ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ January 2004 / 23 SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION A new library contribution to scholarly communication by Eulalia Roel T he University of A rizona (UA) Library is n o w in its th ird c a le n d a r y e a r of p u b lish in g th e J o u r n a l o f In se c t Science (JIS). It rem ains am ong th e very few li­ b ra rie s c u rre n tly p ro d u c in g a sch o la rly journal. I will d raw on this journal as an exam ple of th e p u b licatio n p ro cess from th e library p e rsp e c tiv e a n d re p o rt on its status a n d future direction. Currently, JIS is n o t p u b lish e d by the lib r a ry o n a c o s t- r e c o v e r y b a s is , b u t, rather, at a loss. This w as c o n sid e red one of th e library’s capital investm ents a n d was built into its com m itm ent from th e early stages of consideration. Initially, the library so u g h t a grant from th e A ssociation of Re­ search Libraries’ Scholarly P ublishing and A cadem ic R esources C oalition (SPARC). W hile w e did n o t receive it, th e gran t a p ­ p lic a tio n d id esta b lish o u r c u rre n t re la ­ tio n sh ip w ith SPARC, w ith w h ich w e are classified as a “Leading Edge Publishing P a rtn e r.” This defines JIS as a project that “representfs] a p aradigm shift in te c h n o l­ ogy use, introducels] an innovative b u si­ ness m odel, a n d /o r meetls] th e scholarly a n d r e s e a rc h in fo rm a tio n n e e d s o f an em erging or fast-grow ing STM field .”1 The relatio n sh ip w ith SPARC offers the library a n o th e r v e n u e for publicity to the th re e m ajor types of au d ie n c e it is s e e k ­ ing to reach: th o se w h o w o u ld subm it in th e field of insect science; th o se editors (or o th ers) w h o w o u ld poten tially start or co n trib u te to alternative pu b lish in g m o d ­ els; a n d o th e r libraries th at m ay find this to b e a service th ey can a n d sh o u ld p r o ­ vide to th eir faculty. The UA Library’s investm ent o f lab o r capital in to JIS (by far, its largest cost) w a x e s a n d w a n e s. T he sta rt-u p p e rio d , during w hich w e w e re p rom oting the jour­ nal, technically b u ild in g it, a n d seeking subm issions, w as th e m ost labor-intensive. O th e r p e rio d s o f high la b o r in v estm e n t o c c u rre d d u rin g th e jo u rn a l’s g rap h ic al redesign, a b o u t a year ago, a n d currently, as th e jo u rn a l’s c o n te n t is b e in g m igrated to b e sto re d as XML a n d serv ed dynam i­ cally. T h e t r a d it io n a l p u b lis h in g m o d e l T raditionally, faculty subscribe to a te n ­ u re system that em b races p u b lic a tio n in p restigious journals. Most of th e se jo u r­ nals have as th eir c o n te n t rese a rc h results th a t are p re d o m in a n tly fu n d e d th ro u g h public m onies. A dditionally, th ey require co p y rig h t to b e tra n sfe rre d from a u th o r to p u b lish er, going as far as rejecting c o n ­ About the author Eulalia Roel is sponsored projects team leader a t Emory University, e-mail: e.roel@usa.net © 2 0 0 4 Eulalia Roel Electronic journal publication mailto:e.roel@usa.net 24 / C&RL News ■ January 2004 te n t th a t has b e e n su b m itte d to a n o th e r p u b lis h e r. T h ro u g h jo u rn a ls, p u b lis h e rs th e n tu rn a ro u n d a n d sell th e ir c o n te n t b a c k to th e e d u c a tio n a l a n d rese a rc h in ­ stitutions th a t su p p lie d th em th e ir c o n te n t in th e first p lace. T he co st of th e s e sc ie n ­ tific journals is hig h a n d rap id ly in creas­ ing, p re s e n tin g a n ethically p ro b le m a tic u se o f p u b lic capital. O n e o f th e goals o f JIS is to offer a viab le sch o larly c o m m u n ic a tio n a lte rn a ­ tive th at w o u ld p ro m o te a Zeitgeist shift aw ay from this e co n o m ic a n d in tellectual p ro p e rty m o d el. The JIS m o d el e sc a p e s th e trad itio n al “F austian b a rg a in ” b e tw e e n a u th o r a n d p u b lish e r, w h ile still offering a n ac h ie v a b le m o d el for scholarly co m ­ m u n ic a tio n th at recovers costs. A n e w p u b lis h in g m o d e l W hile th e UA Library cu rren tly offers its p u b lic a tio n services in-kind, o n e o f th e fu n d am e n ta l aims o f JIS is to offer a n e c o ­ nom ic m o d el th a t achieves cost-recovery, b u t offers free a n d o p e n access to high- q u a lity fu ll-tex t re so u rc e s. T he u ltim a te goal is to offer a scalable, long-term m odel th a t d o e s n o t p lac e th e cost b u rd e n on th e user. T he m o d el b e in g c o n s id e re d is o n e in w h ic h JIS w o u ld charge an affordable fee to subm itters to b e a p p lie d to w a rd th e cost o f p u b lish in g a n d p reserv in g con ten t. This m o d el has n o t y e t b e e n im p lem en ted , as the library w a n te d to achieve a critical m ass o f subm itters b e fo re m aking su c h a m ove. D oing so w o u ld allow for sustainable fu n d ­ ing in th e agg reg ate, b u t w o u ld req u ire a n e g lig ib le s u b m is s io n c o st to re s e a rc h - fu n d e d au th o rs. Ultim ately, a shift could occur in scholarly com m unication in w hich su c h a fee w o u ld b e a de fa c to rese a rc h e x p e n se . A lth o u g h th e r e is a g ro w in g u n d e r ­ sta n d in g w ith in th e academ ic com m unity of th e e th ical d ilem m a th a t arises from a u th o rs signing aw ay co p y rig h t to journal p u b licatio n s, th ere is u n d e rs ta n d a b le h e si­ tatio n in risking subm ission to a scholarly c o m m u n ic a t io n a lt e r n a t iv e . W h ile J IS stro n g ly ad v o c ate s for p ro ce sse s th a t e n ­ able a u th o rs to retain copyrights to their o w n w o rk , this is n o t e n o u g h . A uthors m u st b e c o n v in c e d o f th e lo ngevity a n d e ste e m of th e p u b lic a tio n s to w h ic h th ey subm it. W e briefly a d d re ss th e ste p s w e hav e ta k e n to e n s u re this o n th e JIS W eb s ite .2 S ubm ission to a n e w journal, ev e n o n e w ith o u t experim ental structure, such as JIS, can re a so n a b ly b e v ie w e d b y au th o rs as a risk. E ven if th e a u th o r n e v e r r e lin ­ q u ish e s copyright, if h e or she w ish e s to p u b lish a JIS article e lse w h e re in th e fu ­ tu re, it co u ld b e pro b lem atic. Some jo u r­ nals will forgo c o n sid e ra tio n of c o n te n t if th e article has ever b e e n p rev io u sly s u b ­ m itted, let a lo n e p u b lish e d . B r e a k in g t h r o u g h t h e b a r r ie r s Faculty are p re s s e d for tim e, a n d to b e w illing to try a differen t a p p ro a c h to p u b ­ lishing th e ir w o rk is a n ac k n o w led g e d ly difficult choice. It is k n o w n th a t th e te n ­ u re p ro ce ss n e e d s to change, b u t th e fac­ to rs g o in g in to te n u r e a lg o r ith m y a re s lo w to do so. It is n o sm all ta s k fo r a s ta r t- u p jo u rn a l ( w h e th e r it h a s a n a l­ te rn a tiv e e c o n o m ic o r in te lle c tu a l p r o p ­ e rty m o d e l o r n o t) to c h a lle n g e th e tr a ­ d i t i o n a l v e n u e s f o r p u b l i c a t i o n in a g iv e n a c a d e m ic fie ld , p a rtic u la rly w h e n th e r e a re m a n y s o c ie tie s th a t h a v e r e ­ ally o n ly o n e h ig h ly e s te e m e d jo u rn a l in p la y at a g iv e n tim e. O n e step w e have tak e n to w a rd achiev­ ing re n o w n a n d resp e c t for JIS has b e e n t o s e e k e n t r y i n t o w e l l - r e s p e c t e d a g g r e g a t o r s . J IS is n o w i n c l u d e d in B ioO ne, Biosis, PubM ed Central, Agricola, C a m b rid g e S c ie n tific A b s tra c ts , I n d e x M edicus, MEDLINE, A cadem ic Info, Com ­ m o n w e a lt h A g r ic u ltu r e B u r e a u x , a n d Chem ical A bstracts. T he jo u rn a l’s re c e p ­ tio n into th e se aggregators reflects its cu r­ ren t stage o f establishm ent in the academ ic com m unity. T h ere have b e e n m ark e d stages o f JIS: th e start-u p stage, a stage o f m aking in ­ c re m en ta l tec h n ica l a n d cultural e n tré es in to th e p u b lis