Introduction: The Open Research and Contributor Identifier system (ORCID) provides services that enable research organizations to integrate ORCID identifiers (ORCID iDs) into business and information systems. Successful ORCID iD integrations involve enrolling many stakeholders and completing several technical projects. The goal of this paper is to highlight lessons learned in pursuing ORCID iD integrations within research organizations, and to demonstrate approaches to analyzing and improving staff ORCID profiles. Description: This paper discusses work to expand ORCID iD use by the staff of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and to integrate ORCID iDs more systematically into organizational business and scholarly information systems. The project included extensive outreach to staff, analysis of ORCID usage and profile contents, development of an app for minting ORCID iDs and adding UCAR as a trusted organization, and integration of metadata across ORCID profiles, publications, and data repositories. Next Steps: This project provided important insights into ORCID iD usage and adoption across UCAR. Continued ORCID iD education and outreach will focus on benefits accrued by UCAR and by researchers so far, ongoing metadata integration across UCAR repositories and ORCID profiles, and recuration of ORCID iDs and other identifiers into existing repository metadata.
Implications for Practice: Academic libraries should restructure workloads, integrate research into performance appraisals, offer mentorship, and build a supportive research culture. These practical steps can foster a culture of research among librarians and promote their visibility within academia. Introduction: Librarians contribute significantly to research support in academic institutions, but are often underrepresented as contributors to scholarly publishing. Their limited involvement may hinder career advancement and reduce professional recognition. Literature Review: The library and information science literature points to a growing awareness of the importance of research and publishing among librarians. However, studies have shown that across sub-Saharan Africa, librarians often face institutional, cultural, and structural barriers to scholarly publishing, with few comparative studies exploring this issue across countries in the region. Methods: This qualitative study used purposive sampling to interview 28 librarians from Ghana and Uganda, analyzing responses thematically to explore perceptions and challenges of scholarly publishing. Results: Findings show that librarians in both countries view scholarly publishing as essential for professional growth and visibility. However, actual publishing engagement is low due to time constraints, heavy workloads, lack of institutional support, and absence of mentorship. Discussion: The study reveals a disconnect between librarians’ appreciation of the value of publishing and their practical ability to engage in it. The challenges identified suggest systemic and institutional shortcomings that need to be addressed. Without targeted interventions, librarians’ scholarly voices will remain underrepresented. Conclusion: To strengthen the research culture among librarians in Ghana and Uganda, deliberate interventions are needed at the institutional and professional levels.
Introduction: This study analyzes the content of non-Open Access (OA) article publishing agreements from 15 publishers. Themes, commonalities, and differences are identified, as well as recommendations to publishers and salient aspects that librarians will find helpful when building copyright knowledge. Methods: In this study, 16 journal publishing agreements, a mix of large corporate publishers, scholarly presses, and associations, were examined, entered into a rubric, and analyzed in Excel. In 2003, Gadd et al. conducted a similar study; their method was used as inspiration and updated for today’s publishing landscape. Results: Findings show that a mix of copyright transfer agreements and licenses is used. Over two-thirds of the publishers in this study require authors to give up their copyright to be published without paying article processing charges. There is often little to no difference between exclusive licenses to publish and copyright transfer agreements in terms of rights retained by authors. One area of note is that some agreements allow the inclusion of authors’ works in AI products and tools without the notification or permission from the authors required. Conclusion: Publishers have adapted to today’s environment. Librarians should continue practicing copyright literacy in order to assist scholars to make informed decisions and remain current with publisher practices.
Introduction and Literature Review: Legal research often operates outside conventional academic scholarship standards, characterized by a proliferation of student-edited journals and a notable absence of rigorous peer review. While some law journals have sought to align with established academic standards, many have struggled to keep pace with emerging open access (OA) requirements, such as those outlined by Plan S. As funding agencies increasingly mandate immediate OA for research outputs, the field of legal scholarly communications faces urgent needs for adaptation and modernization. Methods: This study analyzed the OA policies of 384 journals that included articles and reviews authored by Canadian law faculty members. Data were extracted from Web of Science and Open Alex, focusing on six law faculties across Canada known for their high research output. Quantitative methods were used to assess publishing policies concerning OA principles. Results: The findings reveal a strong preference for hybrid OA journals, particularly those with an international focus, often produced by interdisciplinary publishers. Diamond OA journals, primarily centered in North America, ranked second. Notably, a significant number of diamond OA journals fail to meet established OA standards, alongside a considerable presence of closed-access law journals. Discussion and Conclusion: A consistent theme among law-specific publications, whether from academic faculty or corporate law publishers, is a pervasive lack of compliance with OA standards and a limited understanding of their implications. This underscores the imperative for further education and policy reform within the legal publishing ecosystem to enhance access and uphold the principles of open scholarship.
