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Graduate Student Research Institute

Scholarly Publishing & Open Access

Library resources have been the most helpful. Free access is hard to get without being a student.

MA Student Southeast Asia Studies

One area many graduate students feel anxious about is the process of publishing scholarly research for the first time. Luckily, the Libraries and its staff are here to help, from explaining the world of scholarly publishing to counseling you through some of the confusing choices that can come with selecting a journal venue or signing a contract.

What is Scholarly Publishing?

Scholarly publishing, also known as scholarly communication, is a term that describes the system through research results and writing are created, evaluated, communicated, shared, and preserved for future use. Academic publishing is currently in a state of rapid flux driven by new technologies, costs of online distribution, and changing reader expectations. These changes add a definite complexity to the scholarly publishing landscape and point to new opportunities for customizing how you publish and share your research.

Common Questions:

  • What is the process of submitting a scholarly article?
  • How do I find and select a journal to publish my article?
  • What do I need to know about publishing contracts?
  • What platform should I use to create my digital project?
  • How should I store my research data for future sharing?
  • What are my options for limiting or maximizing access to my research?

A word cloud containing terminology from open access and scholarly communication fields.

Scholarly Publishing & Open Access

“Open Access” is a term that refers to freely available digital information. Open access research is free to read and often carries less restrictive copyright and licensing barriers than traditionally published works, both for users and for authors.

Open Access also refers to a movement that grew in response to an increasing awareness that the traditional system of scholarly publishing no longer meets the needs of scholars and the wide range of audiences who could benefit from research. Making research openly available by bringing articles out from behind publisher paywalls has benefits for individual researchers, the wider research community, and the public at large.

  • Note: Increasingly, institutions that support research are implementing policies that require affiliated researchers to make their data and resulting articles openly accessible and fully usable by the public. Examples include research funded by certain US federal agencies, as well as research published by faculty at some universities.

While open access is a newer form of scholarly publishing, many open journals comply with well-established peer-review processes and maintain high publishing standards. Ask your librarian or mentor for more information about open access journals in your field.

Steps to Take as Researchers

  • Browse open journals and consider publishing your own research openly. Note that some open access journals charge authors article processing charges (APCs).
  • Ask publishers about their access and copyright policies. What rights will you retain for your work?
  • Learn about your right to submit research to an institutional repository so that future researchers can have access, and your writing will stay part of the conversation. Using repositories makes your research freely available to others without incurring fees yourself!

Learn more about Scholarly Publishing and Open Access!

Open Access Resources

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