h in g a n d a c a d e m ic c o m ­ m u n itie s, a n d th e p h a s e it is c u rre n tly enterin g , in w h ic h c o n te n t is b e in g tra n s­ fo rm ed to b e se rv e d dynam ically. O n its n ative site, JIS c o n te n t is c u r­ rently se rv e d via XHTML, u sin g C ascad­ ing Style Sheets (CSS) for visual form at­ ting. C o n ten t is h a n d -c o d e d to a d h e re to C&RL News ■ January 2004 / 25 th e XHTML d o c u m e n t ty p e d e f i n i ti o n (D T D ). In a d d itio n , h a v in g J IS c o n te n t se rv e d th ro u g h ag g re g a to rs re q u ire s so m e c u sto m iz a tio n o f d a ta form ats. F o r e x a m p le , f o r c o n t e n t a c c e s s e d th ro u g h B ioO ne, fo rm atting is o u tso u rc e d to B ioO ne, w ith w h o m a p ro c e d u re has b e e n e s ta b lish e d to su b s e q u e n tly fu rth e r m odify c o n te n t form at fo r d ire c t fo rw a rd ­ ing o n to P u b M e d C entral. C ost m o d e ls w e re c o m p a re d for d o in g th e c o n te n t in ­ h o u s e a n d o u tso u rc in g it. O u tso u rc in g to B ioO ne has b e e n su b sta n tia lly m o re cost- effective. P ro d u c tio n w o rk en tails th e m a n a g e ­ m en t of th e rev isio n o f c o n te n t su b m itte d from all o v e r th e w o rld , as w ell as o f im ­ ages su b m itte d o f highly d isp a ra te digital q ualities. W e also c o n tin u e to serve th e c o n te n t in PDF, a fo rm a t p r e f e r r e d by m an y o f o u r cu sto m ers. This allow s for c o n s is te n t c ita tio n form at, a n d serves th e alg o rith m ic n e e d s o f te n u r e co m m ittee s to c o u n t p u b lis h e d p rin t p ag es. P ro d u c tio n costs for JIS h a v e b e e n r e ­ d u c e d su b s ta n tia lly o v e r tim e as it has m o v ed from sta rt-u p to a state w h e re costs are m o re ro u tin iz e d . W ith th e e x c e p tio n o f th e p e rio d d u rin g w h ic h th e jo u rn a l’s in te rfa c e w as b e in g r e d e s ig n e d a n d th e m ig ratio n to d ynam ic c o n te n t p ro d u c tio n , co sts fo r JIS b r e a k d o w n to r o u g h ly as sh o w n in th e c h a rt o n this pag e. T h ere c o n tin u e s to b e m o re a n d m o re u se r-frien d ly so ftw are p ro d u c ts av ailable for library jo u rn al p u b lic a tio n , ran g in g in A p p ro x im a te co st p e r a rtic le 2 Task T im e Cost S u b to ta l ($) (in hours) f o rm a ttin g c o n te n t 5 3 8 in to HTML f o rm a ttin g f ig u r e s . 5 - 1 . 5 6 - 1 9 p e r i m a g e a n d im a g e s to b e u s e d o n lin e a n d w it h in PDF f o rm a ttin g c o n te n t 1 - 2 12 - 24 to w o r k w ith in t h e PDF TOTAL 5 0 (+ i m a g e s ) - 6 2 (+ i m a g e s ) se rv ic e s p r o v id e d fro m a u to m a te d p e e r re v ie w e x c h a n g e to a u to m a te d p u b lis h ­ ing. UA Library h a s c h o s e n n o t to invest in s u c h p r o d u c ts b e c a u s e p r o d u c in g a single jo u rn a l u sin g this (o fte n e x p e n siv e ) so ftw are is n o t cost-effective. But, as th e library lo o k s at th e p o te n tia l o f p ro d u c in g m o re jou rn als, th e a u to m a tio n fea tu re s of s u c h s o ftw a re b e c o m e m o re m a te ria lly practical. It is n o t th e lib ra ry ’s in te n t to re in v e n t th e w h e e l tech n ically . T h e re is sim ply a n e th ical a n d fin ancial o b lig a tio n to m ak e s u c h jo u rn a l p ro d u c tio n as cost- e ffe c tiv e as p o s s ib le , to a llo w fo r th e g re a te r practical lik e lih o o d of m o re su c h library-faculty e n d e av o rs. E d u c a tin g a u th o rs T h e re are c u rre n tly 50 p a p e rs p u b lis h e d in JIS, o v e r th e c o u rse o f th re e volum es. At th e tim e o f this w riting, th e re w a s a p ­ p ro x im a te ly 6.25 gigabytes o f se rv e r sp a c e d e d ic a te d to JIS. A n o th e r task th e library view s as p a r ­ tic u la rly o b lig a to ry is o n e o f e d u c a tin g a u th o rs a n d u se rs o n th e to p ic s o f digital te c h n o lo g ie s, p a rticu la rly th o se th a t facili­ tate digital p re se rv a tio