Editor’s Choice: It’s time for “pushmi-pullyu” open access: servicing the distinct needs of readers and authors

This excerpt by Toby Green originally appeared in LSE Impact Blog  on October 24, 2017

The open access movement has failed. Self-archiving and open-access journals are struggling to deliver 100% open access and probably never will. Moreover, readers, the curious minds it was hoped research would be opened to, have been marginalised from the debate. Toby Green suggests an unbundling of the often disparate, distinct services required by readers and authors; a new model for scholarly communications based on Doctor Dolittle’s “pushmi-pullyu”. The specific needs of authors preparing their papers and data for publication can be serviced on one side of the pushmi-pullyu; while on the other, freemium services ensure research is discoverable and readable by all, without payment, and a premium layer of reader-focused services ensures the evolving needs of readers are met…

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Open Access Week @ GC: Authors’ Rights Workshop, 10/21

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Graphic is adapted from this image, © Dimitar Poposki, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Next week (October 20-26, 2014) is Open Access Week, an annual global event promoting open access as a new norm in scholarship and research. At the Graduate Center, we’re celebrating Open Access Week with a workshop about understanding and preserving your rights as an author:

You Know What You Write, But Do You Know Your Rights?
Understanding and Protecting Your Rights As an Author
Tuesday, October 21st, 1-2pm
Graduate Center Library, Room C196.05 (concourse level inside library)

When you publish a journal article, you sign a copyright agreement. Do you know what you’re agreeing to when you sign it? Different journals have different policies:

  • Some journals require you to relinquish your copyright. (You then have to ask permission or even pay to share your article with students and colleagues!)
  • Some journals allow you to retain some rights (e.g., the right to post online).
  • Some journals leave copyright in your hands. (You simply give the journal a non-exclusive license to publish the article.)

How can you find out a journal’s policy? How can you negotiate your contract to make the most of your rights as a scholar, researcher, and author? Come learn how to preserve your rights to reproduce, distribute, and display the work you create.

Led by Jill Cirasella, Associate Librarian for Public Services and Scholarly Communication at the Graduate Center. Open to students, faculty, staff, and anyone from the CUNY community who has questions about their rights as authors, open access publishing, or scholarly communication.

Eventbrite - Introduction to Author's Rights

Can’t make it? Want a preview of what’s covered? See the materials from the previous authors’ rights event.