Libraries facilitate open access publishing for Dal researchers

Universities and their libraries share a core function: research. The Dalhousie Libraries are spearheading  initiatives to get Dalhousie research results published both immediately and more cheaply—via open access.

Open Access author fund proposal

Open Access (OA) represents a new model of disseminating research freely and quickly, ensuring permanent online availability while adhering to high-quality, peer-reviewed results. OA also requires that research results are available to use and re-use in new and innovative ways. However this new publishing model often requires that authors pay exorbitant fees to contribute to the costs of publication.

This spring, the Libraries put forward a proposal to establish an Open Access Author Fund at Dalhousie, which would defray or cover article processing fees (which can range from $1,000 to $5,000 per article) charged by OA journals. The new fund would not only support Dalhousie researchers who might lack the funds needed to publish their valuable work, but also encourage researchers to make their output available to the public. The fund would be administered by Dalhousie Libraries in consultation with Research Services.  
Other Canadian universities have already established Open Access Author Funds with resounding success. The University of Calgary’ s OA Author Fund, set up in 2008, was the first of its kind in Canada. Now University of Ottawa, University of Victoria, and Simon Fraser are also partnering with their libraries on this timely initiative.

Open Access  at Dal now

The Dalhousie Libraries subscribe to many OA journals. The open access publishing model is of particular value in the fields of Science, Technology and Medicine (STM), and the BioMed Central and SpringerOpen OA collections are two of the most significant recent additions to our STM acquisitions. (SpringerOpen also includes some titles in other disciplines such as  humanities, math, and pastoral studies).  Dal Libraries have just become a “supporting member” of these two major ejournal publishers. This means that Dalhousie authors who wish to publish in a journal produced by either of these organizations will get a reduction of 15 per cent on the article processing charges (about $250-$300 per article).  Any article submitted from a Dalhousie IP will automatically be provided with this reduced membership rate.

Dal Libraries also manage DalSpace, an open access institutional repository that collects, preserves and distributes digital content produced by members of the Dalhousie community.

LINKS: DalSpace | Dalhousie Libraries Guide to Open Access | Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)