Day/Time: Wednesday, May 12, 4:00 PM to 5 PM

Presenters

  • Jill Cirasella, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
  • Rebekah Kati, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Wendy C. Robertson, University of Iowa
  • David Lewis, Emeritus, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
  • Daniel Bangert, Digital Repository of Ireland, Royal Irish Academy
  • Harrison W. Inefuku, Iowa State University

Description

The Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication (JLSC) is a peer-reviewed, open access journal with no article processing charges for authors. It has been published by Pacific University Libraries (PUL) since its inception in 2012, with all costs covered by PUL. In April 2020, PUL notified JLSC that it was refocusing its publishing program and would not be able to publish JLSC beyond June 2021.

The news hit hard, but the editorial team and editorial board also saw opportunity. What additional best practices might we be able to adopt? What new technologies or modalities might we be able to embrace? What kind of financial sponsorship program might we develop to sustain the journal for years to come? We created a committee to bring our needs and hopes into focus and develop a request for proposals.

In September 2020, we issued the call for proposals and crossed our fingers. We knew our expectations were high, but we also knew that there exist numerous open access publishers with missions aligned with ours. And, indeed, we received six proposals, including a standout proposal from Iowa State University Digital Press (ISUDP). With excitement, hope, and gratitude, we selected ISUDP as JLSC’s next publisher.

In this presentation, members of JLSC’s editorial team and editorial board will detail our search, from initial panic to ultimate partnership. Additionally, the manager of ISUDP will discuss the decision to submit a proposal and the questions that arose while developing it. Attendees will have ample opportunity to ask the panel about our hopes, fears, priorities, and processes.