The Journal of Research in Rural Education (JRRE) has converted from a printed subscription-based journal to an online-only open-access journal. JRRE is published by the University of Maine College of Education & Human Development. For more details, see the University of Maine's press release or Aimee Dolloff's article in today's Bangor Daily News. Excerpt from Dolloff's story: " 'Clearly we're going to be reaching markedly more readers as an online journal than we could possibly reach as a print journal,' Theodore Coladarci, the journal's editor and UM educational psychology professor, said Tuesday. As an open-access journal, the publication and its online archive are free to all users, Coladarci said. The publication targets a small niche, rural education research, but the editor said that even in its print version, there were subscribers from all over the United States and in Canada, Australia and several European countries. He was hopeful that even more readers would access the journal online. 'You throw out a much wider net when you go online,' Coladarci said. 'You reach so many more people.' In addition to reaching a broader audience, the editor said he expects to see an increase in the number of manuscripts submitted for publication, meaning he likely will be even more selective in what is used. 'Which means it will be an even better journal than it already is,' Coladarci said. The journal now publishes only 20 percent to 30 percent of the submissions it receives. Another positive is that there is practically no cost associated with publishing the journal now that it has gone online. 'The costs are much, much less,' the editor said. 'The efficiency is just improved astronomically.'...Coladarci said he hasn't found any disadvantages to the new format."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/22/2004 08:40:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
