SPARC papers are freely available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License and may be downloaded in PDF format. To download Adobe Acrobat reader, visit the Adobe Web site.
(Listed by date of release)
OPEN DOORS AND OPEN MINDS: What faculty authors can do to ensure open access to their work through their institution - A SPARC/Science Commons white paper (Released April 2008)
Thinh Nguyen, Science Commons
Inspired by the example set by the Harvard faculty, this White Paper is addressed to the faculty and administrators of academic institutions who support equitable access to scholarly research and knowledge, and who believe that the institution can play an important role as steward of the scholarly literature produced by its faculty. This paper discusses both the motivation and the process for establishing a binding institutional policy that automatically grants a copyright license from each faculty member to permit deposit of his or her peer-reviewed scholarly articles in institutional repositories, from which the works become available for others to read and cite.
Complying with the NIH Public Access Policy - Copyright Considerations and Options - A SPARC/Science Commons/ARL joint white paper (Released February 2008)
Michael W. Carroll, Villanova University School of Law
On January 11, 2008, the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) adopted a revised Public Access Policy for peer-reviewed journal articles reporting research supported in whole or in part by NIH funds. Under the revised policy, the grantee shall ensure that a copy of the author’s final manuscript, including any revisions made during the peer review process, be electronically submitted to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central (“PMC”) archive and that the person submitting the manuscript will designate a time not later than 12 months after publication at which NIH may make the full text of the manuscript publicly accessible in PMC. …
Publishing Cooperatives: An Alternative for Society Publishers - A SPARC Discussion Paper (Released September 2006)
Raym Crow, SPARC Senior Consultant
This SPARC discussion paper proposes a federation of discipline-specific publishing cooperatives as an alternative operating model for society publishers. Publishing cooperatives would be owned, capitalized, and controlled by nonprofit publishers as users, with publishers sharing risks and benefits proportional to their use of the cooperative. Such publishing cooperatives can provide a scaleable publishing model that aligns well with the values of the academy while providing a practical financial framework capable of sustaining society publishing programs and supporting their transition to non-subscription funding models.
Create Change (Revised June 2006)
An advocacy and education resource co-sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries and the Association of College and Research Libraries to engage the academic community in reclaiming scholarly communication.
Sponsorships for Nonprofit Scholarly & Scientific Journals: A Guide to Defining & Negotiating Successful Sponsorships [PDF] (August 2005)
This guide describes how nonprofit publishers can evaluate whether a corporate sponsorship program might be appropriate for their journal and, if appropriate, develop a sponsorship program as a component of the journal’s income stream.
When a Society Journal Changes Publisher (2004) Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, Advice Note No. 18.
Open Access [PDF] (2004)
A joint publication of ACRL, ARL, SPARC Europe, and SPARC, Open Access guides the community toward opening channels of communication and accessing scientific and scholarly research online, free of charge, and free of licensing restrictions.
Open Access: Unlocking the Value of Scientific Research (2004)
Richard K. Johnson, Fmr Executive Director, SPARC
We see it all around us: industries are changing and adapting in response to new information and communications technologies. In the music industry, for example, a struggle is underway between companies with a financial interest in defending their pre-Internet business model and the demands of the emerging online marketplace. Similarly, journal publishing’s entrenched print regime is locked in a battle with those who seek to achieve the benefits of a more open exchange of information by utilizing “open access” publishing strategies.
The Future of Scholarly Communication in the Humanities: Adaptation or Transformation? (2004)
Richard K. Johnson, Fmr Executive Director, SPARC
Everywhere enterprises are weighing the demands of adapting or transforming their business models against the risk of ultimate extinction. Music, motion pictures, retailing, travel, telecommunications – giant changes are underway in these industries and many others. For agile players, evolving consumer demands may present new opportunities. Others will be left behind like buggy whip makers as new entrants emerge. But we’re interested in scholarship, not commerce. Are the rules different here?
Setting Up a Nonprofit Tax-Exempt Corporation (July 2004)
There may come a time when you want to establish your scholarly publishing or other venture as a nonprofit corporation qualified for Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. There are other types of nonprofit classifications, but 501(c)(3) is the most common and typically the most appropriate for a nonprofit publishing organization.
