The future of open access and library publishing
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide a vision for how academic libraries can assume a more central role in a future where open access (OA) publishing has become the predominant model for disseminating scholarly research articles.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyze existing trends related to OA policies and publishing, with an emphasis on the development of repositories managed by libraries to publish and disseminate articles. They speculate that these trends, coupled with emerging economic realities, will create an environment where libraries will assume a major role in the OA publishing environment. The authors provide some suggestions for how this major role might be funded.
Findings
The trends and economic realities discussed will lead to new roles for academic librarians and will change the existing roles.
Originality/value
This article provides insights for academic libraries and their institutions to consider a dramatic shift in the deployment of subscription dollars from a dysfunctional and largely closed scholarly communication system to one that provides open, unfettered access to research results.
Keywords
Citation
Chadwell, F. and C. Sutton, S. (2014), "The future of open access and library publishing", New Library World, Vol. 115 No. 5/6, pp. 225-236. https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-05-2014-0049
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited