From Assessment to Action- Strengthening Open Access Publishing at McMaster Libraries

From Assessment to Action- Strengthening Open Access Publishing at McMaster Libraries

Presentation at the 2025 CALA Canada Annual Conference

Zhang, Wei; McLellan, Andrea

Chinese American Librarians Association

2025-05-05

application/pdf

eng

Text; Presentation

McMaster Libraries are dedicated to enhancing open access (OA) publishing to boost research impact and ensure equitable access to scholarly works. Our initiatives include engaging in Read & Publish agreements and tailored OA licenses. To support McMaster's engagement, we have developed a comprehensive framework for pre-agreement assessment, conducted ongoing evaluations, and implemented strategic initiatives to connect authors with OA journals. Using PLOS as a case study, we created a pre-agreement assessment framework to evaluate the impact of OA publishing agreements on our budget, APC costs, institutional publishing output, and research impact. This framework ensures alignment with our institutional goals and resource allocation strategies. Continual evaluation is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of OA agreements, as we monitor metrics such as publication output, usage statistics, and author feedback. The biggest challenge has been inconsistency or lack of metadata. To address this, we adopted OA Switchboard, a metadata exchange hub to complement other data sources for our evaluations. Recognizing the challenges authors face in navigating license terms and identifying eligible journals, we implemented the SciFree Journal Search Tool in January 2024. This platform helps researchers easily identify OA journals covered by our agreements, streamlining the publication process. In conclusion, McMaster Libraries support OA publishing through comprehensive assessments and strategic initiatives. By leveraging innovative tools and ongoing evaluation, we strive to foster a culture of open scholarship and maximize the impact of McMaster research.