Introduction: The escalating cost of journals, loss of access to research results, and mandates by funding agencies favor Open Access (OA). The suggestion that OA publications are cited more than those behind paywalls should appeal to faculty where citations are critical for promotion and tenure. Further, the option to publish Green OA without cost would be advantageous to faculty who lack financial support for OA publications. Methods: We used data from Scopus to analyze field weighted citation counts (FWCI) for OA publications over 20 years in terms of OA type, document type, subject area, and subject normalized impact factor. Results: Our OA publications have increased over time, especially in health and medicine. Green OA is the most common type, alone or added to Gold or Bronze, and Hybrid Gold is the least common. Journal rank is positively correlated with citations, but adding Green OA consistently has the highest FWCI scores, and adding Green OA improves citations in all subject areas and for all OA types. Discussion: The low citation scores for Gold OA are likely complicated by perceptions of low quality, whereas the low rate of Hybrid Gold OA articles may reflect the barrier of article processing charges (APCs). Trans-formative agreements may help reduce APCs, but shifting the cost from authors to their institutional libraries presents similar inequities in affordability. Conclusion: The Green OA advantage offers scope for libraries to promote OA, especially their institutional repositories, and to advocate for OA to be integrated into promotion and tenure guidelines.
Introduction: This study explored Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) usage at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) for research support and library catalog metadata. Methods: The data were captured in 2021 of 862 faculty members in Elements database, 284 e-dissertation authors, and 42 e-thesis authors in Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange (TRACE, 2024). The data were analyzed for ORCID adoption by faculty ranks, degree types, academic disciplines, and their usage of ORCID metadata. Results: UTK faculty adopted ORCID more than UTK authors of e-theses and e-dissertations (ETDs). Faculty ranks and disciplines contributed to ORCID usage with higher numbers among assistant and associate professors and Engineering and Natural Sciences. Work, employment, and education are the top three metadata shared in their ORCIDs, among other identifiers, websites, and country metadata. Discussion: ORCID’s integration with Elements (the faculty evaluation system) and the lack of requirements for ETD authors to add ORCIDs to their ETDs may impact the number of UTK ORCID users. Faculty ranks, degree types, and academic disciplines should be factored into understanding ORCID usage. Work, employment, and education metadata would support the identification and disambiguation of authors’ names. Funding metadata is in low use, possibly due to the grant database’s integration with Elements. Other identifiers and web profiles, especially those with social networking features, support the disambiguation and identification of these scholars. Conclusion: ORCID is a hub for a scholar’s profiles. ORCID metadata elements support both identification and disambiguation in library metadata and open science infrastructure. To gain a deeper understanding of UTK ORCID users, future studies should involve direct input from UTK scholarly communities via qualitative research methods.
Introduction: Research outreach activities aim to communicate specific research findings to non-specialist audiences. In recent years, commercial outreach services have emerged that offer fee-based assistance in transforming research findings into accessible reader-friendly content, including multimedia content, and promotional material aimed at broader audiences. They may also publish the content on their own platforms, such as magazines or websites, to further enhance research visibility and dissemination. The experiences associated with these services are poorly understood. This study examined the motivation for use, challenges, and perceived value of commercial services for research outreach among researchers. Methods: An online questionnaire surveyed researchers who had published with two commercial services, ResearchOutreach.org or ResearchFeatures.com, between January 2022 and February 2024, yielding 104 responses (20% response rate). Results: Most respondents used commercial services to increase their research visibility and reach a broader audience. Factors influencing researchers’ decision to use commercial services included convenience, professionalism, broad audience access, and insufficient university outreach support.Most respondents (91.5%) were satisfied with the representation of their research, and about half faced no challenges. One-third said they would recommend the service; however, issues like content quality, time consumption, and high costs were noted. Interestingly, a third of the participants paid personally, and around 67% reported no significant impact from the publication on their work. Discussion: While commercial outreach services can enhance research visibility, their cost-effectiveness and impact vary. A significant portion of researchers reported little to no tangible benefits from these services, which raises concerns about their cost-effectiveness and the accuracy of marketing claims. Conclusion: This study reveals a mix of positive and negative experiences with commercial outreach services, which highlights that their usefulness depends on individual circumstances and expectations. Concerns around cost and effectiveness persist. More transparent evaluations are needed. Collaboration between institutions and service providers might help support effective research dissemination and ensure equitable access to outreach resources.
