Expanding open access in the humanities, education and beyond

What if a university’s research wasn’t locked behind paywalls? Through open-access publishing, researchers and scholars can make their work available to everyone.

Open access removes barriers to important scholarly work, ensuring that the benefits don’t just stay on campus, but reach people and communities who need it.

In recognition of International Open Access Week happening Oct. 20–24, ASU Library shines a light on efforts to expand education policy — with a special emphasis on the humanities — and new and longstanding open-access initiatives across Arizona State University.

“ASU Library is especially equipped to be the center of open access at ASU for our faculty, researchers and scholars,” said Anali Maughan Perry, head of ASU Libary's open science and scholarly communication division. “We connect expertise with infrastructure, and facilitate a community of practice to provide a launching pad for those who are interested in developing new open-access journals or transitioning their journal to an open-access model so they don’t have to start from scratch.”

With recent news that ASU is No. 1 in innovation for the 11th straight year, supporting open access and offering platforms to host journals directly support ASU’s goals for creating and sharing knowledge and innovations with the world.

This year, Open Access Week also coincides with Humanities Week, an opportunity to highlight the unique challenges certain disciplines face.

“The humanities and arts offer a different set of obstacles to how we apply open access,” Perry said. “How do we encourage open sharing of art, poetry and creative works in a way that benefits the community, while also being mindful of the rights and needs of authors and creators?”

As co-investigators on a Humanities Institute seed grant, ASU Library is working with ACMRS Press to develop best practices in support of a new open-access journal “Sonance: A Journal of Early Modern Sound Studies.”

The experience inspired questions about how to build different kinds of open-access journals along with creating a framework and toolkit for future projects.

“One of the questions we sought to answer by partnering with ACMRS Press on the launch of ‘Sonance’ was, how does ASU as a community support new models for open access publishing?" said Shari Laster, head of the library's open collections curation and access department. “As part of the grant-funded project, we have been able to investigate the value and reach of ASU Library as a partner for open-access publishing and lay groundwork for future community growth.” 

Here are four open-access partnerships to know about this week that make a difference for research, public policy and community impact.

1. Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation

A leader in open-access publishing since the 1990s, Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation’s scholarly journals promote dialogue about educational policy research among diverse audiences.

With open access, author-owned copyright, and multilingual, globally focused publishing, these journals ensure educational research reaches a wider audience — including policymakers who can turn findings into action.

2. Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies

ACRMS Press has partnered with the ASU Library to transition both their books and journals to an open-access publishing model, part of an intentional strategy to make their innovative approach to medieval and Renaissance scholarship as accessible as possible to a wider audience, particularly for classroom use.

3. Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Professor Claudia Mesch in the School of Art is a founding editor of the open-access Journal of Surrealism and the Americas, which has been in publication for over 15 years and focuses on the subject of modern European and American intellectuals’ obsession with the “New World.”

4. Hispanic Research Center’s Bilingual Press

The Hispanic Research Center is relaunching the Bilingual Press, starting with a newly created librito series.

Through the librito series, the Bilingual Press aims to provide broad, bilingual access to the complexity and beauty that pervades Latino and Chicano art and is exploring open-access options for removing barriers in cost and distribution to the community.

The first librito, “Dia de los Muertos: A Chicano Arts Legacy,” written by Mathew Sandoval from Barrett, The Honors College, was released in both English and Spanish editions earlier this month.

Even after Open Access Week wraps up, the conversations continue throughout the year. ASU community members interested in learning more about open access at ASU are invited to join the Open Access Publishing Community Connection event on Nov. 14 at 11 a.m. in Hayden Library.

“Whether you are currently exploring open-access publishing options or want to start your own open-access journal, reach out to ASU Library to get connected to expertise and support,” Perry said. “By working with the library, researchers and scholars can ensure their work has the ability to reach the broadest possible audience.”