- Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick Science Park, Millburn House, Millburn Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7HS, UK
Gareth Johnson
University of Warwick, Institute of Advanced Study, Faculty Member
- Nottingham Trent University, School of Arts and Humanities, Graduate Studentadd
- Open Access, Access to Knowledge, Creative Writing, Copyright, Digital Commons, Social Media, and 17 moreSocial Influence, Open Access Publishing, Open Source/Open Access and Libraries, Intellectual Commons, Information Literacy, Professional Development, Academic Librarianship, Digital Literacy, Bibliometrics, Institutional Repositories, Electronic Theses and Dissertations, Electronic Journals, Research and Publications, Scholarly Publishing, Cultural Studies, Marxist political economy, and Foucault power/knowledge - discourseedit
- I work across two different roles. Firstly, I’m at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick, I’m employ... moreI work across two different roles. Firstly, I’m at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick, I’m employed as the Senior Editor for Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal. This sees me managing operations and an international Editorial Board, alongside developing the journal into a more impactful and quality destination for interdisciplinary research. Secondly, I continue to work for the Mercian Collaboration, facilitating the 23 academic partners’ strategic ambitions and operational requirements.
My research interests, developed at Nottingham Trent University, represent a critical ethnographic exploration of the power-relationships within emergent open access scholarly publishing praxis. Adopting a Foucauldian and autonomist-Marxist framework, my recent work has been accompanied with a continuing critique of the insidious neoliberal and capitalistic marketization which has seduced and distorted the UK Academy. I particularly welcome approaches from potential research or authorial collaborators within the field of culture, media, social theory and communication studies. I also welcome invites to contribute to conferences, workshops or institutional events.
Professionally, as a visiting lecturer at various universities, I have spoken variously on topics including: intellectual property, open access, digital media, political economics, social theory, digital literacy and interpersonal communications. I also run workshops within HE and FE in screenwriting, media production, effective performance and creative writing. I’m currently in the process of setting up as an independent consultant, specialising in providing training, analysis and advice to the academic library and information management sector.edit
The presentation will explore the configuration of a long-running and successful scholar-led, diamond open-access, interdisciplinary journal Exchanges, published by the University of Warwick, which combines knowledge dissemination with... more
The presentation will explore the configuration of a long-running and successful scholar-led, diamond open-access, interdisciplinary journal Exchanges, published by the University of Warwick, which combines knowledge dissemination with contributor developmental goals. Drawing on experiential data, the presentation provides ethnographic insights into the mutually beneficial outcomes derived from recruiting post-graduate researcher ‘associate editors’ to work on the title. It also problematises the balance between potentially exploitative, collaborative editorial production within the context of necessary academic immaterial labour required to operate an interdisciplinary scholar-led title.
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New scholarly publishing endeavours by post-graduate or early-career researchers are nothing new, yet few achieve any longevity. Conversely, explicitly operated by and for early career researchers, Warwick’s Exchanges interdisciplinary... more
New scholarly publishing endeavours by post-graduate or early-career researchers are nothing new, yet few achieve any longevity. Conversely, explicitly operated by and for early career researchers, Warwick’s Exchanges interdisciplinary journal has since 2013 successfully conducted twin missions to propagate the dissemination of researchers’ work, while enhancing emerging scholars’ authorial voices and practical scholarly publishing skills. Addressing the second issue, the paper considers the diverse benefits authors and editorial board members garner through their involvement. Drawing on authors and editorial board members’ lived experiences, it will examine the Exchanges initiative’s pragmatic and practical outcomes. It will also reflect on the managing editors’ learning journey, as an early-career researcher themselves, and how they have addressed the challenges of working with a distributed, time-poor and highly career-mobile distributed team. Finally, it uncovers how operating a long-term publishing training endeavour within an increasingly internationalised and competitive arena has yielded existential threats and serendipitous outcomes.
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This brief paper examines academic publishing, from a perspective suitable for early career researchers. Alongside some context and a short history of journal publication, it focuses on on the practical experiences, challenges and... more
This brief paper examines academic publishing, from a perspective suitable for early career researchers. Alongside some context and a short history of journal publication, it focuses on on the practical experiences, challenges and benefits which come from running a scholar-led journal. It also considers the benefits stemming from involvement within such a title for early career researchers.
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Editorial insights into the frustrations, challenges and flaws within scholarly quality assurance - from a small, scholar-led, international, interdisciplinary, radically open access journal. Presented at the PLOTINA Summer School on Peer... more
Editorial insights into the frustrations, challenges and flaws within scholarly quality assurance - from a small, scholar-led, international, interdisciplinary, radically open access journal. Presented at the PLOTINA Summer School on Peer Review & Critical Academic Writing.
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Slides from a presentation given at the University of Warwick (29/5/18) as part of the post-graduate researchers professional development programme. The talk provides a brief overview of the role which peer review plays in ensuring... more
Slides from a presentation given at the University of Warwick (29/5/18) as part of the post-graduate researchers professional development programme. The talk provides a brief overview of the role which peer review plays in ensuring quality assurance within scholarly publication. In particular, it draws on the practical experiences of running Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published by the IAS at the University of Warwick.
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Speaking at the Regional Collaboration Managers' meeting, this paper provides an overview of the operations, strategy and challenges faced by the Mercian Collaboration.
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This lecture, delivered to the academic's of the College of Arts, Humanities and Law, University of Leicester, explores the role of Creative Commons licences, in contrast to traditional protectionist copyright structures.
