By Linda Martin and Regina Pfeifenberger
Under the motto "We want to dare more open access", researchers, subject specialists and authors shared their experiences and questions about open access in political science on 9 February 2022. The topical workshop is part of the open-access.network project and was jointly organised by the Open-Access-Büro Berlin and the Fachinformationsdienst Politikwissenschaft (FID Pollux). After an introduction to the possibilities of various publication channels and services offered by infrastructure providers, the almost 30 participants had the opportunity to talk directly with two OA publishers.
An important factor in choosing a journal: Open Access
"It's lucky if the co-author is a corresponding author and their institution promotes open access," said Jun.-Prof. Arndt Leininger, Ph.D. from Chemnitz University of Technology in his presentation. The experience of having access to a wider range of sources through open access literature shaped the time of his affiliation at a smaller institution, the Hertie School of Governance. Increased visibility of his own research was also among his motivations for open access publishing. Leininger also described the variety of publication channels he used: from publication in the portfolio of DEAL journals, to the possibility of second publication in the discipline-specific repository, to publication in the independent gold open access journal. The junior professor of political science research methods revealed his tricks for successful OA publishing:
- Contact co-authors early on to find out whether self-archiving of a jointly written article in a repository is possible.
- An important selection criterion for a journal: The existence of gold open access publishing opportunities.
- Affiliation is important. The scientist should be a corresponding author whose institution has transformation contracts or agreements with publishers.
- Obtain information about existing transformation contracts at your own institution and build networks.
Research funding is relevant for young academics
In the following presentation, Dr. Philipp Schulz from the University of Bremen explained how one's own research focus can influence the decision to publish. Open access makes it possible for the people he interviewed in Uganda and on whose statements his dissertation is based to re-use the scientific findings. The central motives for the decision against closed access were transparency, visibility, but also, in particular, ethical and moral.
The author, who works at the Institute of Intercultural and International Studies, published his university thesis as a monograph with the University of California Press. This was accompanied by aspects of quality assurance in the form of an editorial board and the peer review of his manuscript.
Despite all the OA euphoria, Schulz also pointed out the resulting perpetuation of an imbalance between researchers worldwide: increasing one's own visibility, completing a career stage with the help of an OA publication, is often only possible with the support of research funding organisations. In turn, the increase in one's own reputation facilitates the acquisition of new funding. Open access should thus always be examined from a postcolonial perspective.
Everything that is (copy) right
Dipl.-Wirt.Jur. Thomas Hartmann, LL.M., from FIZ Karlsruhe - Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure gave the participants an insight into the topic of (copyright) law and argued that open access should be strengthened. More openness is needed, was his credo. Especially in the digital world, "some rights are reserved", which is emphasised by the possibility of choosing a Creative Commons (CC) licence. Where authors or editors grant a CC licence, even a more restrictive one, an important step has been taken towards more openness in science and the protection of one's own rights.
In addition to a peer-to-peer exchange, the participants had the opportunity to gain an insight into the services of three infrastructures - the Social Science Open Access Repository (SSOAR), the transcript Open Library Political Science and the International Journal of Conflict and Violence (IJCV).
Gold, green or diamond - ways of publishing
Dr. Agathe Gebert explained how academics can publish in the largest Social Science Open Access Repository (SSOAR) using the green or the golden path. The long-term archiving of research results, the assignment of persistent identifiers (e.g. DOI), the choice of free Creative Commons licences and the use of search engine optimisation are just some of the advantages of publishing on the document server of GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. Uploading your own publications via Pollux is particularly easy, as the metadata of the selected publication is automatically transferred to SSOAR.
The transcript Open Library Political Science is a service created by the publisher transcript on the basis of crowdfunding - with special support from the FID Pollux. Stefanie Hanneken explained how research literature is gaining visibility via platforms such as JSTOR or OAPEN. Hanneken emphasised the idea that researchers become co-editors by independently choosing a Creative Commons licence and simply handing over simple rights of use to the publisher. Previous authors most frequently chose the CC BY licence, but also the more restrictive CC BY-NC variant.
Dr. Kurt Salentin (Bielefeld University) presented the interdisciplinary Journal of Conflict and Violence, which he and other editors supervise. The journal is hosted via BieJournals (software: Open Journal Systems of Bielefeld University) and offers authors the possibility of free publishing (diamond open access), including peer review. In terms of content and technology, the medium is based on the work of the editorial board. Like the morning's speakers, Salentin emphasised that his motivation for diamond open access publishing is to contribute to educational justice and to make publicly funded knowledge freely available to civil society.
Key takeaways from the workshop
- the motivation of publishers ranging from the desire for increased visibility of their own research to global justice and the understanding of publicly funded science that should also benefit civil society
- the central role of research funding organisations, which should give further relevance to open occess
- the recurring uncertainties surrounding the choice of a suitable Creative Commons licence, whether for one's own publications or as an editor of a journal offering
- the uncertainties regarding funding and the challenges of publishing a qualification thesis within Germany
- The question of positioning and appropriate services, which touches on different ways of publishing - what lines of conflict are emerging? It seems worthwhile to take a look at the opportunities offered by diamond open access services and the services offered by smaller and medium-sized publishers, not least against the background of the personal motivation of the publishers.