Experiences Hosting OA Journals at LiU E-Press

1. Experiences Hosting OA Journals at LiU E-Press Linköping University Electronic Press David Lawrence www.ep.liu.se ep@ep.liu.se

2. Linköping University Electronic Press • Began in 1996 under the initiative of Erik Sandewall • Generally, the electronic publisher for the research output of LiU (exjobb, theses, reports, articles, books…) • Additionally: conference proceedings and OA journals • First OA journal in 1997 • Initially, a connection with LiU was required

3. Development of Journal Hosting • Support from OpenAccess.se to test a ”Journal Publication Service” • Allowed testing of JARSS editorial system for use with smaller, OA journals • Allowed a number of journals to start up and test an on-line format • Results indicated that there was interest amongst researchers at Swedish universities (particularly in HSS) for journal hosting services • Since then we have started up and now host 5 OA journals.

4. Development cont’d • In 2008, decision was taken to offer hosting to journals independent of any connection with LiU • Later in 2008, decision also taken to offer this cost-free • Early experience illustrated the importance of a formal application procedure and review process

5. Conditions • The journal must be of high quality and national or international in scope; • The journal must be open access, i.e. allowing completely free access to the articles. A creative commons agreement (attribution, or attribution non-commercial) will be used to clarify the licensing of published articles; • All articles must be externally peer-reviewed, i.e. the reviewers must include people beyond those affiliated with the editorial committee of the journal; • The journal must show sufficient promise to publish at least two issues per year, or equivalent, when continuous publishing is envisaged, for at least five years; • The journal must provide a business plan and an editorial plan consistent with the above conditions.

6. Review Conditions • the need for such a journal; • the competence and reputation of the proposed editorial staff; • the quality of the proposed editorial board; • the potential volume and source of material; • the potential for continuing support; • the distinctness from other journals in the area

7. Continuing Evaluation • Needs to be a process formal review every couple of years

8. Journals Hosted

9. Services Offered • Editorial support system (JARSS) • Set up and host journal web pages (guidance but not design) • Publish publication-ready articles • Register journal with appropriate indices • DOIs/CrossRef • Archiving of publishing agreements from authors • Creative commons, multimedia…

10. Business Models • No author fees, no advertising, no memberships, no ”pay-for” options • Donated time • Those with a society coupling get administrative help through the society • VR (once off)

11. Lessons Learned • During approval process look carefully at conditions for continuity/survival • It is best (essential?) that more than just a research group is involved in the editorial process • Formal procedures for regular quality control • Editorial support system?? • Flexibility • Google visibility

12. Small journals and Current Research Evaluation • In the Nordic countries, the research output of Universities and researchers are evaluated using either ”Norwegian” or ”ISI” models (or a combination) • For ISI models, journals must be indexed by ISI • Relatively poor coverage of HSS (although growing) • For small journals, ISI’s evaluation procedure is not easy • For Norwegian models, journals are ranked as level 1 or 2 (top 20% in field). • Easy to be ranked; difficult to become level 2

13. In Summary • There is a demand/role for University libraries to offer hosting services for Open Access journals • A serious evaluation procedure is essential along with clear conditions for hosting • Necessary to stress the amount of work involved in running an international journal