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This talk will introduce the audience to the ideas of ethnography and consider its broad application within the realm of library service provision. It will serve to introduce delegates to the terminology, thinking and value of qualitative... more
This talk will introduce the audience to the ideas of ethnography and consider its broad application within the realm of library service provision. It will serve to introduce delegates to the terminology,
thinking and value of qualitative ethnographic practices, while contrasting it with the more quantitative techniques common in academic libraries. Drawing on examples from the author’s own
research practices and considerable library experience, it will illustrate the power, as well as the pitfalls, of employing ethnographic derived methods within a service delivery environment. Delegates can hope to gain an appreciation of how and where they might easily adapt these
approaches, within their own planning activities.
thinking and value of qualitative ethnographic practices, while contrasting it with the more quantitative techniques common in academic libraries. Drawing on examples from the author’s own
research practices and considerable library experience, it will illustrate the power, as well as the pitfalls, of employing ethnographic derived methods within a service delivery environment. Delegates can hope to gain an appreciation of how and where they might easily adapt these
approaches, within their own planning activities.
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In this lively, interactive and engaging workshop session delegates will experience a potted masterclass focusing on developing effective verbal, non-verbal and digital communication expertise. Drawing on his decades of experience in the... more
In this lively, interactive and engaging workshop session delegates will experience a potted masterclass focusing on developing effective verbal, non-verbal and digital communication expertise. Drawing on his decades of experience in the library and academic sector and through exploring applied communication theory, dramataology and practical exercises Gareth will seek to highlight the common challenges, missteps and glitches that crop up for everyone. He will also explore how some of the techniques used by professional raconteurs and charismatic speakers can be advantageously applied to everyday workplace situations. He will demonstrate how simple techniques such as modifying intonation, considering cadence and even the application of silence can enhance your communication’s effectiveness, clarity and impact.
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This paper aims to present a critical re-examination of the perceived obstacles operating within the UK’s academic culture to engaging with open access (OA) publishing and dissemination praxis. It draws on broader research currently... more
This paper aims to present a critical re-examination of the perceived obstacles operating within the UK’s academic culture to engaging with open access (OA) publishing and dissemination praxis. It draws on broader research currently seeking to problematise and challenge some of the orthodoxies operating within academic publishing discourse.
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The aim of this paper is to present a critical examination of the perceived obstacles operating within the United Kingdom's (UK) academic community to engaging with the praxis of open access (OA) publishing and dissemination. It draws on... more
The aim of this paper is to present a critical examination of the perceived obstacles operating within the United Kingdom's (UK) academic community to engaging with the praxis of open access (OA) publishing and dissemination. It draws on research currently underway seeking to problematise and challenge some of the orthodox perceptions operating within the academic publishing environment.
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Through a behavioural lens darkly - how ethnography can illuminate research into users (pt2) This paper was based on Gareth’s ethnographically framed research into cultural effects impacting on academics reactions to emerging paradigms... more
Through a behavioural lens darkly - how ethnography can illuminate research into users (pt2)
This paper was based on Gareth’s ethnographically framed research into cultural effects impacting on academics reactions to emerging paradigms of openness in scholarly communication. The session discussed how institutional and national environments may be shaping academics’ behaviour and attitudes. In particular the session considered how these relate to the practical obstacles to achieving increased academic open access buy-in, faced by staff seeking to promote effective open access within their organisations.
The paper also examined the challenges that exist in terms of workloads, ethics and data capture relating to the use of ethnographic method. It concluded by considering the value of qualitative research, in contrast to quantitative work, in the generation of rich, thick, holistic cultural narratives.
This paper formed part of a duel session with Bryony Ramsden, who presented a paper on the role of ethnography within her own research into user behaviours in library spaces.
This paper was based on Gareth’s ethnographically framed research into cultural effects impacting on academics reactions to emerging paradigms of openness in scholarly communication. The session discussed how institutional and national environments may be shaping academics’ behaviour and attitudes. In particular the session considered how these relate to the practical obstacles to achieving increased academic open access buy-in, faced by staff seeking to promote effective open access within their organisations.
The paper also examined the challenges that exist in terms of workloads, ethics and data capture relating to the use of ethnographic method. It concluded by considering the value of qualitative research, in contrast to quantitative work, in the generation of rich, thick, holistic cultural narratives.
This paper formed part of a duel session with Bryony Ramsden, who presented a paper on the role of ethnography within her own research into user behaviours in library spaces.
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A Webinar for Glyndwr University academic staff as part of their open education week event detailing the background and current situation as it relates to open access to scholarly research. A recording of this session was made is... more
A Webinar for Glyndwr University academic staff as part of their open education week event detailing the background and current situation as it relates to open access to scholarly research.
A recording of this session was made is available.
A recording of this session was made is available.
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Paper covers a brief practical introduction to the concepts and applications of Copyleft and Creative Commons licencing, as well as exploring how open access to research literature is able to function in a legal capacity. The paper also... more
Paper covers a brief practical introduction to the concepts and applications of Copyleft and Creative Commons licencing, as well as exploring how open access to research literature is able to function in a legal capacity. The paper also briefly reflects on developments towards open licencing and how this represents a response to a regime of absolutist copyright and costly fee-based access options.
Paper presented at the Through the Copyright Jungle workshop, Bangor University 11th November 2014.
Note a video of this paper was made and will be made available shortly (hopefully).
Paper presented at the Through the Copyright Jungle workshop, Bangor University 11th November 2014.
Note a video of this paper was made and will be made available shortly (hopefully).
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This paper presents a introduction to alternatives to strictly applied absolutist copyright. It covers the development of Copyleft and Creative Commons licensing, as well as exploring rights issues around open access. The paper also... more
This paper presents a introduction to alternatives to strictly applied absolutist copyright. It covers the development of Copyleft and Creative Commons licensing, as well as exploring rights issues around open access. The paper also questions the necessity of adhering to the orthodoxy of a system based on the extraction of rent from access to physical objects in a post-physical digital information age. Hence there is a consideration of the contribution of works liberated from a system of privatism based restriction towards the development of a digital commons.
Paper presented at the braving the Copyright Jungle workshop, Bangor University, 10th November 2014.
Paper presented at the braving the Copyright Jungle workshop, Bangor University, 10th November 2014.
