University Libraries Promotion and Tenure Recognition

The concept of “open access” as it relates to scholarly publishing has the potential to dramatically alter how research articles are distributed and read. Instead of transferring ownership of a manuscript to a publisher (who then requires readers and libraries to purchase expensive subscriptions), academic authors now have the ability to retain ownership of their work and make it freely available to interested readers — all while maintaining and enjoying the most essential elements of the traditional publishing process including quality, peer-review, status, and prestige.

My work as a librarian and my research interests have led me to closely follow the writings of Peter Suber, one of the greatest scholars and advocates for open access. In this book he concisely and effectively explains what open access is all about, how it works, and addresses common myths and concerns. More and more authors are choosing to take advantage of open access possibilities and in 2015, the Penn State Faculty Senate unanimously passed a resolution which among other things “strongly encourages all University faculty to… support the principle of open access to research results while upholding quality and prestige in scholarly publishing." As one reviewer stated, this book is "a must read for all scholars and researchers who publish their own work or consult the peer-reviewed published work of others — in other words, virtually all academics"(R. Harle. Leonardo, 2013).