Summary of Some Faculty Perceptions, Concerns and/or Attitudes About Open Access Journals and Institutional Repositories

Special Libraries Association Conference in Baltimore, June, 2006 had a session entitled, “Open Access and Institutional Repositories in Sci-Tech and Engineering Libraries.” I thought I would summarize some of the salient points that arose during the presentation and subsequent discussion about Faculty perceptions of OA Journals and IRs.

Some Faculty Perceptions, Concerns and Attitudes about:

1. Open Access (OA) Journals:

a. Many OA Journals are new and do not have the prestige of more established, peer-reviewed journals with high impact factors.

b. Younger Faculty, who are working toward tenure, do not want to publish in OA Journals, because they feel these journals are not as highly respected as traditional journals during review process by Promotion and Tenure Committees.

2. Institutional Repositories (IRs):

a. Posting materials/items on an IR may prohibit or hinder publication in a high-impact, peer-reviewed journal.

b. There is a perceived low status of material posted on an IR due to the lack of peer-review or editorial board review.

c. Concerns about the copyright and intellectual property rights of the Faculty author.

d. IRs may weaken the current system/model of scholarly journal publishing.

e. Some Faculty feel that posting material on an IR will increase their workload and require a great time commitment.

These Faculty perceptions, concerns and/or attitudes concerning OA Journals and IRs can be carefully addressed in a positive, factual manner during meetings and discussions.

--Nancy Wilmes