Optimizing Library Services — How Open Access and OA Agreements Can Support Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion? By Bridgette Whitt, MSLS, MA (Acquisitions Librarian and Assistant Professor of Library Science at the University of Tennessee at Martin) <bwhitt1@utm.edu> and Caroline Campbell (Assistant Director of Marketing and Sales, IGI Global) <ccampbell@igi-global.com> Column Editor: Mr. Nick Newcomer (Senior Director of Marketing and Sales, IGI Global) <nnewcomer@igi-global.com>
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iversity and inclusion continue at the forefront of the academic publishing world, but how are publishers and libraries working together to ensure diversity and inclusion are supported and actively promoted in academic research? You may have read the editorial piece from IGI Global, “A Critical Analysis on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Publishing Industry,” where topics such as how the historical concept of diversity in academia leads to malicious mislabeling, how the peer review process can be the key to breaking down prejudices, how citation impact can hinder diversity and inclusivity, and how libraries, researchers, and publishers can support DEI. In that article, one of the key areas that can also support DEI is open access (OA). Although OA has been a key discussion in the overall industry, institutions, researchers, and others are, at times, hesitant to embrace OA due to the overall concerns about the quality, integrating OA resources into libraries, as well as managing OA funding. In this piece, we will cover more specifically the challenges of creating an OA movement that embraces DEI and how truly transformative OA agreements support DEI in the academic publishing world.
How Inclusive Is OA? OA enables research to be published without the content being locked from behind the traditional paywall and inherently promotes equity and inclusion, as it enables anyone from around the world to freely access it and share it. This includes increasing the accessibility of this research to audiences that previously could not afford academic papers or may not receive as much research funding, including libraries in developing countries (with countries “OA can pave in Africa averaging around $10 the way to billion in available funding opporhelping increase tunities for researchers while countries like the U.S. over $35 billion in the standing available funding (Exlibris, 2021)). of underIt can also enable a wider audience represented of researchers to build upon the reresearchers, DEI search internationally and provide key insights and breakthroughs in research, as well the field of research.
as providing equitable access to the latest research findings...”
A d d i t i o n a l l y, OA c a n n ot only benefit the wider academic community but helps authors in receiving a higher citation rate with OA content receiving upwards of an 89% higher download rate. Therefore, authors who publish their research under OA receive wider recognition for their work, increased networking opportunities, faster dissemination of
52 Against the Grain / November 2021
their research (as it is published electronically immediately upon acceptance), opportunities for career advancement, and more. Through these benefits, OA can pave the way to helping increase the standing of underrepresented researchers, DEI research, as well as providing equitable access to the latest research findings regardless of socio-economic factors, gender, race, etc.
Cost Barriers for Underrepresented Researchers Although these benefits on the surface seem like plausible solutions to increase the accessibility of research and help increase DEI in academic publishing, a looming challenge for researchers is overcoming the costs associated with publishing under OA. In the traditional subscription-based model, the cost to the publisher to produce each article is covered by the revenue generated by journal subscriptions. Under OA, all the articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC BY) license; therefore, the authors or funding body will pay a one-time article processing charge (APC) to offset the costs of all the activities associated with the publication of the article manuscript. This can include costs associated with: • Digital tools used to support the manuscript management and review process • Typesetting, formatting, and layout of the research • Online hosting and maintenance • Submission of the journal’s content to numerous abstracts, directories, and indexes • Third-party software (e.g., plagiarism checks) • Editorial support includes manuscript tracking, communications, submission guideline checks, and communications with authors and reviewers • All promotional support and activities include metadata distribution, press releases, promotional communications, web content, ads, flyers, brochures, postcards, etc. for the journal and its published contents • The internal staff needed to ensure that these processes are completed correctly and to provide support to authors and editors However, with this APC model, some publishers have been profiteering from high-impact journals based on the sheer need for researchers to publish in these outlets. According to the article, “The Pricing of Open Access Journals: Diverse Niches and Sources of Value in Academic Publishing,” written by Profs. Kyle Siler, University of Sussex, UK, and Koen Frenken, Utrecht University, Netherlands, “At the high end of the market, publishing consultants have floated the notion of US$ 25,000 APCs for outlets such as Nature and Science, based on the premise that the willingness of authors to submit articles to prestigious
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