The SPARC Initiative: a Catalyst for Change (June 2004)
Bas Savenije, Utrecht University Librarian & LIBER representative to the SPARC Steering Committee
SPARC was started in 1997 by a number of large research libraries in the US. Its main goal was restore a competitive balance of the STM journals publishing market. A number of programmatic areas were initiated in order to realize this goal: SPARC Alternatives, SPARC Leading Edge, SPARC Scientific Communities, and SPARC Communication and Advocacy. Since two years SPARC puts a special emphasis on Open Access, including institutional repositories. The paper gives an overview of the activities of SPARC and its partners in these areas. The results are evaluated and compared with the measures defined in 1997. Finally, the paper describes the possibilities for libraries to contribute to the realization of SPARC’s goals.
Guide to Business Planning for Converting a Subscription-based Journal to Open Access, Second Edition (February 2004) SPARC Consulting Group for the Open Society Institute. [Also in PDF]
Publishing Open Access Journals [PDF] (February 2004) Public Library of Science
A white paper providing a practical discussion of the steps involved in publishing an open-access journal and the associated costs.
Getting Your Journal Indexed (September 2003)
To be recognized as an authoritative, high-quality source of information, a journal must be widely available. Indexing and abstracting services facilitate the broadest dissemination of information by pointing researchers to articles that are relevant to the field.
Guide to Business Planning for Launching a New Open Access Journal, Second Edition (July 2003) SPARC Consulting Group for the Open Society Institute. [Also in PDF]
Model Business Plan: A Supplemental Guide for Open Access Journal Developers & Publishers, First Edition (July 2003) SPARC Consulting Group for the Open Society Institute. [Also in PDF]
SPARC Institutional Repository Checklist & Resource Guide [PDF] (2002)
A practical guide and overview of the major issues institutions and consortia need to address in implementing an institutional repository.
Gaining Independence: A Manual for Planning the Launch of a Nonprofit Electronic Publishing Venture (2002) [PDF] Howard Goldstein, SPARC Consulting Group
An online manual to help nonprofit and independent organizations plan the launch of a scholarly communications project.
The Case for Institutional Repositories: A SPARC Position Paper (August 2002)
Raym Crow, SPARC Senior Consultant
Institutional repositories—digital collections that capture and preserve the intellectual output of university communities—respond to two strategic issues facing academic institutions: 1) they provide a central component in reforming scholarly communication by stimulating innovation in a disaggregated publishing structure; and 2) they serve as tangible indicators of an institution’s quality, thus increasing its visibility, prestige, and public value. This paper examines institutional repositories from these complementary perspectives, describing their potential role and exploring their impact on major stakeholders in the scholarly communication process.
See also: SPARC Institutional Repository Checklist & Resource Guide
Capitalizing on Competition: The Economic Underpinnings of SPARC (2002)
Mary M. Case, Fmr Director, Office of Scholarly Communication, Association of Research Libraries
Over the last 15 years the library community has been faced with high and ever rising prices for scholarly resources. A number of factors have contributed to this situation, most fundamentally, the commercialization of scholarly publishing. While libraries have tried a number of strategies to ameliorate the effects of high prices, the development of SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, finally seems to be having some positive effects. This paper will review the current library environment, outline the elements that contribute to the marketplace for science, technology, and medical publishing, and then briefly discuss the various calls for more competition in the scholarly publishing market. I will then discuss SPARC, a major initiative intended to introduce low-priced, high-value alternatives to compete with high-priced commercial publications for authors and subscribers.
Media Map: Charting a Media Relations Strategy [PDF] (2001)
This guide will help your organization: navigate its new role as policy influencer; communicate effectively with the media; deliver an effective message; sell a particular story; act as a valued media source. And if something goes wrong, this guide will pilot you through the most important points of crisis communications.
Declaring Independence (2001)
A guide copublished with the Triangle Research Library Network that talks directly to editors of scholarly journals and urges them, as central actors, to take control of scholarly communication and improve its dissemination.
Competition: A Unifying Ideology for Change in Scholarly Communication (2000)
Richard K. Johnson, Fmr Executive Director, SPARC
It’s a hot topic at academic conferences, library association meetings, and scientific forums. During the past decade, the debate about how to transform scholarly publishing has animated discussions around the globe. The problem is clear: Scholarly journals cost too much. But though a variety of solutions has been proffered, none has yet been so widely embraced that the underlying structures have shifted appreciably…