Introduction: The University of Kansas began a pilot subvention fund for article processing charges (APCs) in 2012. In fiscal year 2015 (FY2015), the Open Access Authors Fund (OAAF) shifted from a pilot program to an established program and changed various requirements, the amount of funds available each month, and the review process to ensure that those early in their career had opportunities to publish openly. This article explores the OAAF from its re-conception to the end of FY2022. Methods: Applicants’ information is stored in a Google Sheet, which was exported to Microsoft Excel. Authors’ emails were replaced with random identifiers for deidentification. Pivot tables were created to support data analysis, and the “COUNT” and “AVERAGE” functions were used to summarize the statistics. Results: The OAAF received 473 applications and paid 173 awards during this period. Most applications and those earning funding came from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, with researchers at the medical school being the majority. APC fees increased through this 8-year period, causing the number of grants to decrease. Discussion: Requests for funds to publish openly increased, as did the fees charged by publishers. Graduate students received the largest number of grants and the highest total of awarded funds. Unsurprisingly, STEM fields asked for and received the most funding. Conclusion: Overall, the fund in its new configuration achieved its goal to provide funding to those assumed to need it most, but, by FY2022, it demonstrates that this model is no longer a desired method for researchers to participate in open access publishing.
With the emergence of open government initiatives in the 2000s and their formalization and dissemination in the United States in 2009, open data policies were created in several countries around the world. In Brazil, access to public data about the government, provided since the 1988 Constitution, has been promoted by milestones such as the Access to Information Law (Law No. 12.527, 2011) and the Open Data Policy (Decree No. 8.777, 2016). In addition to these milestones, necessary instruments have fostered the creation of portals and dashboards, with practices for sharing government bases and digital government. In this context, the present study was motivated by the partial results of the research project Open Data Observatory, which maps initiatives from the perspective of information organization and retrieval, focusing on the technical delineation of the Brazilian federal government’s primary sources of open, machine-processable data. Thus, the objective of the current short paper is to present the Open Data Observatory project. The research methodology involves a case study of the construction of the observatory, which included exploratory research into the instruments of the Policy and an active search in federal government agencies between June 2023 and June 2024. Partial results include the mapping of legislation, standards, and formats, as well as the identification of application programming interfaces and other machine-processable sources. In addition, a new version of the DGABr metric was published, which assesses the potential for reuse of the Brazilian government’s open government data. The observatory aims to impact how open data is consumed in Brazil, gathering technical information to effectively reuse data and supporting the dissemination of knowledge for innovation and social transformation.
The study aimed to investigate the role of institutional factors on the sustainability of institutional repositories (IRs) in Kenyan university libraries and propose strategies to improve their sustainability. A positivist approach was employed, using quantitative methodologies with a complement of qualitative elements. The study used a cross-sectional research survey design. Respondents included librarians, postgraduate students, teaching staff, and representatives from research offices from 48 accredited Kenyan universities. Data were collected from six highly ranked universities (University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, Egerton University, Strathmore University, and Moi University) using questionnaires, semistructured phone interviews, and document analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions and Excel, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. The findings indicated that institutional sustainability factors played a crucial role in the sustainability of IRs. Institutional factors, such as low awareness of IR policy frameworks, lack of management support, lack of stakeholders’ involvement, and inadequate technological know-how among IR librarians influenced the sustainability of IRs. To enhance the sustainability of IRs in Kenyan university libraries, the study recommended that university libraries should establish and publicize IR frameworks. Further, all stakeholders should be involved during the formulation of IR policies. The study also recommended that University libraries should seek management support and recruit/train IR staff with the necessary skills to run all the activities of an IR.