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Paper presented at the I-School 2014 PhD conference hosted by the University of Sheffield. Provides a brief overview of the results of recent investigations into the response to OA by UK academics, and the context this means for the... more
Paper presented at the I-School 2014 PhD conference hosted by the University of Sheffield. Provides a brief overview of the results of recent investigations into the response to OA by UK academics, and the context this means for the proposed further research.
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Presented at the CILIP ARLG 2014 biennial study conference. This paper discusses and presents early results from ongoing research into the cultural institutional affects that shapes the responses of UK academics to the praxis of open... more
Presented at the CILIP ARLG 2014 biennial study conference. This paper discusses and presents early results from ongoing research into the cultural institutional affects that shapes the responses of UK academics to the praxis of open access (OA) to research literature. It reports on a extensive series of semi-structured interviews with leading OA practitioners, and the results of the conceptual analysis of their discourse.
Focusing on the UK it also considers the shaping of the response and attitudes of academics within an increasingly marketised and neoliberal policy dominated HE environment.
Focusing on the UK it also considers the shaping of the response and attitudes of academics within an increasingly marketised and neoliberal policy dominated HE environment.
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An invited brief paper highlighting my research and experience as a AHRC funded PhD student at NTU, for new PhD students coming into the Midlands3Cities partnership from 2014.
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Peer reviewed conference paper presented at the OER 14 international conference held in Newcastle. Lightning paper which provided an overview of author's research into open access and affects of academic culture across UK universities.... more
Peer reviewed conference paper presented at the OER 14 international conference held in Newcastle. Lightning paper which provided an overview of author's research into open access and affects of academic culture across UK universities. Covered background, methodology and the results of the first phase of empirical fieldwork surveying the groundswell of reaction across a large cross section of UK HEIs.
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Webinar from UKSG 2014 Conference in Harrogate, featuring an overview of the conference highlights and thoughts from a panel including myself, publishers and funder representatives.
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A taster participatory workshop employing practical tips and exercises designed to enhance delegates' confidence in oral and non-verbal communication in daily life, formal situations and as presenters.
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Round table workshop exploring participants ideal vision of how open access should function within academia.
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Conference paper delivered at the School of Arts and Humanities annual research conference. Paper details the background to and planned work in relation to my PhD research, which is currently at an early stage, of examining the cultural... more
Conference paper delivered at the School of Arts and Humanities annual research conference. Paper details the background to and planned work in relation to my PhD research, which is currently at an early stage, of examining the cultural factors shaping UK academics reactions to open access and other aspects of openness in higher education.
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Poster presentation prepared as part of the requirements of the PhD Research Practice Course. Gives an overview of my planned PhD research endeavors.
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Social Media workshop session for libraries and library staff, run as part of the University of Leicester staff conference. Focus is on practicality and best practice for staff in engaging with social media and networking in a personal,... more
Social Media workshop session for libraries and library staff, run as part of the University of Leicester staff conference. Focus is on practicality and best practice for staff in engaging with social media and networking in a personal, professional and corporate dynamic.
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Increasingly there is a need for quantitative evidence in order to help demonstrate the value of online services. Such evidence can also help to detect emerging patterns of usage and identify associated operational best practice. This... more
Increasingly there is a need for quantitative evidence in order to help demonstrate the value of online services. Such evidence can also help to detect emerging patterns of usage and identify associated operational best practice. This paper seeks to initiate a discussion on approaches to metrics for institutional repositories by providing a high-level overview of the benefits of metrics for a variety of stakeholders. The paper outlines the potential benefits which can be gained from providing richer statistics related to the use of institutional repositories and also reviews related work in this area. The authors describe a JISC-funded project which harvested a large number of repositories in order to identify patterns of use of metadata attributes and summarise the key findings. The paper provides a case study which reviews plans to provide a richer set of statistics within one institutional repository as well as requirements from the researcher community. An example of how third-party aggregation services may provide metrics on behalf of the repository community is given. The authors conclude with a call for repository managers, developers and policy makers to be pro-active in providing open access to metrics for open repositories.
PreConference workshop session delivered given at OR2012 (Open Repositories) at the University of Edinburgh. The session details the creation and work of the UK repository worker's professional body UKCoRR. In particular it highlights... more
PreConference workshop session delivered given at OR2012 (Open Repositories) at the University of Edinburgh. The session details the creation and work of the UK repository worker's professional body UKCoRR. In particular it highlights the light-weight governance and organisation 2.0 structure of the organisation; along with the issues and advantages created through running an unfunded professional body.
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UKCoRR Annual Member's meeting Chair's address, reviewing activity within the repository manager and worker community by the organisation. An interactive session in which debate and questions were invited from the membership, and later... more
UKCoRR Annual Member's meeting Chair's address, reviewing activity within the repository manager and worker community by the organisation. An interactive session in which debate and questions were invited from the membership, and later discussed on the UKCoRR blog (www.ukcorr.org).
A workshop session at the LIEM/FIL event held at the University of Leicester for interlibrary loan staff from across the region and the UK. The focus of the session was to provide an overview of the challenges and issues faced by library... more
A workshop session at the LIEM/FIL event held at the University of Leicester for interlibrary loan staff from across the region and the UK. The focus of the session was to provide an overview of the challenges and issues faced by library staff in relation to ILL, reporting back on some recent research the author had conducted. At the same time delegates were encouraged to provide insight and feedback on some of the key questions. The outcomes from this session were published in the FIL Newsletter in early 2012.
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This conference paper was aimed at those staff working in document supply and interlending who want to know more about the practical steps they can take to find free open access quality versions of works scattered in the repositories... more
This conference paper was aimed at those staff working in document supply and interlending who want to know more about the practical steps they can take to find free open access quality versions of works scattered in the repositories around the world.
It was presented June 28th 2011 at the Interlend 2011 conference, Durham UK, for members of the Forum for Interlending.