n . A uthors are al­ re a d y b e in g a s k e d to subm it to a lesser- k n o w n entity. But, in th e case o f JIS, th ey are also su b m ittin g to a n exclusively digi­ tal p u b lic a tio n . T he library tak e s p a in s to e d u c a te o n th e t o p ic s o f d ig ita l p r e s e r v a t io n a n d m igratability o f data. F or e x am p le, JIS in ­ form s subm itters th at it has alw ays a d h e re d s tric tly to th e D T D s u s e d in t h e j o u r n a l ’s p r o d u c ­ tio n (b e s t allo w in g for m i­ g ratio n a n d tra n sfo rm atio n ). This inform ation is in clu d e d p ro m in e n tly o n th e JIS W eb site.3 Portions o f th e library’s la b o r c a p ita l is a lso d e d i­ c a te d to m a n a g in g r e d u n ­ d a n c y for th e journal. JIS u s ­ e rs a n d s u b m itte rs a re a s­ s u re d o f p e re n n ia l access. S u c h c o n s i d e r a t i o n s a n d k e e p in g u p to s ta n d a rd are n o t u n iq u e to th e tech n ical n e e d s o f JIS, b u t th e y are a d d e d a ssu ra n c e s n e e d e d to c o n v in c e a u th o rs to subm it 2 6 / C&RL News ■ January 2004 to a n d users to cite JIS, w hich in tu rn cre­ ates a journal w ith ro b u st con ten t. Being convincing to digital preserv atio n m anag­ ers has a direct relationship on th e life of th e electronic product. The JIS e d ito r co ntinues to m anage all p e e r-re v iew a n d serves as ed ito r of a tra­ ditional journal, as w ell as b e in g a very stro n g a d v o c a te for a lte ra tiv e sc h o la rly c o m m u n icatio n m odels. A c c e p t a n c e o f J I S JIS has b e e n extrem ely w ell-received, b o th in th e library w o rld in te rested in th e p o s ­ sibilities su c h an alternative m o d el p re ­ sents a n d by th o se contributing their hard- c re a te d , te n u re -a d v a n c in g c o n te n t. A p­ p roxim ately 50 e x te rn al W eb sites have linked to JIS (including th o se of th e E nto­ m o lo g ic a l S o c iety o f A m erica a n d th e Royal Entom ological Society), a n d 75 li­ braries have catalo g ed /IS using its OCLC rec o rd (n u m b e r 46820266). A cited referen ce search tu rn e d u p four articles by IS titles that have b e e n cited. From July 2002 th ro u g h April 2003, IIS receiv ed 732,993 hits w ith 121,000 pages view ed. N e x t s te p s UA Library continues to look at the costs- benefits of expanding its electronic publishing service to the production of other journals. Staff must continue to review longer-term systems administration and the possibility of acquiring a dedicated server for the JIS site. As a matter of preservation, staff continues to look at back-up, redundancy, and migration as the site continues to grow. The library’s costs have shifted some from production to publicity, a task relatively new to staff of a publicly funded library. And, of course, the library will implement its author-fee- based business model once it has a large enough pool of authors from which to draw to be able to ask a reasonably small fee. N otes 1. SPARC Leading Edge Program, www.arl. org/sparc/core/index.asp?page=c3). 2. Supplied on 04 February 2003 by JIS p ro d u c tio n m anager. 3. See, in se c tsc ie n c e .o rg /a b o u t. ■ University of Oklahoma Libraries presents The New Challenge for Research Libraries: Collection Management and Strategic Access to Digital Resources March 4-5,2004 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Speakers: Mary Case • Association of Research Libraries Paul M. Gherman • Vanderbilt University Library Kevin Guthrie • Ithaka Dan Hazen • Harvard College Library Fred M. Heath • University of Texas at Austin Libraries Karen Hunter • Elsevier, Inc. Richard K. Johnson • SPARC Allen W. Paschal • Gale REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 20, 2004 http://libraries.ou.edu/conference Contact for Information: Rhonda Cannon, University of Oklahoma Libraries, Norman, OK 73019-6030 rhondacannon@ou.edu Phone:(405)325-2611 http://www.arl insectscience.org/about http://libraries.ou.edu/conference mailto:rhondacannon@ou.edu