report , v. 2.0. http://wp.sparc.arl.org/lps/
Why become a Publisher?
 Provide services that scholars understand, need
and value
 Transform the unsustainable commercial
subscription pricing system
 Take direct action to support Open Access
 Deepen our understanding of scholarly
communications issues
Strategic Goal
Innovation in Scholarly Communication
 Support researchers in
– efficient knowledge production
– rapid dissemination of new research
– open access to scholarly information
 Build collaborative partnerships
around the world
 Improve the production and sharing of scholarly
research
 Support innovative publishing services
 Establish trusted repositories for the research output of
the University
Collaboration with
University of Pittsburgh Press
 Press focuses on books and
monographs rather than journals
 Press Digital Editions
– collaborative project between Press and
Library
– 750 books digitized by ULS
– includes both in-print and out-of-print titles
– all are Open Access
Open Access
Author Self-archiving Repositories
 2001 PhilSci Archive
 2001 Electronic Theses & Dissertations
 2002 Archive of European Integration
 2003 Minority Health Archive
 2003 Aphasiology Archive
 2009 D-Scholarship@Pitt
(general Institutional Repository)
 2010 Industry Studies Working Papers
Total number of documents in
ULS e-publications FY2000-FY2010
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
FY2000
FY2001
FY2002 FY2003
FY2004
FY2005
FY2006
FY2007
FY2008
FY2009
FY2010
FY2011
Growth in the number of
ULS E-Publications
28
Open Access Archives
E-Journals
22
9
4
FY2000
2
FY2001
2
3
FY2002 FY2003
-
-
-
5
5
5
FY2004
FY2005
FY2006
2
3
5
5
FY2007
FY2008
6
FY2009
7
FY2010
7
FY2011
7
FY2012
ULS E-Journal Publishing
 Rapid growth to 28 journals since 2007
 Peer-reviewed scholarly research journals
 Most are Open Access and electronic-only
 Based on PKP Open Journal Systems (OJS)
 Editorial teams are located around the world
 Six journals have multilingual content
Journal publishing goals
 Propel scholarship at the
University of Pittsburgh
 Extend service beyond the home
institution
 Save ‘at-risk’ journals without
the infrastructure or know-how
to go electronic
 Incentivize Open Access
Publishing worldwide
Student Publications
 Only supported for University
of Pittsburgh
 Provides valuable learning
experience
 Faculty involvement is
required to maintain continuity
 Selection criteria are relaxed
for student publications
– Peer review process
– Quality of editorial board
Journal Publishing Strategies
 Maintain quality and
academic integrity
 Choose partners carefully
 Rely on self-sufficient
editors
 Work smart, not hard
 Keep costs low
Based on self-sufficient editors
 Editorial staff are expected to become self-sufficient
by the time first issue is published
 Editors are responsible
for managing:
– all content decisions
– all processing workflow
– all communication with
reviewers, authors, readers
– all editing, including layout
We provide:
• Hardware and software hosting services
• Advice on best practices in e-publishing
• Consultation on editorial workflow management
• Web-based training for editorial staff
• Graphic design services
• ISSN Registration
• Assignment of DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers)
• Assistance in establishing formal acceptance and
recognition of the scholarly content
• Digital preservation through LOCKSS
Journal Proposal Form
 Collects detailed information
on which to base selection
decision
 Focus, scope, description of
content
 Justification of need
 Credentials of Editorial Board
 Description of review process
Selection Criteria
 Original scholarly content
 Rigorous blind review process
 Commitment to Open Access for
content
 Editorial Board of internationally
recognized scholars
Memorandum of Understanding
• Builds common understanding before
problems occur
• Defines roles and responsibilities
• Identifies ULS as publisher of record
• Articulates policies on:
•
•
•
•
changes to published content/issuing errata
handling infringement claims,
publication schedule/continuity issues
long-term preservation
Author Copyright Agreement
• Comes in two versions:
– Immediate Open Access
 CC BY-NC
– Delayed Open Access (subscription-based)
 CC BY-NC-ND
• License terms are included in digital rights
statement in article metadata
Graphic Design Brief
• Defines the scope of graphic design
possibilities
• Explains software design limitations
• Prepares the client to give input on design
• Defines publisher branding requirements
• Establishes process for client input and
timeframe for design
Article Template Design Questionnaire
• Defines the look of each formatted article
• Echoes web site design
• Default is MS Word
• Includes publisher’s formatting and
branding requirements
• complete citation including DOI must
appear on each page
Publications Advisory Board
 Includes leaders in scholarly publishing and Open
Access issues
 Provides strategic guidance and expertise for ULS
digital publishing program
 Assists in development of publication policies
governing:
– Selection and evaluation criteria for partners
– Open Access and Creative Commons licensing
– Cost recovery mechanisms
Journal publishing cost components
 Server hosting production support environment
 OJS Software (free!)
 Web-based training/collaboration tools (WebEx)
 CrossRef membership/cost of DOIs
STAFFING
Staffing for journal publishing
1.00 FTE OJS production manager
0.25 FTE administrator: partner relations, marketing
0.30 FTE graphic designers
0.20 FTE OJS sys admin
_____________________
1.75 FTE TOTAL
100% funded from internal reallocation of operating
budget
Advertising
 Currently exploring
OpenX Ad server as
a plug-in to OJS
 In development:
– policies/procedures for publisher
review of advertising
– cost model to cover Publisher
overhead for advertising
Future directions
 Understanding growth and sustainability
– Track labor costs
– Separate one-time and
ongoing labor
– Long term data collection
required
 Begin cost recovery for
some services
 Ongoing monitoring/evaluation
of academic quality
Cost recovery
 Will incentivize Open Access through subsidies
(at least 50% discount)
 Will subsidize U. of Pittsburgh publications
 Will include base package, with additional services
a la carte such as:
– Domain registration
– Document formatting (per article charge)
– Supplementary blog
Multiple approaches are needed
 OA journal publishing
 OA Institutional Repository & deposit mandates
 Support for other OA archives & conference hosting
 OA awareness raising
 Subsidization of OA author fees
 Support the development of Open Source
publishing software
http://www.library.pitt.edu/e-journals