Thursday, October 26, 2023
As part of our mission to support Open Access at the University of Waterloo, the Library hosts over a dozen Open Access journals originating from students, staff and faculty across a variety of topics, from the Canadian Graduate Journal of Sociology and Criminology to University of Waterloo Journal of Undergraduate Health Research.
We connected with the editors of a couple of the Waterloo Open Access journals to learn more about their experiences as part of our Open Access Week celebrations.
Alexander Wong, systems design engineering professor, is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Computational Vision and Imaging Systems, which seeks to share research results and technical advances related to computer vision, imaging and AI. Professor Wong says, “The key value of making our journal available via an Open Access platform is to allow ideas to be shared freely while maintaining a high level of quality through peer review. With Open Access, anyone, regardless of who they are or what they do, can have the luxury of accessing high quality research without worrying about paywalls, while at the same time understanding that what they read has been validated by world-class experts.”
Clive Forrester, lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature, is the editor of the most recent issue of Sankofa Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. Sankofa is a peer-reviewed journal that highlights the life and culture of the black diaspora. Many of the articles are written as a result of course work at Waterloo, which enables submissions from students, particularly undergraduates, and the opportunity to go through the peer review process. For Forrester, the fact that Open Access journals are easy to share and access widely helps support Sankofa’s mission to amplify subaltern and marginalized voices at Waterloo.
The Library hosts Open Access journals providing the technical infrastructure and basic initial training on the OJS platform, as well as ongoing technical support. If you are interested in starting an Open Access journal, you can learn more on the Library’s Open Journals @UWaterloo webpage.
