Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science Proceedings of an International Symposium (2004) / Chapter Skim
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31 Open-Access Research and the Public Domain in South African Universities: The Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems
31 Open-Access Research and the Public Domain in South African Universities: The Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems
Pages 134-145
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From page 134... ...
In this paper I consider the current state of research access at the three universities and whether open-access publishing systems, such as the Open Journal Systems developed by the Public Knowledge Project, are in a position to contribute to building research capacity at South African universities. The questions posed in this paper are: (1)
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From page 135... ...
Although the new higher education policies emphasize the universities' dual role in these processes of democratization and globalization, little research has been conducted on whether these universities have the research capacity to generate this knowledge, innovation, and skills. RESEARCH METHODS The research methods consisted of an ethnographic multiple case study of research access and capacity conducted at three sites, namely, an HBU, a historically white Afrikaans university (HWU-A)
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journals, whereas only 20 percent comprised African journals, these being mainly South African journals. One way that South African universities have overcome the limited access to scholarly resources is to form national and provincial consortia of university libraries.
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The costs of electronic scholarly resources were still prohibitive due to unfavorable currency exchange rates and dwindling resources. In addition, researchers and librarians believed that existing facilities and resources were not being used optimally because many academics and postgraduate students did not have sufficient information technology literacy skills to conduct advance searches for print or electronic resources.
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From page 138... ...
One participant pointed out that open-access publishing would not offer the kind of financial incentive institutions or individuals receive from the government for articles published in rated journals. Hence, he could not foresee South African researchers publishing in open-access journals unless they were rated.
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From page 139... ...
Although open access can be an "open door to learning," as one student put it, it could also result in researchers expending valuable time on irrelevant information, especially if they do not have good information literacy skills. Other concerns related to plagiarism, copyright, and intellectual property rights.
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From page 140... ...
Open access would also ensure that the deliberations of these organizations at various conferences and forums, could be made available to the public immediately. Over recent years the conditions attached to research funding stipulate that South African researchers work closely with a range of stakeholders, including local communities.
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From page 141... ...
As some participants wisely observed, information literacy programs should be integrated with the coursework, but this will require additional human resources to conduct this training. The historical background of these universities and the low prioritization that management and policy makers have given to research at two of these universities have affected their research capacity negatively.
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From page 142... ...
Given the limited resources librarians prioritized subscribing to international and South African journals over African journals. As noted above, many African journals are published in the West and sold back to African universities at high cost.
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The discussion above notes the constraints on current South African research capacity, leading to the following crucial questions for developing research capacity not only in South Africa or Africa but also in other parts of the developing world. What measures do we have that are readily available to deal with the factors constraining research access and capacity in South Africa, Africa, and the developing world?
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From page 144... ...
" Possibilities for Building Research Capacity As noted, resource constraints severely hamper the capacity of South African universities to produce and publish research. An online journal system such as Open Journal Systems can make journals readily available to academics, postgraduate students, and librarians at almost no cost.
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2000. "We Cannot Find Qualified Blacks: Faculty Diversification Programmes at South African Universities," Comparative Education, 36(1)
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