10.07.2013

ScholarWorks First Open Access Journal Launched!



This month,
ScholarWorks launched its first Open Access journal. The BOGA: Basque Studies Consortium Journal is published by the Boise State Basque Studies program and is a multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, academic publication dedicated to the scholarly study of all aspects of Basque culture. Besides including works by authors from as far away as Japan, it also features an article on the Albertsons Library’s Special Collections and Archives.
As an open access journal, each article in the bi-annual publication is released with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. As long as credit is given, each article can be freely shared and adapted, creating opportunities for new scholarly works.  
Since 2009, ScholarWorks has been working to make Boise State’s scholarship openly accessible by providing a variety of services. ScholarWorks staff work with faculty to review their publications, identify applicable copyrights restrictions, and when possible, post the articles and other works in ScholarWorks. ScholarWorks also features a gallery of over 400 faculty SelectedWorks sites, showcasing each professor’s unique scholarship. Finally, ScholarWorks provides regular reports on the usage and total number of full-text downloads each work has received. With over 750,000 full-text downloads to date, ScholarWorks is able to demonstrate the value and impact Boise State’s scholarship has.
Another way ScholarWorks is supporting the dissemination of Boise State’s scholarship is by openly publishing unique, original research, such as the BOGA journal. Unlike traditional, licensed publications which can limit access to scholarship, the ScholarWorks open access publishing model allows faculty and staff to share their work without a fee barrier. This not only increases access, it also improves visibility and impact as researchers are able to more readily utilize the work.  
The ScholarWorks platform can disseminate a variety of different types of publications. The book gallery features allows entire books to be loaded into the system which can then be download as an entire text or chapter-by-chapter. The journal feature is a fully functioning electronic journal publishing system which includes support for peer-review processes. Each journal can have its own unique design and customized editorial workflow. ScholarWorks can even publish image galleries and audio/video collections.  
To discuss options for making your scholarship openly accessible, please contact ScholarWorks at scholarworks@boisestate.edu or 208-426-2580. 
Michelle Armstrong
Librarian/Asst. Professor 

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