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provide the opportunity for students to “participate in the many facets of publishing and editing
not directly offered through coursework” 10 . They enable students to gain experience in preparing
and submitting manuscripts and sharpening their editorial skills. In addition, student-run journals
are a vehicle for sharing research being conducted by students and are a “forum for students to
showcase their talents in scientific research and social thought”. These journals are often hosted
by libraries.
The University of Toronto Libraries is currently hosting 10 open access student-managed
journals. One of these is the University of Toronto Journal of Undergraduate Life Sciences
(JULS). JULS is dedicated to showcasing the research achievements of undergraduate life science
students and to encourage intellectual exploration across the various life sciences disciplines. The
Journal was established in the summer of 2006 and publishes once annually. All articles are
edited by a two-stage peer-review process.
The journal project began with a small group of students who wanted to showcase various works
of research by other students, and has quickly gained support from various departments and
faculty members at the University of Toronto.
The Journal is an open access journal hosted by the University of Toronto Libraries using the OJS
platform. It publishes in both print and electronic format. The journal receives free hosting
services from the library, and is sponsored by 15 departments across the U of T campus.
II. Library Hosting and Publishing Services
Libraries are becoming increasingly involved in publishing activities on campus. In Canada, the
Synergies project, has contributed to the relatively rapid deployment of these programs. Funding
from Synergies is distributed to participating libraries, which in turn provide free hosting services
and technical assistance for eligible journals.
Library services typically involve basic activities like hosting, technical assistance, and training in
the use of the journal publishing software. In most cases, libraries are providing the services for
free, although a few have or are planning to adopt adopted a fee based model. OJS software is
being widely used by Canadian libraries, and a number of libraries are also assessing whether
they can expand publishing and hosting services to include monographs, when the Open
Monograph Press software is released by the PKP project.
The majority of libraries approach their publishing services as part of broader, open
access/scholarly communication initiatives on campus. These are strategic programs aimed at
10 Antonius et al. pg. 1
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