It was presented June 28th 2011 at the Interlend 2011 conference, Durham UK, for members of the Forum for Interlending.
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Keynote delivered at the NWLIP group autumn workshop, highlighting the challenges faced and engaged with by librarians and staff working to supply interlibrary loans across the UK. Paper delivered in capacity as Chair of the Forum for... more
Keynote delivered at the NWLIP group autumn workshop, highlighting the challenges faced and engaged with by librarians and staff working to supply interlibrary loans across the UK. Paper delivered in capacity as Chair of the Forum for Interlending and Information Delivery.
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Paper delivered as part of a JISC workshop, focussing on issues relating to budgetary and finance issues across the academic library sector. Paper is the output from a piece of empirical research to evaluate the perceived forthcoming... more
Paper delivered as part of a JISC workshop, focussing on issues relating to budgetary and finance issues across the academic library sector. Paper is the output from a piece of empirical research to evaluate the perceived forthcoming challenges to finances faced by university libraries and the steps that could be taken to reduce their impact. A review of those steps that staff believed would be least disruptive vs the most effective were considered.
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In this editorial for the latest issue of the journal, the Editor-in-Chief offers some advice to first time authors approaching publication for the first time. In particular, he stresses the need to consider your audience, engage with... more
In this editorial for the latest issue of the journal, the Editor-in-Chief offers some advice to first time authors approaching publication for the first time. In particular, he stresses the need to consider your audience, engage with editors ahead of submission, the facility of critical academic friends and steps to dealing with peer-review in a timely and non-emotive manner. The article continues with a correction and then an overview of the articles contained within the main body of the journal. Following a reminder of the various formats in which authors can contribute work for consideration in future issues. Finally, the editorial closes with a look forward to future regular and special issues, alongside highlighting the various ways readers and potential authors can engage with the journal's wider activities.
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This is the editorial for the 26th, and 10th anniversary, issue of Exchanges. The editorial offers an introduction to the content in the issue, alongside highlighting ways in which people can interact and contribute to future issues. The... more
This is the editorial for the 26th, and 10th anniversary, issue of Exchanges. The editorial offers an introduction to the content in the issue, alongside highlighting ways in which people can interact and contribute to future issues. The major focus of the editorial is a relatively brief overview of the past ten years of the journal and its developmental journey. The articles also includes information on the Editorial Board and ways to contact the Editor-in-Chief.
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In this introductory editorial, the Editor-in-Chief celebrates 25 issues of Exchanges published to date, before exploring some elements of the recent author feedback report. It then goes on to offer a short introduction to each of the... more
In this introductory editorial, the Editor-in-Chief celebrates 25 issues of Exchanges published to date, before exploring some elements of the recent author feedback report. It then goes on to offer a short introduction to each of the papers included in this issue of the journal, and then moving on to remind readers of our open calls for papers. Notably, this editorial introduces the new submission format of Book Reviews, one of which is included in this journal issue. As always, the editorial also includes highlights of recent podcast episodes and general information on Exchanges social media presence and Editorial Board.
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In this introductory editorial, the journal's Editor-in-Chief offers some brief reflections on the production of this special issue, before touching on an update to contributor policy. The editorial continues by providing an overview... more
In this introductory editorial, the journal's Editor-in-Chief offers some brief reflections on the production of this special issue, before touching on an update to contributor policy. The editorial continues by providing an overview of the issue's contents, before highlighting future issues alongside routes for authors to contribute to the journal. It concludes by highlighting the journal's social media and podcast channels, as well as acknowledging those who have helped this issue come about.
This article provides a practical guide to the scope and disposition of scholarly work contributed and published within the Exchanges journal over its last three volumes. This article forms a companion piece to one published in Volume 6,... more
This article provides a practical guide to the scope and disposition of scholarly work contributed and published within the Exchanges journal over its last three volumes. This article forms a companion piece to one published in Volume 6, Part 2 of the journal, which offered a guide to all works published up until that point through an author and article index. This new article expands on the information provided within the more recent editions in that it offers three forms of index. Firstly, a volume-by-volume listing of articles, authors, subjects and DOI links. Secondly, an author index, providing information on the issues to which each has contributed. Finally, it incorporates a keyword index, drawn from the author-controlled taxonomy deployed and associated with each published article.
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In this introductory editorial, the journal's Editor-in-Chief reflects back on reaching the milestone 20th issue of Exchanges, at the end of a busy publication year. The piece moves on to introduce each of the articles in the issue in... more
In this introductory editorial, the journal's Editor-in-Chief reflects back on reaching the milestone 20th issue of Exchanges, at the end of a busy publication year. The piece moves on to introduce each of the articles in the issue in turn, providing a brief summary of each piece. Next the open calls for abstracts and papers are highlighted, with the current 'plurality of translation' special issue call given particular attention. After looking forward to future issues, and acknowledging the title's supporters, the editorial closes by highlighting the ways readers and contributors can engage in ongoing conversations with the journal and its editorial team.
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In this editorial, the Editor-in-Chief provides a brief introduction to the genesis and production of this special Then & Now issue. He provides an overview of the articles contained in the issue, before moving on to expanding on the... more
In this editorial, the Editor-in-Chief provides a brief introduction to the genesis and production of this special Then & Now issue. He provides an overview of the articles contained in the issue, before moving on to expanding on the current and future calls for contributions to the journal. After providing prospective author guidance and insights on forthcoming journal volumes, the editorial concludes with a guide to the various channels though which readers and authors alike can interact with the Exchanges journal.
