Open Their Eyes: How the Open Access Movement has Changed the Scholarly Publishing World for Academics

The scholarly publishing world is somewhat secretive and mysterious, at least to those who exist outside of it. Even newly tenured college faculty members have been confused by the process and impact of publishing. For many years there have been specific procedures for conducting research in the sciences and humanities, and even more specific policies for writing, submitting, and having one’s end product accepted. Scholars must also consider the role of publishing in their career advancement, from meeting tenure requirements to being considered for merit promotion. The value of various publishing venues is discipline-specific, which can be confusing in an ever-growing interdisciplinary world. Additionally, academic scholars have had to rely on traditional impact factors (citation counts) of various journals as indicators of how likely their research would be taken forward and cited in subsequent research. The world of scholarly publishing is currently experiencing a significant upheaval. The Open Access (OA) movement specifically has been made possible by developing technologies that allow for digital delivery of documents. While providing free access to scholarship, some aspects of publishing in OA journals have proven challenging to scholars, while other aspects of OA journals provide compelling incentives as publishing venues. Librarians act on behalf of scholars; but in addition to assisting with resources, librarians can also provide information and eye-opening insights regarding the changing landscape of scholarly publishing