Advice and Recommendations
Needless to say, we were not the only academic endeavor that managed to be completed during the pandemic, regardless of our desire to shift to more pressing concerns. The fact remains, however, that we are able to do this work due to the great privilege that our jobs afford us, and to say otherwise would be a disservice to the efforts of essential workers that kept our workplaces, communities, and economies going. Without them, this publication would not be here.
From the beginning, this publication was designed to be open, and the many proposals that we received demonstrate the commitment that others bring to this cause. All in all, one of the biggest takeaways from this project is the realization that there is an increasing interest in open publications, given the response to our CFP. Thus, we hope that this volume is able to increase the number of people who care about improving access to knowledge and information, about reducing barriers to access, and about the many communities of practices around the world. If you are reading this, above all, I hope that you reexamine the reach of your work, both the everyday kind and the scholarly, and reconsider how you disseminate and share this work.
Beyond providing some transparency to a process that is often hidden away and seldom addressed, we would like to close this “bookend” by offering a few recommendations for those interested in pursuing similar endeavors:
- Remember that OA, like everything else, is not free. It may result in openly accessible publications, but there is still a cost attached to them. Going in with an expectation that you will have to raise the funds to fund a project will be essential to its success.
- Costs will vary depending on the publisher, but you should expect to raise at least $3,000 for any self-published project. In order to raise funds for your project, start at your institution, then look to organizations that align to the purpose of your publication.
- Recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic will result in further cuts and changes in funding across many institutions. In the near