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The academy has long relied on publisher-facilitated research dissemination; yet digital dissemination has dramatically transformed the scholarly publishing field. Particularly, open access (OA) has disrupted an increasingly commodified... more
The academy has long relied on publisher-facilitated research dissemination; yet digital dissemination has dramatically transformed the scholarly publishing field. Particularly, open access (OA) has disrupted an increasingly commodified and fetishised publishing praxis, creating an open intellectual commons. However, despite OA's public good, academics remain indifferent to its praxis. The UK academy's policy environment and cultural practices, represent a unique arena to consider these issues within. Limited research concerning the UK academy's rationales for OA engagement exists, particularly qualitative work critically evaluating influences and barriers to achieving cultural change. From a novel ethnographically-framed sociological perspective, combined with empirical investigations, this research addresses this gap in knowledge through comprehending academics' OA responses, publishing influences, actor power-relationships and related HE policy environments. A nov...
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The paper will explore the configuration of a long-running and successful scholar-led, diamond open-access, interdisciplinary journal published by the University of Warwick, which combines knowledge dissemination with contributor... more
The paper will explore the configuration of a long-running and successful scholar-led, diamond open-access, interdisciplinary journal published by the University of Warwick, which combines knowledge dissemination with contributor developmental goals. Drawing on experiential data, it provides ethnographic insights into the mutually beneficial outcomes derived from recruiting post-graduate researcher ‘associate editors’ to work on the title. It also problematises the balance between potentially exploitative, collaborative editorial production within the context of necessary academic immaterial labour required to operate an interdisciplinary scholar-led title.
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Introduction to the tenth issue of Exchanges, and the first issue under a new Senior Editor and subtitle alike. This issue has a themed section with several articles addressing the topic of Truth and Evidence, from differing and unique... more
Introduction to the tenth issue of Exchanges, and the first issue under a new Senior Editor and subtitle alike. This issue has a themed section with several articles addressing the topic of Truth and Evidence, from differing and unique disciplinary perspectives. Alongside this, the journal also contains interviews, and closes with a critical reflection on a law conference. This article introduces the issue, an overview of its contents and moreover provides insights into the developmental progress of the journal itself.
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This paper presents a critical re-consideration of the problems in achieving a greater embrace of the praxis of open access (OA) to research publications within the UK academy. It offers an ideological critique of the underlying... more
This paper presents a critical re-consideration of the problems in achieving a greater embrace of the praxis of open access (OA) to research publications within the UK academy. It offers an ideological critique of the underlying subversion of scholarly communication by an industrialised publishing sector. It also considers the ideological and financial drivers that have caused the emergence of an open access to research publications movement. Through examining this developing open access paradigm, it problematises aspects of the UK academy's reluctance to engage. While examining academics’ imperative to disseminate research, through exploring the legacy publication model, it proposes that that the higher education policy landscape must also be accounted for, when considering engagement barriers. Hence, the paper concludes that the conditioning of academics by a neoliberal policy-saturated environment likely contributes to their reticence to embrace the praxis.
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This is the editorial for the eleventh edition of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published autumn 2018. This issue includes a number of interviews with key figures, two pieces considering issues around Narrating,... more
This is the editorial for the eleventh edition of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published autumn 2018. This issue includes a number of interviews with key figures, two pieces considering issues around Narrating, Nation, Sovereignty and Territory as well as a critical reflection on a community art scholarship educational intervention. This editorial takes a brief look at the role of peer reviewers in supporting the work of Exchanges, and makes a call for more readers of the title to register their interest in supporting this activity. It concludes with acknowledgement and a call for submissions for the next and subsequent volumes of the title.
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In this introductory editorial, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief offers some insight into the journey from inception to publication for this special ‘lonely nerds’ issue. Paying tribute to his collaborators, the piece also offers a brief... more
In this introductory editorial, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief offers some insight into the journey from inception to publication for this special ‘lonely nerds’ issue. Paying tribute to his collaborators, the piece also offers a brief overview of the issue’s main contents. Topics tackled in this volume include: nerd perceptions and cultural characteristics, media representations of the nerd, alienation, inclusion and identity. The editorial concludes by refreshing readers’ memories on the journal’s thematic ‘authentic interdisciplinary’ and general call for papers, alongside highlight the various routes to interacting with the title and its team outside of the issues.
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In this editorial for the most recent issue of Exchanges, the editor-in-chief reflects on some of the small positives which have emerged from the Covid-19 mandated lockdown period of working. He talks a little more about the work of the... more
In this editorial for the most recent issue of Exchanges, the editor-in-chief reflects on some of the small positives which have emerged from the Covid-19 mandated lockdown period of working. He talks a little more about the work of the podcast in supporting the twin role of the journal in disseminating interdisciplinary research but also enabling a learning environment. The editorial continues by providing an overview of the articles appearing in this issue, before moving to announce a new call for papers in the area of ‘AI: Panic or Panacea’. The editorial closes with advice for submitting authors, and acknowledgement of the efforts for those who have brought the issue together.
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In this editorial for the special ‘climate fiction’ issue of Exchanges, the editor-in-chief reflects on the trials and tribulations experienced along the way to its publication, in the wake of the COVID crisis. He briefly gives tribute to... more
In this editorial for the special ‘climate fiction’ issue of Exchanges, the editor-in-chief reflects on the trials and tribulations experienced along the way to its publication, in the wake of the COVID crisis. He briefly gives tribute to the associate editors, drawn from the post-graduate researcher community, who helped to shape the issue, before spotlighting each of the articles published in this issue. The piece closes by including a reminder for currently open calls for contributions, along with acknowledgements to the wider team who create the journal.
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... repositories more successfully UEA, July 2006 Gareth J Johnson SHERPA Repository Development Officer SHERPA, University of Nottingham gareth.johnson@nottingham.ac.uk Nottingham ePrints: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/ Rumours
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... repositories more successfully UEA, July 2006 Gareth J Johnson SHERPA Repository Development Officer SHERPA, University of Nottingham gareth.johnson@nottingham.ac.uk Nottingham ePrints: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/ Rumours
Bargains... & Lies Page 2. ...
