PDF - CARL - ABRC

Outline – Synergies Business and Sustainability Plan Rowland Lorimer 7 of 11
a. as “consumers,” and hence involving virtually all SSH Canadian postsecondary
libraries;
b. as service providers in the provision of hosting and support services;
4. Participation by a substantial majority of Canadian SSH nonprofit journals as
“publishers”;
5. Maintaining a development trajectory for
a. the continued maintenance and development of OJS;
b. the continued maintenance and development of the Synergies database, its
accessibility, and its facilities for presenting data in useful ways;
c. a work-efficient integration of Erudit with OJS;
d. the development of an index of equivalent functionality to the Scopus or
ISI indexes;
e. international marketing of the content and this public sector solution to
knowledge production, dissemination, and access.
There are, of course, ways of flowing needed resources to journals and other publishers
alternative to what is outlined below. Submission fees or other author fees are possible
and are being put in place in certain countries, by certain journals, and in certain
disciplines. Likewise, per-capita and per-institution levies could fund journal publishing.
However, given the current structure of support in Canada for SSH journals, the proposed
reorganization that follows appears to make the greatest sense.
Addressing Organizational Challenges in Support of Journal Publishing
SSHRC support
Ongoing involvement of SSHRC is critical in helping to guide the transition of
Synergies from its development to its operational and second development phase.
SSHRC involvement will assist Synergies in creating a sustainable infrastructure to
ensure that researchers and research achieve recognition both in the world research
community and in the public sphere. Such involvement will provide an understanding
that will foster continuing long-term support to Canadian SSH journals.
University, research institute, and learned society support
The considerable financial resources provided to journals on an ad hoc basis will
continue to be both necessary and important. Gathering and distributing information on
the extent of journal support would assist in increasing awareness of its crucial nature to
the publication of Canadian SSH research.
Library participation as users and hosts
With the ease of access and lack of individual user costs brought about by digital
technologies, libraries will increasingly predominate in representing users in crafting and
maintaining a production, distribution and consumption structure. By bringing resources
to the table, libraries will be in a position to play an influential role as representatives of
users.
Given the library community’s desire and preference for Open Access, which closes off
marketplace earnings for journals, and given the existence of SSHRC support for
5/5/10 7 of 11