University Library pursues the most cost-effective method for providing access to article-level content. In some cases, this is through journal subscriptions or other licensed products; in others, it is through the provision of on-demand article purchasing and other resource sharing services. When obtaining journal subscriptions, the preferred medium is electronic, site-wide access through IP authentication. When considering subscriptions, the possibility of perpetual access is preferred, i.e., access to all years to which a subscription had been held. University Library prefers that the usage of electronic subscriptions can be tracked in compliance with the most current version of COUNTER format. Subscribed e-journals will comply with the library’s accessibility guideline as outlined in our accessibility policy. Print should only be considered when an electronic version is not available. Print subscriptions should be regularly reviewed based on use, reliability of service, and delivery before making a renewal decision. Binding decisions of older journal volumes and issues should also be regularly reviewed.
Open Access Journals
Open Access Journals at IU Indianapolis is a service provided by the Center of Digital Scholarship at University Library. To participate in our service, we require that journals make their work accessible and openly available under a Creative Commons license. We expect new journals to make their articles open access at the date of publication without embargos. New journals are accepted for publication when library resources allow.
Article Processing Charges
University Library does not cover the article processing charges (APCs) of faculty, staff, and students who wish to publish their articles as open access with two exceptions. The first exception is that the journal where the author is publishing is part of a current negotiated agreement with a publisher. In this case, the work must be published after the faculty and staff begins employment or student researcher enrolls at IU Indianapolis. Works that are published without the author’s affiliation with IU Indianapolis are not eligible in these agreements. The other exception is that requestor has applied for and was granted support through the IU Indianapolis Open Access Fund.
Transformative Agreements
These are contracts between academic libraries and publishers that are “intended to transform the current, primarily subscription-based, journal publishing model to a fully open access (OA) model”[1]. The library uses the same selection criteria as it does for the general collection when considering entering these types of publishing contracts to ensure that the terms of the agreement are beneficial to IU Indianapolis. As part of this evaluation, it is determined whether financial support exists to maintain the contract. These contracts will be reassessed prior to renewal to ensure that they remain beneficial to the interests of IU Indianapolis and that there is financial support to continue.
Current Open Access Publishing Deals
[1] Farley, A., Langham-Putrow, A., Shook, E., Sterman, L., & Wacha, M. (2021). Transformative agreements: Six myths, busted. College & Research Libraries News, 82(7), 298. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.82.7.298