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Open Access = Greater Impact: Insights from JMU’s Ben Selznick 

Posted October 19, 2024 in Feature Friday, Featured News, JMU Libraries News

In celebration of International Open Access Week (October 21-27), we interviewed JMU faculty member Ben Selznick, an associate professor in the School of Strategic Leadership Studies who has published 5 articles in open access journals. 

Keep reading to find out how publishing open access has helped Ben to expand the reach of his work and how you can leverage funding from JMU and our agreements with publishers to reduce or eliminate the cost of publishing in open access journals. 

Let’s hear about Ben’s experience with open access (OA) publishing! 

Why does open access to scholarly literature appeal to you, as a creator and as a reader? 

As a creator, open access publishing allows me to share my work beyond a traditional academic audience. As a reader, I appreciate that I can access work beyond library collections. In a broader sense, OA helps to close the “research-to-practice” feedback loop—so many decision-makers, clinicians, and practitioners across disciplines are unable to access articles that would meaningfully inform their work because they cannot read the publications. 

I mean, think about it – we are often asked to write “implications for practice” sections in our manuscripts and then, if practitioners don’t have access to the journal, they can’t read the papers! You start to wonder how much impact the scholarship is having when so much of it exists behind paywalls. Conversely, you can imagine how much impact the work could have if articles were more widely available. 

How did you first learn about open access publishing? 

As a doctoral student, I was fortunate enough to work on a long-term grant-funded project that had a budget for dissemination, which included open access publishing. This helped me learn about the importance and costs of OA. 

How did open access publishing play a role in the project’s dissemination strategy? 

We knew that ensuring our publications were openly accessible would expand their reach, especially into practitioner spaces (e.g., community religious organizations) that may not have access to university libraries. So, in addition to presenting at conferences and such, we have sought to publish peer-reviewed pieces open access and then write accompanying op-ed type pieces for even wider audiences. 

How have you seen the landscape of open access publishing change since then? 

I am very encouraged by VIVA [Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium] and JMU Libraries expanding opportunities for open access. Scholars across disciplines are also being more vocal about their interest in open access and asking how more articles can be made available in the face of non-transparent publisher fees. 

How do you decide when to publish open access? 

If open access is available and I do not have to use personal or research funds to pay for it, I always decide to publish open access. I would make every one of my past, current, and future articles open access were this to be a cost-effective option. 

How much do the open access options of a journal influence your choice of publication venue?  

Over the arc of my scholarly career, this has become increasingly important, especially for pieces that I intentionally craft to be shared more widely.  

What would you like to see change in the publishing industry to better support authors wishing to make their work as widely accessible as possible? 

I know there are a lot of moving parts to this equation, and saying “make it all free!” isn’t realistic, but I’ve often wondered if there could be a way to make OA costs cheaper for researchers who can’t afford an OA fee. For instance, what if there were discounted OA fees or other ‘fair pricing’ approaches that could help junior scholars, especially those who don’t have grant funding? I would also like to see more transparency – on the scholar side, we just see a price and never an accounting for why that’s the price. Another idea I’ve had, seeing that peer review is seldom compensated monetarily, is some sort of system where you get free or discounted OA publications in exchange for conducting high-quality peer reviews. This approach could be particularly helpful in areas like higher education, where folks often review for and publish in the same journals.  

JMU Libraries, in partnership with VIVA, has some publisher agreements that absorb the cost of article processing charges (APCs). Has this been beneficial to your own work?  

Absolutely! I have now had several pieces published through this agreement. I am particularly proud to have recently published a longitudinal mixed methods study examining factors that influence college students’ development of appreciative attitudes toward Jews. This is a great example of work that speaks to practitioner audiences (e.g., Jewish educators, Rabbis, Jewish community leaders) who can more easily access the research that’s published as open access. Moreover, it has helped within my community of practice – being able to ensure that projects can be easily accessed by anyone has been a real benefit to my long-standing research partnerships, and I am very grateful. 

Interested in Open Access Publishing? We Can Help! 

If you are interested in open access publishing, learn about: 

Questions? 

Please contact Yasmeen Shorish, Director of Scholarly Communications Strategies in JMU Libraries, with any questions about open access or publication fees. 

This story is part of our Feature Friday Q&A series. If you know of a person or project connected with JMU Libraries that you’d like to feature, contact us at libraries@jmu.edu.