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Case Studies
The remainder of this report describes specific trends in the scholarly publishing environment and
presents a number of case studies that highlight these trends. The case studies should not be
considered as a comprehensive record of initiatives in Canada, but rather an attempt to
demonstrate the range of activities occurring here.
I. Open Access Journals
Open access journals have been moving into the mainstream over the last decade and currently
represent a significant portion of the world’s academic journals. As of March 2010, the Directory
of Open Access Journals lists just fewer than 5,000 journals (4755) 3 . This represents
approximately one-fifth to one-sixth of the estimated total number of journals being published
currently 4 . In Canada, most of these open access journals are independent scholar-led journals not
affiliated with large publishing houses. Many OA journals are hosted by libraries and are
receiving support through the Synergies project.
Funding is a major challenge for Canadian journal publishers. Most Canadian-based journals are
run on a shoestring budget, and rely heavily on volunteer contributions, graduate student work,
and technical and hosting support from academic libraries. Open access journals must find funds
other than via subscriptions to undertake copy-editing, layout, and XML markup of articles,
marketing, etc. In addition, they must compete with the sophisticated platforms of the major
publishers that are quite expensive to maintain. In Canada, as elsewhere, open access journal
publishers are still looking for the right balance of funding sources in order to reliably cover the
costs of publishing.
Current sources of revenue for open access journals include: grants, subsidies, sponsorships,
institutional and individual memberships, advertisements, donations, and submission/article
processing fees. Often, journals will derive funding from several of these sources. A recent
survey of 998 journals using OJS software found that the “strongest source of revenue comes in
the form of subsidies…from the institution, the state, or a donor, and a number of programs exist
for the subsidization of scholarly publishing” 5 . The study found that submission or publication
fees were a source of revenue for only 12 percent and existed principally for biomedical journals.
Some journals, for instance many journals available through Érudit, provide open access only
after a period of from 6 months to two-years. This allows them to retain some revenue from
subscriptions for current issues, while providing free access to their archives.
3
From the Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.doaj.org/
4
Corbyn, pg. 1
5
Edgar, et.al. pg. 11.
6