The Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by Western Michigan University (WMU). It was launched in October 2004 and published its second issue last month. The success of the venture prompted WMU to issue a press release (March 25, 2005): 'The new Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation...has had over 6,000 hits from more than 100 nations --a feat its creators call "unheard of" for a brand new academic publication. The peer-reviewed journal, edited and published by members of the doctoral program in WMU's Evaluation Center, is also striking a blow, its editors say, for academic communication and unfettered access to new information. It's bypassing the profit-driven world of academic publishing and making information available free to those who need it most. The international response to their offering is gratifying but not surprising because the need is very real, says Dr. Michael Scriven, a longtime leader in the discipline who joined the Evaluation Center faculty last fall and serves as co-editor with his former WMU colleague Dr. E. Jane Davidson, who is now working in New Zealand. "I've been pleased with the response, but I expected it," Scriven says. "A precedent was set by Gene Glass, who serves on our editorial board. His groundbreaking free access journal, Educational Policy Archives, has more readers downloading articles then there are readers for all the main paper-based educational research journals put together." Scriven says the new journal's mission is focused on putting evaluation knowledge in the hands of students and teachers around the globe, including many who are in other disciplines but want to learn about evaluation as a tool to enhance their work. The journal is also about combating the skyrocketing prices of journal subscriptions. It's a development that has sparked open warfare between scholars and commercial publishers. University libraries worldwide are canceling subscriptions to academic journals, the prices of which range from a few hundred dollars to as much as $25,000 annually. And many scholars say the academic world needs to wrestle control back from commercial publishers and keep the emphasis on sharing information rather than turning a profit....Is this the wave of the future for academic journals? Scriven says he's already been approached for advice from editors who want to publish a new philosophy journal online. "I'd guess that in 10 years, about 50 percent of journals will be published online," he says. "The price of the alternatives makes it insane to publish any other way."'
Posted by
Peter Suber at 3/27/2005 02:23:00 PM.
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.