Introduction: Open access initiatives in academic libraries have gained momentum globally, driven by the need for equitable access to scholarly knowledge and social justice. Methods: A qualitative approach was employed to explore the status of open access programs in Zimbabwean academic libraries and examine the obstacles encountered during their execution. Data were collected through literature review, document and web content analysis of the websites of 20 academic libraries in Zimbabwe, open access platforms, registries, and signatories of open access policies. Results: The findings revealed that the academic libraries had made some strides in initiating open access activities. Nonetheless, difficulties were encountered, including a lack of capital, a poor technology infrastructure, copyright issues, and opposition from conventional academic publishers. Notwithstanding these difficulties, these institutions have seen some encouraging developments, including the adoption of open access repositories, partnerships with foreign organizations to expand the accessibility of open access materials, open access publishing, the signing of open access declarations, and the creation of institutional open access policies. Recommendations: The authors recommend strategies such as increasing funding for open access projects, investing in technological infrastructure, and building the capacity of both librarians and researchers. Collaboration among academic institutions, government bodies, and international organizations is crucial in sustaining the sustainable growth of open access in Zimbabwe.
Introduction: Australia has achieved limited national progress toward achieving policy goals for more open and rapid access to research outputs. This article provides evidence of the widespread confusion in Australian research practices and policies relating to ownership and dissemination of research publications. This confusion often results in researchers just ticking a box: assigning copyright to commercial publishers. Methods: Based upon insights from interviews with university researchers, librarians, and research managers, we describe how academics grapple with myriad policies and pressures relating to research and publication. Results: Subject matter covered includes university intellectual property (IP) and open access policies; research quality and peer review; article processing charges; and funder open access requirements. Conclusion: The authors propose remedies to improve the ways that IP and open access policies can work better to achieve goals for dissemination. If implemented, these remedies would lead to greater policy harmonisation and ease of understanding within the research sector, as well as a permanent change in the way government and institutions assess research quality. These remedies also align with global policy developments aimed at creating a more open future for research.
Introduction: This exploratory study examines five years of institutional publishing output of an R1 University, examining to what extent authors have utilized open access (OA) publishing opportunities. Literature Review: The literature review explores the concurrent benefits of (OA) publishing and institutional repositories, citing similar studies on bibliometrics and publishing trends and data-informed strategies for promoting library services relative to scholarly communications topics. Methods: Data was collected from Web of Science combined with the OA data from the UnPaywall Rest API and cleaned and analyzed in OpenRefine and Microsoft Excel. Results: The findings suggest that many university authors pursue OA publishing opportunities, with nearly half (45%) of the articles in the sample utilizing various OA publishing models and nearly one-third appearing in at least one OA repository. Discussion: The results of this study were used to better understand OA publication trends at the university and inform educational and outreach strategies. Conclusion: The authors conclude with recommendations for further study and ideas for promotion of The University of Alabama’s institutional repository utilizing the data from this research.
Introduction: As universities have extended services beyond their campus borders, academic libraries have engaged the cause in a variety of ways. This case study of the Cal Poly Humboldt Library details one uniquely effective method by opening publishing services to the community. Background: While universities and libraries have served community needs through numerous programs, including by providing community authorship support, the context of community publishing points to academic library publishing services as a well-aligned solution. Description of Program and Benefits: Using student employment to support operations, the Press at Cal Poly Humboldt has developed a robust community publishing program that fosters student voices and skill development, increases community engagement, advances solutions to critical issues, and broadens the university’s local outreach and global impact. Conclusion: The wide-ranging benefits of community publishing encourage academic libraries to extend their publishing services to a community test case in the assessment of the impact on campus students, the library, the university, and the community.
Introduction: Scholarly communication is essential to academic research, enabling the creation, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge. However, faculty engagement with scholarly communication practices in Ghana’s technical universities remains underexplored, especially in institutions with lower research visibility. This study investigates the scholarly communication knowledge and practices of faculty members at Tamale Technical University (TaTU), Dr. Hilla Limann Technical University (DHLTU), and Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU). Methods: Guided by the positivist paradigm and using a quantitative survey design, data were collected from 212 faculty members using proportionate sampling. Results: The findings reveal significant institutional differences in faculty familiarity with scholarly journals, copyright and licensing issues, and research data management. DHLTU faculty demonstrated stronger engagement with scholarly publishing, while TaTU faculty showed greater awareness of licensing practices. However, a general lack of deep understanding of research impact metrics and emerging scholarly communication technologies was observed across all three institutions. Discussion & Conclusion: The study underscores the critical role of academic libraries in shaping scholarly communication literacy through training, infrastructure, and policy support. By addressing these gaps, technical universities in Ghana can enhance faculty research output, visibility, and contribution to the global academic community.
Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication Volume 12, Issue 2, Special Issue: Open Access: Diverse Experiences and Expectations, Masthead
Introduction: Using the Library Publishing Coalition’s (LPC) Research Dataset, this paper focuses on the staffing of library publishing programs at colleges, universities, and consortia in the United States and Canada from 2014 to 2022. Methods: In order to transform the data into a consistent format and write it into a single table as a commaseparated values (CSV) file, we created a program written in C# and executed on Windows 10. We narrowed the data set to focus on just library publishing programs from the United States and Canada, as well as to those that responded to the survey in early and later years. We also analyzed the data by enrollment and compared the staffing of library publishing programs to the staffing of academic libraries in general using the annual Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Library Trends and Statistics Annual Survey data. Results: The average library publishing program relies largely on professional staff, has shown the most growth in paraprofessional staff, and has lost staff overall since 2019 while still showing growth overall since data collection began. Discussion: Compared with staffing of ACRL libraries in general, library publishing programs lost staff members at about a four-times higher rate from 2014 to 2021. Conclusion: From 2014 to 2022, the number of library publishing staff did not grow at the same rate as the number of staff in libraries did as a whole. Also, although there are certainly general conclusions or trends, there are also opportunities for additional quantitative and qualitative research to be done in this area. Link to code: https://github.com/jmeetz/LPCSurveyDataLoader Link to data: https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/104685
Introduction: In 2022, the U.S. government released new guidelines for making publicly funded research open and available. For the National Science Foundation (NSF), these policies reinforce requirements in place since 2016 for supported research to be submitted to the Public Access Repository (PAR). Methods: To evaluate the public access compliance of research articles submitted to the NSF-PAR, this study searched for NSF-PAR records published between 2017 and 2021 from two research intensive institutions. Records were reviewed to determine whether the PAR held a deposited copy, as required by the 2016 policies, or provided a link out to publisher-held version(s). Results: A total of 841 unique records were identified, all with publicly accessible versions. Yet only 42% had a deposited PDF version available in the repository as required by the NSF 2016 Public Access Policy. The remaining 58% directed instead to publisher-held versions. In total, only 55% of record links labeled “Full Text Available” directed users to a publicly accessible version with a single click. Discussion: Records within PAR do not clearly direct users to the publicly accessible full text. In almost half of records, the most prominently displayed link directed users to a paywall version, even when a publicly available version existed. Records accessible only through the CHORUS (Clearing House for the Open Research of the United States) initiative were further obscured by requiring specialized navigation of publisher-owned sites. Conclusion: Despite having a repository mandate since 2016, NSF compliance rates remain low. Additional support and/or oversight is needed to address the additional requirements introduced under the 2022 memo.
Introduction: Open access initiatives in academic libraries have gained momentum globally, driven by the need for equitable access to scholarly knowledge and social justice. Methods: A qualitative approach was employed to explore the status of open access programs in Zimbabwean academic libraries and examine the obstacles encountered during their execution. Data were collected through literature review, document and web content analysis of the websites of 20 academic libraries in Zimbabwe, open access platforms, registries, and signatories of open access policies. Results: The findings revealed that the academic libraries had made some strides in initiating open access activities. Nonetheless, difficulties were encountered, including a lack of capital, a poor technology infrastructure, copyright issues, and opposition from conventional academic publishers. Notwithstanding these difficulties, these institutions have seen some encouraging developments, including the adoption of open access repositories, partnerships with foreign organizations to expand the accessibility of open access materials, open access publishing, the signing of open access declarations, and the creation of institutional open access policies. Recommendations: The authors recommend strategies such as increasing funding for open access projects, investing in technological infrastructure, and building the capacity of both librarians and researchers. Collaboration among academic institutions, government bodies, and international organizations is crucial in sustaining the sustainable growth of open access in Zimbabwe.
