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Arca Publishing Benefits and Responsibilities

The following outlines the benefits and responsibilities of participation in the Arca Publishing collaborative journal service.

Benefits

Offering educators, researchers, and learners access to digital journal publishing has become imperative for many Canadian educational institutions. Hosting journals and publishing software is beyond the reach of many. However, participation in Arca Publishing makes it possible through collaboration, cost-sharing, and coordination of infrastructure and resources.

By participating in Arca Publishing, sites are able to:

  • Build for the future;
  • Coordinate digital resource management efficiently;
  • Avoid costs through centralized coordination & licensing;
  • Reinforce organisation brand position & prestige;
  • Access the Arca Publishing Administrative Centre, including technical expertise, training, communication infrastructure, etc..

Requirements & Responsibilities

The Arca Publishing service can only be as robust as its members. Participants must meet the following requirements:

  • Be operational in Canada and demonstrate a commitment to the principle of open access;
  • Be a BC ELN Partner Library, meeting membership requirements for BC ELN Partner Libraries; OR
  • Belong to a consortium or organisation with an existing relationship and a signed Letter of Understanding with BC ELN.

Responsibilities of Arca Publishing participants include:

  • Work directly with journal editorial teams at their institution;
  • Be responsible for all aspects of creating, operating, and managing journals, which may include, but is not limited to:
    • Editorial services, publishing processes, journal website administration, advertising and promotional services, advising, staffing (volunteer or paid), print publication, soliciting or creating content, or securing copyright clearance to publish third-party content;
  • Upon publication, make all online Journal content available open access and free of charge
    • Journals may be exempted from the Open Access mandate if cultural restrictions on access apply.
  • Designate a primary organisational contact for Arca Publishing;
  • Display a BC ELN logo and a University of Alberta Libraries logo in the footer of their journal sites;
  • Agree to levy no publication, article processing, or other fees upon authors or content creators who submit content to the Journals;
  • License all Journal content produced under this MoU with a Creative Commons license available from ​https://creativecommons.org​ (except in the aforementioned case of cultural access restrictions);
  • In the event of a decision to discontinue using the journal hosting service, attempt provide the Library with 3 months prior written notice of the intention to do so

Responsibilities of the Arca Administrative Centre include:

  • Providing access to the Open Journal Systems (OJS) software for the purpose of hosting an open access journal;
  • Implementation support;
  • Front-line troubleshooting and technical support; liaison with service provider/development community on bugs;
  • Management of the Arca Publishing enhancement process and liaison between participating organisations and service provider/development community on enhancement requests;
  • Act as the intermediary for all communication and technical support contact between the Publishing Partner and the University of Alberta Libraries;
  • Provide initial training to local administrators in the use of hosting service, with the goal that the journals be self sufficient and publish independently;
  • Ongoing service support, including communications, coordination of service support fees if applicable, governance, and service provider negotiations.