Openness Course for Librarians - Open Access Journals

Objective

Librarians can advise academics of the potential and the risks of publishing Open Access.

Outcomes

Librarians can:

• describe Open Access (OA) publishing
• list the benefits of OA publishing
• explain the difference between subscription-based and OA publishing
• describe at least three modes of OA publishing
• advise library patrons on choosing an OA journal
• advise library patrons on how to avoid using a predatory/deceptive publisher

Notional hours: 3 hours

Zoom Meeting Link

We start this week with an online meeting in real time. This 1-hour session will take place on Wednesday 14^th February 2024 @ 10h30 GMT.

The meeting details are listed below:

1. Presentation and feedback on week 3 assignment submissions
2. Consolidation of previous weeks work via Quizziz quiz on OER.
3. Introduction to Week 4 on Open Access Publications (See PPT).
4. Plenary discussion on Open Access publishing.

Quizziz link: https://quizizz.com/join

OER Quiz Review 

Session 4: Recording from the previous session
Kindly click to access the recording for Session 4 HERE

Work through the interactive tutorial below.

Introduction

In this assignment, you will take the role of an academic librarian providing advice on open access publishing options. You will explore various aspects of open access publishing and provide recommendations based on your learning about OA. The assignment will require you to critically evaluate different open access models and considerations when choosing open access outlets for the research carried out by academics at your institution.

Answer this question:

What is the ideal OA route for an academic who wishes to publish their research? 

You need to unpack the context and then provide a response that identifies a route through the publishing options. Your answer should...

• list types of open access models, 
• funding considerations, 
• copyright and licensing, 
• benefits
• challenges.

Instructions

1. Write your answer using either a word processor or presentation package.
2. Use the marking memo below to evaluate your assignment. Revise if necessary.
3. Use the assignment submission tool below to upload your assignment. Also be ready to present your paper to the group in next week's Zoom session.
4. Note this is a peer-to-peer marking assignment. You will be required to upload one submission and mark 3 of your peers' assignments.

Download the course notes below. They are in a PDF format. Feel free to print them out for safe keeping.

Attribution, references and licence

The following Open Content was adapted to create this course:

• Alsagoff, Z. (2016). What is the difference between OER and Open Access (OA)? Available online at Commonwealth of Learning at http://discourse.col.org/t/what-is-the-difference-between-oer-and-open-access-oa/41. (CC BY-SA)
  
• U of G Library. (2018). What is Open Access? Available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/BiMtpuUaMf0. (CC BY)
  
• Vollmer, T & Sempere García, T. (2013). Research article cycles. Available online at https://creativecommons.org/2013/09/25/public-access-to-publicly-funded-materials-what-could-be/. (CC BY)
  

Open images and graphics

• Gallagher, M.S. (2011). The main library's periodical and current journals section. Available online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/13518023@N03/5599821845 (CC BY-SA)
  
• Kingsley, D & Brown, S. (nd). Benefits of Open Access (Diagram). Available online at https://libguides.mq.edu.au/c.php?g=674313&p=4748931. (CC BY)
  
• Poulter, M. (2013). Journal publication timeline (Diagram). Available on Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki2Journal_publication_timeline_en.svg. (CC BY)
  
• RM Media. (nd). Publish (Photograph). Available online at https://www.thebluediamondgallery.com/typewriter/p/publish.html. (CC BY-SA)
  
• Shafee, T. (2019). The number of journals listed in DOAJ. Available online at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DOAJ_growth.png (CC BY)
  
• Vmenkov (2007). Vitoria University Library food science journals. Available on Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitoria-University-Library-food-science-journals-4489.jpg (CC BY-SA)
  

References

• Conte, S. (nd). Making the choice: Open Access vs. traditional journals Available online at AJE Scholar at https://notesfromapublishingma.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/is-open-access-a-viable-alternative-to-commercial-journal-publishing/. ©
  
• Levey, L. (2023). The Revised Open Knowledge Primer for African Universities. OER Africa. Available online at https://www.oerafrica.org/resource/open-knowledge-primer-oer-africa-revised (CC BY)
  
• Makoni, M. (2020). Open access article charge waiver for more than 100 journals. Available online at https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=2020102019023062 ©
  
• Notesfromapublishingma. (2012). Is Open Access a viable alternative to commercial journal publishing? Available online at https://notesfromapublishingma.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/is-open-access-a-viable-alternative-to-commercial-journal-publishing/. ©
  
• Tarkang, E. E., & Bain, L. E. (2019). The bane of publishing a research article in international journals by African researchers, the peer-review process and the contentious issue of predatory journals: a commentary. The Pan African medical journal, 32, 119. https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2019.32.119.18351 (CC BY)
  
• ResearchAcademy. (nd). How to get Published: What distinguishes a good manuscript from a bad one? Elsevier, available online at https://www.elsevier.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/91038/Get_Published_A4_brochure_2018_web.pdf. ©