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This is an introductory editorial for the fourteen volume which comprises the very first special issue ever published of Exchanges. In the piece, Editor-in-Chief Gareth J Johnson explores the drivers and process that led to it being... more
This is an introductory editorial for the fourteen volume which comprises the very first special issue ever published of Exchanges. In the piece, Editor-in-Chief Gareth J Johnson explores the drivers and process that led to it being produced, while acknowledging the unanticipated labour demands and benefits which have arisen. He also considers how this, and future, special volumes represent a valorisation of Exchanges through a recognised increasing demand for its publication support and a demonstrable value within the global early career researcher community. After playing tribute to the post-graduate researchers who supported the volume's development, the article goes on to briefly highlight each of the articles appearing in the special issue; each one of which stems from a 2018 conference on cannibalism. The editorial concludes with providing information on current calls for publications and plans for future issues, along with contact information for the journal.
Comic Books and Comic Strips in the United States through 2005: An International Bibliography2007149John A. Lent. Comic Books and Comic Strips in the United States through 2005: An International Bibliography. Westport, CT and London: Praeger Publishers 2006. vii + 345 pp., ISBN: 978 0 313 33883 0...more
This is the editorial for the twelfth issue of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published spring 2019. This issue contains a number of articles including: examinations of autism spectrum disorders, Indonesian education... more
This is the editorial for the twelfth issue of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published spring 2019. This issue contains a number of articles including: examinations of autism spectrum disorders, Indonesian education policy, image processing for viral recognition, international students' interpersonal communication, and postgraduate event organisation. The issue also includes a full author and article index to the first six volumes of the journal. The editorial itself takes a reflective look back over the past year of development of the journal and the scholarly communication environment, drawing on some of the social media posts by the Editor-in-chief. It concludes with a call for papers on the theme of 'in-between…
This article provides a practical guide to the scholarly work and authorial contributors to the Exchanges journal since its inception. It incorporates two forms of index. Firstly a volume by volume listing of articles, authors, subjects... more
This article provides a practical guide to the scholarly work and authorial contributors to the Exchanges journal since its inception. It incorporates two forms of index. Firstly a volume by volume listing of articles, authors, subjects and links. Secondly, an author index, providing information on the issues to which each has contributed.
This is an introductory editorial for the fifteenth volume of Exchanges. In this piece, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief explores some of the difficulties faced by authors, reviewers and editors alike working on academic publishing in a time... more
This is an introductory editorial for the fifteenth volume of Exchanges. In this piece, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief explores some of the difficulties faced by authors, reviewers and editors alike working on academic publishing in a time of Covid-19 crisis. It briefly considers some of the hard decisions needed, but also examines how the lockdown period has permitted a re-visitation and embrace of the journal’s overarching ethos by the Editorial Board. The article reveals some of the drivers which have led to the launch of the journal’s new podcast series, alongside providing insights into some of the future planned episode. Crucially, the editorial provides an overview of each piece of work appearing in this journal issue as a guide for readers. The article closes by highlighting Exchanges open call for publication submissions, along with announcing a new themed call on the theme of ‘Challenge and Opportunity’.
By 'open access' to this literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for... more
By 'open access' to this literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other ...
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This is editorial for this issue, which discusses problems faced by scholar-led journals and contributor communications, and some of the steps taken to minimise them. It also includes a minor correction to an earlier volume along with... more
This is editorial for this issue, which discusses problems faced by scholar-led journals and contributor communications, and some of the steps taken to minimise them. It also includes a minor correction to an earlier volume along with highlights of the articles published in this issue of Exchanges. The editorial also includes details of the current calls for papers, both thematic and general ones, alongside acknowledgements and details on where to find out more information on contributing to Exchanges.
In this editorial for the most recent issue of Exchanges, the editor-in-chief reflects on some of the small positives which have emerged from the Covid-19 mandated lockdown period of working. He talks a little more about the work of the... more
In this editorial for the most recent issue of Exchanges, the editor-in-chief reflects on some of the small positives which have emerged from the Covid-19 mandated lockdown period of working. He talks a little more about the work of the podcast in supporting the twin role of the journal in disseminating interdisciplinary research but also enabling a learning environment. The editorial continues by providing an overview of the articles appearing in this issue, before moving to announce a new call for papers in the area of ‘AI: Panic or Panacea’. The editorial closes with advice for submitting authors, and acknowledgement of the efforts for those who have brought the issue together.
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This booklet is an output from the PLOTINA (Promoting gender balance and inclusion in research, innovation and training) Project, and in particular the Summer School on Peer Review, hosted by the University of Warwick in 2018. Like the... more
This booklet is an output from the PLOTINA (Promoting gender balance and inclusion in research, innovation and training) Project, and in particular the Summer School on Peer Review, hosted by the University of Warwick in 2018. Like the summer school, this booklet represents a brief guided introduction to the concepts of peer reviewing, and discusses the associated practical processes, along with offering advice on dealing with some of the related challenges.
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This article provides a practical guide to the scholarly work and authorial contributors to the Exchanges journal since its inception. It incorporates two forms of index. Firstly a volume by volume listing of articles, authors, subjects... more
This article provides a practical guide to the scholarly work and authorial contributors to the Exchanges journal since its inception. It incorporates two forms of index. Firstly a volume by volume listing of articles, authors, subjects and links. Secondly, an author index, providing information on the issues to which each has contributed.
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This paper presents a critical re-consideration of the problems in achieving a greater embrace of the praxis of open access (OA) to research publications within the UK academy. It offers an ideological critique of the underlying... more
This paper presents a critical re-consideration of the problems in achieving a greater embrace of the praxis of open access (OA) to research publications within the UK academy. It offers an ideological critique of the underlying subversion of scholarly communication by an industrialised publishing sector. It also considers the ideological and financial drivers that have caused the emergence of an open access to research publications movement. Through examining this developing open access paradigm, it problematises aspects of the UK academy's reluctance to engage. While examining academics’ imperative to disseminate research, through exploring the legacy publication model, it proposes that that the higher education policy landscape must also be accounted for, when considering engagement barriers. Hence, the paper concludes that the conditioning of academics by a neoliberal policy-saturated environment likely contributes to their reticence to embrace the praxis.
