PaLRaP UpdateGrowth and Reader Response
During the First Year
October 22, 2013
Tom Reinsfelder
John Barnett
The Past
• Background work began in January 2012• Work began on 1st issue in fall 2012• Vol. 1, No. 1 published April 2013• See the Editor’s Welcome in the first issue
for more details
PaLRaP published content
• Vol 1, No 1 – Spring 2013– Research 2– Practice 3– News 4– Commentary 1– Editorial 1
• Total articles published 11
Promotion• Conference presentations• Email lists• Print media/press release/rack card• Social media– Twitter– Linked In
• Alerts– Google– Talkwalker
Abstract views
• Provided by PKP OJS• Viewable by authors/journal staff
Issue 1 (Spring 2013) # Total Average per Article
– Research (2) 1,267 633– Practice (3) 1,613 537– News (4) 1,468 367– Commentary (1) 605– Editor’s welcome (1) 416
Abstract views – All items
24%
30%
27%
11%
8%
Vol 1 No 1 - Spring 2013
ResearchPracticeNewsCommentaryEditorial
Google Analytics
• May 1 – October 15, 2013
– Visits = 1,494– Unique visitors = 1,004– Page views = 10,924– Unique page views = 6,696– Average visit duration = 00:05:29
Google Analytics• Audience– United States 1,309– Egypt 18– United Kingdom 14– Palestine 13– Israel 10– India 10– Australia 9
The Present• Vol. 1, No. 2 (Fall 2013) • More guidance needed for:– Authors– Copyeditors
• New sections added– Features– “Noteworthy” – personnel briefs from PA
libraries
PaLRaP published content
• Vol 1, No 2 – Fall 2013– Research 0– Practice 5– News 9– Features 1– Commentary 2– Editorial 1
• Total articles to be published 18
PaLRaP published content %
28%
45%
3%
10%
7%
Spring 2013 & Fall 2013
ResearchPracticeNewsFeatureCommentaryEditorial
7%
Observations
• APA Style challenges– Frequent citation & formatting errors
• Copyediting challenges– Most articles need some editing to improve
readability
• Template challenges• Time investment
Life cycle of an article• Author submits article ongoing• Editors read/evaluate submission <2-3 days• Peer review 3-4 weeks• Communicate decision to author & author revisions 1-4 weeks• Copyedit 2 weeks• Editors review copyediting <1 week• Authors review copyediting 1 week• Layout 1 week• Editors review layout 2-3 days• Authors review layout & proofread 1 week• Corrections 1 week• Editors proofread 1 week• Publish 1 week• Total 15 to 22 weeks
• Creative Commons: CC-BY
• Readers may: – Share: Copy, Distribute, and Transmit the Work– Remix: Adapt the Work
• Readers must:– Provide attribution when redistributing or
remixing the work
Copyright Policy
The Future• Next issue: Vol. 2, No. 1 – Spring 2014• Adding other types of content– Reviews? What parameters?– Other ideas?
• Further clarify workflows for all roles• Recruit editorial team volunteers• Recruit authors and reviewers - ongoing
Recruiting editorial team
• Board members (ideally) serve 2-year terms
• Term began Fall 2012 • Co-Editors, News Editors, Publicity
Coordinator due to change in Fall 2014• Pressing need for copyeditors, layout
editors
Recruiting reviewers and authors
• Reviewers always welcome– Specializations appreciated– Who can serve as a reviewer?
• Research and practice authors welcome– Contact presenters at conferences– Solicit content from colleagues– Open call for articles to PA lists
• Brief news items– New submission system– Balanced content
Increasing readership and profile
• More conference presentations• Encourage more articles from PA public,
school, and special libraries• Messages to PA and US library lists• Traditional and social media• Increased indexing/harvesting
Indexing/registration• Google Scholar• MediaFinder– Database of U.S./Canadian media/publications
• Public Knowledge Project Open Journal Systems journal list
• Directory of Open Access Journals (pending)– Suggested to DOAJ; has not yet been accepted
• EBSCO (pending)– Contractual agreement– Indexing & harvesting of full-text content
Indexing/registration - future
• With 10 peer-reviewed articles or 2 published issues, opportunities increase– Open Archives Registry– UIUC OIA Registry– OAIster– Ulrich’s– NewJour– Electronic Journals Library
Rolling vs. discrete issues
• Articles in OA journals can be published – On a rolling basis, as they become ready– Or in complete, discrete issues – Or in rolling volumes with an occasional special
issue
• What should PaLRaP do?
The survey says…
• Cirasella, J., and Bowdoin, S. (2013). Just Roll with It? Rolling Volumes vs. Discrete Issues in Open Access Library and Information Science Journals.
Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 1(4):eP1086. doi:10.7710/2162-3309.1086
Results
• Survey was distributed to journal editors, asking them about their publication model and their reasons for and satisfaction with that model
• 21 responses– 12 publish in discrete issues– 8 in rolling volumes– 1 in rolling volumes with occasional special
issue
Satisfaction
• Regardless of model, almost all editors cited ease of workflow as justification for chosen model
• All rolling-volume editors reported being satisfied with their model
• Satisfaction was less universal among discrete-issue editors
Benefits of Discrete Issues(as reported by editors of OA journals)
• Easier production workflow• Deadlines are more meaningful• Easier to promote new issues• Look & feel like a traditional journal• Easier to solicit manuscripts• Work well for themed issues
Benefits of Rolling Issues (as reported by editors of OA journals)
• Improved production workflows• Less emphasis on deadlines• Faster dissemination of information • Prevents a backlog of articles• Easier to solicit manuscripts
Discussion
• Readers and authors appreciate quick publication times
• Journal staffing needs to be consistent—or does it?
• What are other possible “issues” with a different model?
• Which model should PaLRaP follow?
Paying the bills - expenses
Open Access means free to read, and volunteers provide the labor, but….…someone still has to pay the bills.
• University of Pittsburgh E-Journal Publishing
• Domain name• Publicity
Paying the bills - income• Donate button
and join PaLA link
• Article processing fees• Advertising• Sponsorships• Partnerships• Value-added fee-based services• Something else?
Questions? Comments?
• Website: http://www.palrap.org• Journal email: [email protected]
• John Barnett, Co-Editor, [email protected]• Tom Reinsfelder, Co-Editor, [email protected]