Category: Open Scholarship

Posted on

For Your Consideration: JLSC Editor-in-Chief Call for Applications

JLSC logo

Call for Applications: JLSC Editor-in-Chief

The Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication (https://jlsc-pub.org/) invites individuals or multi-member teams to apply for the position of JLSC Editor-in-Chief.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for a wide array of editorial matters, including submission assessment, reviewer management, article solicitation, and journal promotion. The Editor-in-Chief also provides leadership to the full editorial team, which currently includes an Assistant Editor and two Reviews Editors. In conjunction with the Board Chair, the Editor-in-Chief works with the Editorial Board to determine policy, direction, and oversight for the journal.

Responsibilities

The Editor-in-Chief (EIC) manages the overall functioning of the journal, including the development and enforcement of policies. The EIC also oversees the editorial process, including assessment of the relevance of submissions (approximately 60 per year) to the journal’s scope, assignment of peer reviewers, review of revisions, and guidance of accepted submissions through the final editing (copyediting and proofreading) and publication stages. (The EIC is not responsible for copyediting or any production tasks.)

The EIC works closely with the Editorial Board to shape journal policy and practices. Editorial Board members assist the EIC in identifying and recruiting peer reviewers, performing peer review of submissions, soliciting manuscripts, and increasing general awareness and reach of the journal.

The initial term for Editor-in-Chief is four years, with possible annual reappointment thereafter, to a maximum service of seven years. This is a volunteer position.

Preferred start date is June, 2019; the current two-person EIC team will assist the new EIC for a one-month transition period (and be available for consultation after the transition period).

How to Apply

The Editor-in-Chief position is open to individuals or multi-member teams. To apply, please provide (a) applicant contact information, (b) a current CV, and (c) a statement addressing the criteria for selection listed below to Jill Cirasella at jcirasella@gc.cuny.edu by March 18, 2019. Finalists for the position will be asked to provide contact information for at least two references.

A successful applicant must demonstrate:

  • Commitment to advancing scholarly communication practices and librarianship: This includes demonstrated leadership in — and/or advocacy for — the intersections of scholarly communication and librarianship, as well as knowledge in any of the specific areas related to JLSC topics of interest (publishing, data services, digital repositories, open access, impact metrics, etc.).
  • Scholarly experience: This includes an active record of professional growth and scholarly achievement. For example, the candidate is engaged in research, has authored works in areas related to JLSC topics of interest, is active in relevant professional organizations, or is involved in advocacy or instruction related to topics of interest. Preference will be given to individuals with prior experience as an editor or editorial board member for a journal.
  • Institutional support or individual dedication: The candidate must be able to dedicate the time necessary to provide ongoing timely support for authors and the journal as a whole. Examples of evidence of this could include: the candidate being provided release time for JLSC duties, the activities falling within the scope of the candidate’s professional responsibilities (e.g., employer expectations to be engaged in scholarship), or recent adjustments to responsibilities (e.g., cycled off committees or other obligations that have created time for new opportunities).  

Beyond the above primary requirements, additional consideration will be given to the following criteria when reviewing applicants:

  • Academic discipline or area of study, professional work, performance, etc., with a preference for individuals familiar with academic librarianship;
  • Location of current employment (nation, region, hemisphere), with a preference for individuals who will commit to making space for under- or un-represented perspectives;
  • Academic or professional position, with a preference for individuals who demonstrate evidence of expertise and substantial professional contributions to librarianship or a related academic discipline.

About JLSC

The Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication is a peer-reviewed open-access publication for original articles, reviews, and case studies that analyze or describe the strategies, partnerships, and impact of library-led digital projects, online publishing, and scholarly communication initiatives. JLSC is published on a rolling basis, with a general issue for each year and occasional special issues.

JLSC is a shared intellectual space for scholarly communication librarians, institutional repository managers, digital archivists, digital data managers, and related professionals. The journal provides a focused forum for library practitioners to share ideas, strategies, research, and pragmatic explorations of library-led initiatives related to such areas as institutional repository and digital collection management, library publishing/hosting services, and authors’ rights advocacy efforts. As technology, scholarly communication, the economics of publishing, and the roles of libraries all continue to evolve, the work shared in JLSC informs practices that strengthen librarianship.

The journal welcomes original research and practitioner experience papers, as well as submissions in alternative formats (e.g., video).

In order to lower barriers to publication for authors, JLSC does not charge submission or any other form of author fees. JLSC is published on Ubiquity Press’s customized Open Journal Systems platform.

Publisher

JLSC is published by Pacific University Libraries. Pacific University (Oregon) is a private undergraduate liberal arts institution with graduate and professional programs in education, optometry and the health professions.

Indexing

JLSC is indexed in Library & Information Science Source and Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) and is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

JLSC logo

Posted on

Editor’s Choice: Openness as Tool for Acceleration and Measurement: Reflections on Problem Representations Underpinning Open Access and Open Science

Editor’s Choice: Haider, J. (2017). Openness as Tool for Acceleration and Measurement: Reflections on Problem Representations Underpinning Open Access and Open Science. In U. Herb, & J. Schöpfel (Eds.), Open Divide?:
Critical Studies on Open Access. Sacramento, CA: Litwin Books. Source: Openness as Tool for Acceleration and Measurement: Reflections on Problem Representations Underpinning Open Access and Open Science

Abstract: Open access has established itself as an issue that researchers, universities, and various infrastructure providers, such as libraries and academic publishers, have to relate to. Commonly policies requiring open access are framed as expanding access to information and hence as being part of a democratization of society and knowledge production processes. However, there are also other aspects that are part of the way in which open access is commonly imagined in the various policy documents, declarations, and institutional demands that often go unnoticed. This essay wants to foreground some of these issues by asking the overarching question: “If open access and open science are the solutions, then what is the problem they are meant to solve?” The essay discusses how demands to open up access to research align also with processes of control and evaluation and are often grounded in ideas of economic growth as constant acceleration.

In this chapter, Haider argues that the open access rhetoric adopted by policymakers frames open access as “a business model for managing relations between public funders and private enterprise.”  This framing of the issue has helped to accelerate the privatization of open access.  Additionally, the emphasis on policy makers and publishers has downplayed the role of researchers and librarians.

Posted on

Lehman College Statement on Academic Freedom

This post was contributed by Kenneth Schlesinger, Chief Librarian, Lehman College.

On November 15, 2017, Lehman College Senate approved a new Statement on Academic Freedom.  This process was a year in the making.  We started with CUNY’s controversial and contentious Freedom of Expression Policy, which—from the perception of the College Senate’s Academic Freedom Committee—appeared to be more about abridging freedom of speech rather than celebrating and advocating for it.  Originating from CUNY’s Office of Legal Affairs, it’s not surprising that it read like a legal document, neither user-friendly nor inspirational.

In developing Lehman’s own Policy, we looked to Statements developed by peer institutions including University of Chicago and Middlebury College. While the College Senate did approve original draft based on Chicago’s Report in March 2017, I wrote to the Chair of the Committee with some of my concerns.  First of all, I wanted a Statement that pertains to the specific Lehman community, that reflects our values and local culture (on campus, we refer to this as Lehmanizing).  I also believe our Statement should be aspirational, and recommended deleting or recasting language that appeared restrictive or negative (disagreeable, offensive, reject, loathe, etc.). Continue reading “Lehman College Statement on Academic Freedom”