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Increasingly there is a need for quantitative evidence in order to help demonstrate the value of online services. Such evidence can also help to detect emerging patterns of usage and identify associated operational best practice. This... more
Increasingly there is a need for quantitative evidence in order to help demonstrate the value of online services. Such evidence can also help to detect emerging patterns of usage and identify associated operational best practice. This paper seeks to initiate a discussion on approaches to metrics for institutional repositories by providing a high-level overview of the benefits of metrics for a variety of stakeholders. The paper outlines the potential benefits which can be gained from providing richer statistics related to the use of institutional repositories and also reviews related work in this area. The authors describe a JISC-funded project which harvested a large number of repositories in order to identify patterns of use of metadata attributes and summarise the key findings. The paper provides a case study which reviews plans to provide a richer set of statistics within one institutional repository as well as requirements from the researcher community. An example of how third-party aggregation services may provide metrics on behalf of the repository community is given. The authors conclude with a call for repository managers, developers and policy makers to be pro-active in providing open access to metrics for open repositories.
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The last few years have seen a momentous reshaping of the scholarly dissemination landscape across UK academia. This paper seeks to present early results from research questioning the attitudes, practices and influences that have shaped... more
The last few years have seen a momentous reshaping of the scholarly dissemination landscape across UK academia. This paper seeks to present early results from research questioning the attitudes, practices and influences that have shaped UK academics’ cultural responses to scholarly open access (OA). In particular it will present results from an extensive interview programme focussing on related commonalities, differences and trends evidenced across UK universities.
While prior research in this field often focusses on quantitative metrics or technological solutions, this work is predicated on understanding and challenging assumptions around the perceived indifferent academic cultural response to a self-evident societal good (BOAI, 2002). Using an ethnographic framework and cultural lens this research has established a solid grounding in the genuine institutional discourses and reactions to OA. As well as providing qualitative insights, results are being used to contextualise and critique a systematic analysis of the cultural influence actors and power relationships impacting on the epistemological foundations of scholarly praxis within the UK academic community (Benkler, 2011; Suber, 2012)..
The paper will detail the series of qualitative semi-structured interviews, conducted in 2013 with practitioners, research librarians and professional staff; representing a substantive number of UK universities. In total 81 universities across the country were incorporated, with representatives from research intensive to teaching-focussed institutions included in the sample.
Typically leading OA institutional practitioners, interviewees were selected as being well-placed to accurately represent professional assessments of the institutional impacts, response and engagement with OA. Interviews focussed on four crucial thematic concepts: activities, engagement, influences and obstacles; offering a holistic, rich and multi-faceted cultural narrative of both current and historical responses. Transcriptions were subjected to qualitative content analysis, with quotations utilised in representing the genuine insight provided (Schreier, 2012).
Analysis has revealed that while there many commonalities across institutions, considerable divergences also exist. A deeper level of critical analysis, as of this writing, is being applied to the transcripts. This will allow for a deeper revelatory and emancipatory analysis to lay bare underlying mechanisms, cultural conventions and power relationships (Alvesson and Deetz, 2005). An overview of these results will be presented for discussion within this paper.
Additionally, the work has been illuminated through a neoliberal and critique developed in parallel with this work of the impact of an increasingly marketised, commodified knowledge/learning regime of UK universities (Read, 2009; Slaughter and Rhodes, 2004). This insight has allowed an exploration into the ontological conflicts between the idealised operation and function of HE in a neo-Taylorist managerialised environment, and the relationship this has to the embrace of openness in academic scholarship dissemination praxis (De Angelis and Harvie, 2009; Knights, 2005).
The impactful benefits from this research will be in producing a deeper understanding of the power and influence relationships shaping and precluding deeper academic engagement with OA. Through its consideration of the cultural obstacles, this work will directly contribute towards the work of practitioners, funders and senior policy makers seeking to bring about sustainable OA academic cultural change and a more open scholastic future.
While prior research in this field often focusses on quantitative metrics or technological solutions, this work is predicated on understanding and challenging assumptions around the perceived indifferent academic cultural response to a self-evident societal good (BOAI, 2002). Using an ethnographic framework and cultural lens this research has established a solid grounding in the genuine institutional discourses and reactions to OA. As well as providing qualitative insights, results are being used to contextualise and critique a systematic analysis of the cultural influence actors and power relationships impacting on the epistemological foundations of scholarly praxis within the UK academic community (Benkler, 2011; Suber, 2012)..
The paper will detail the series of qualitative semi-structured interviews, conducted in 2013 with practitioners, research librarians and professional staff; representing a substantive number of UK universities. In total 81 universities across the country were incorporated, with representatives from research intensive to teaching-focussed institutions included in the sample.
Typically leading OA institutional practitioners, interviewees were selected as being well-placed to accurately represent professional assessments of the institutional impacts, response and engagement with OA. Interviews focussed on four crucial thematic concepts: activities, engagement, influences and obstacles; offering a holistic, rich and multi-faceted cultural narrative of both current and historical responses. Transcriptions were subjected to qualitative content analysis, with quotations utilised in representing the genuine insight provided (Schreier, 2012).
Analysis has revealed that while there many commonalities across institutions, considerable divergences also exist. A deeper level of critical analysis, as of this writing, is being applied to the transcripts. This will allow for a deeper revelatory and emancipatory analysis to lay bare underlying mechanisms, cultural conventions and power relationships (Alvesson and Deetz, 2005). An overview of these results will be presented for discussion within this paper.
