Academic Publishing Ecology

You are working on a NSERC-funded project that aims to monitor how climate change is affecting bee habitat in southern Alberta. You will be the first author on the journal article documenting some of the project's results, and you're not sure which journal to target for publication. Your goals are to: <ol> <li>Achieve a broad readership, including your colleagues in government and environmental NGOs </li> <li>Publish in a well-respected journal that will be an asset to your career </li> <li>Comply with NSERC's Open Access Policy on Publications </li> </ol> You identify two journals that look like good targets. Oecologia is a prestige journal in your field, but you're not sure if it complies with OA requirements or if your non-academic colleagues would have access to it. BMC Ecology is a fully Open Access journal but you aren't sure if it is as well-respected in your field. Which journal do you decide to investigate? [[Oecologia]] [[BMC Ecology]]

This journal charges a <a href="https://bmcecol.biomedcentral.com/about"_blank">1370 GBP fee</a> per accepted article. Article processing charges are an eligible expense for TriCouncil grants. If you do not have any more grant funding available to pay for the fees, the University of Calgary's <a href="http://library.ucalgary.ca/open-access-authors-fund="_blank"> Open Access Authors Fund</a> may be able to cover your costs. Good luck with your article!

<ul> <li>Talk to your peers and mentors. Do they know of anyone on the editorial board? Have they read or cited this journal?</li> <li><a href="https://lcr.ucalgary.ca/consultation" target="_blank">Ask a librarian</a>. They will be able to help you assess the journal and tell you whether it is indexed in reputable databases.</li> </ul>

Self-archiving means that you post a version of your paper to an institutional or disciplinary repository. (Green open access) The Tri-Council policy requires that a version of your paper be archived within 12 months of publication. What type of self archiving is permitted by Oecologia? <ul> <li>Check on the <a href="http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/index.php">Sherpa-Romeo database</a>. This database lists the copyright and self-archiving policies of publishers and journals.</li> <li>This journal does allow you to archive the accepted manuscript (the version after peer review but before publisher layout and copyediting) on a repository. <li>There is an embargo period of 12 months. That means that when you deposit your article to a repository, you delay its release by 12 mohts. This meets the Tri-Council Policy requirements.</li> </ul> What do you do? I'm happy with the self-archiving solution. I'm going to submit my paper to this journal, and archive the accepted manuscript in a repository. I think that a [[fully open access journal->BMC Ecology]] would be a better option for me.

Oecologia is a well-respected journal in your field. The University of Calgary Library subscribes to this journal, but most of its content is not available to non-subscribers. The yearly subscription price for Canadian institutions is about 10,000 USD. You have the option to pay 3000 USD to make your individual article Open Access, but this journal is not eligible for the University of Calgary's Open Access Authors Fund because it is a "hybrid" journal. You don't have enough grant funding to cover this fee. What do you do? Give up on this journal and take a look at [[BMC Ecology]] I've heard that I can self-archive my work and still comply with the Tri-Council Policy. [[Investigate self-archiving ->Self archiving]]

BMC Ecology is a fully open access journal. It has an APC-based business model and makes all accepted articles immediately free to read upon publication. (Gold open access) The PI on the grant asks you to evaluate this journal before you submit to it. Ways to assess a journal prior to submission: <ul> <li>Check to see if it is listed in the <a href="https://doaj.org/" target="_blank">Directory of Open Access Journals</a>. The DOAJ screens Open Access journals for quality.</li> <li>Have a good look at the journal's <a href="https://bmcecol.biomedcentral.com/about" target="_blank">website</a>. It should contain: <ul> <li>a clear and appropriate scope;</li> <li>an editorial board with recognized experts and current contact information for them;</li> <li>transparent information about whether any author fees are charged;</li> <li>a description of the peer review process used by the journal.</li></ul> <li>did the journal solicit you to contribute? If a call for submissions did not come from a trusted source, treat it as spam.</li> </ul> What do you do? [[This journal seems like a good fit. I'm going to submit my paper!]] [[I'm still not sure if this journal is a good fit. What should I do?]]