Additionally, the work has been illuminated through a neoliberal and critique developed in parallel with this work of the impact of an increasingly marketised, commodified knowledge/learning regime of UK universities (Read, 2009; Slaughter and Rhodes, 2004). This insight has allowed an exploration into the ontological conflicts between the idealised operation and function of HE in a neo-Taylorist managerialised environment, and the relationship this has to the embrace of openness in academic scholarship dissemination praxis (De Angelis and Harvie, 2009; Knights, 2005).
The impactful benefits from this research will be in producing a deeper understanding of the power and influence relationships shaping and precluding deeper academic engagement with OA. Through its consideration of the cultural obstacles, this work will directly contribute towards the work of practitioners, funders and senior policy makers seeking to bring about sustainable OA academic cultural change and a more open scholastic future.
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Summing up his experience of the three packed days of the 2014 UKSG conference in Harrogate, Gareth Johnson said that he had three key take-away words: diversity, collaboration and renewal. This short article, based on the report he wrote... more
Summing up his experience of the three packed days of the 2014 UKSG conference in Harrogate, Gareth Johnson said that he had three key take-away words: diversity, collaboration and renewal. This short article, based on the report he wrote after attending the conference as a sponsored student, explains these lasting impressions and also highlights the way UKSG itself has continued to expand, bringing together the disparate stakeholders and engendering a real dynamic and at times electrifying atmosphere of cross-fertilization and possibility.
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The University of York is among the top universities in the United Kingdom, yet has not adopted all manner of electronic media. The University Library attempts to meet the demands placed upon it by its academic and student users for... more
The University of York is among the top universities in the United Kingdom, yet has not adopted all manner of electronic media. The University Library attempts to meet the demands placed upon it by its academic and student users for electronic media of all kinds, while working within a sometimes frame work that does not encourage exploitation of bleeding edge technologies. While pilot programs in electronic short loan have met with success, the University has yet to fully embrace a greater range of electronic materials provision. The acquisition of a virtual learning environment (VLE) may afford the Library the opportunity to develop its hybrid collections further, and to overcome the reluctance of academic staff to embrace new technologies.
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The University of York is among the top universities in the United Kingdom, yet has not adopted all manner of electronic media. The University Library attempts to meet the demands placed upon it by its academic and student users for... more
The University of York is among the top universities in the United Kingdom, yet has not adopted all manner of electronic media. The University Library attempts to meet the demands placed upon it by its academic and student users for electronic media of all kinds, while working within a sometimes frame work that does not encourage exploitation of bleeding edge technologies. While pilot programs in electronic short loan have met with success, the University has yet to fully embrace a greater range of electronic materials provision. The acquisition of a virtual learning environment (VLE) may afford the Library the opportunity to develop its hybrid collections further, and to overcome the reluctance of academic staff to embrace new technologies.
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This article details the challenges faced by today’s UK-based inter-lending services in terms of fiscal pressures, technological change and changing patron expectations. It examines how recent refurbishment at the British Library has led... more
This article details the challenges faced by today’s UK-based inter-lending services in terms of fiscal pressures, technological change and changing patron expectations. It examines how recent refurbishment at the British Library has led to an increase in community inter-lending, against a background of a general reduction of the reliance on inter-library loan services. It also considers the perception of the value of inter-lending services by senior management, alongside the impact that online availability of materials has had. It then considers the issues around rights management and licence restrictions for inter-lending imposed by many publishers and suppliers. Finally, it considers the steps for change that inter-lending services need to embrace to meet these challenges.
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This is the editorial for the twelfth issue of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published spring 2019. This issue contains a number of articles including: examinations of autism spectrum disorders, Indonesian education... more
This is the editorial for the twelfth issue of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published spring 2019. This issue contains a number of articles including: examinations of autism spectrum disorders, Indonesian education policy, image processing for viral recognition, international students' interpersonal communication, and postgraduate event organisation. The issue also includes a full author and article index to the first six volumes of the journal. The editorial itself takes a reflective look back over the past year of development of the journal and the scholarly communication environment, drawing on some of the social media posts by the Editor-in-chief. It concludes with a call for papers on the theme of 'in-between spaces', and highlights some exciting special issue developments coming over the next 18 months.
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This is the editorial for the eleventh edition of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published autumn 2018. This issue includes a number of interviews with key figures, two pieces considering issues around Narrating,... more
This is the editorial for the eleventh edition of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, published autumn 2018. This issue includes a number of interviews with key figures, two pieces considering issues around Narrating, Nation, Sovereignty and Territory as well as a critical reflection on a community art scholarship educational intervention. This editorial takes a brief look at the role of peer reviewers in supporting the work of Exchanges, and makes a call for more readers of the title to register their interest in supporting this activity. It concludes with acknowledgement and a call for submissions for the next and subsequent volumes of the title.
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Introductory editorial to the tenth issue of Exchanges, and the first issue under a new Senior Editor and subtitle alike. This issue has a themed section with several articles addressing the topic of Truth and Evidence, from differing and... more
Introductory editorial to the tenth issue of Exchanges, and the first issue under a new Senior Editor and subtitle alike. This issue has a themed section with several articles addressing the topic of Truth and Evidence, from differing and unique disciplinary perspectives. Alongside this, the journal also contains interviews, and closes with a critical reflection on a law conference. This article introduces the issue, an overview of its contents and moreover provides insights into the developmental progress of the journal itself.
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Short piece considering the impact of the recent UKSG 2014 conference, from the perspective of a first time delegate and research student.
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Book review
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Book review
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Book review
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Book review
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The academy has long relied on publisher-facilitated research dissemination; yet digital dissemination has dramatically transformed the scholarly publishing field. Particularly, open access (OA) has disrupted an increasingly commodified... more
The academy has long relied on publisher-facilitated research dissemination; yet digital dissemination has dramatically transformed the scholarly publishing field. Particularly, open access (OA) has disrupted an increasingly commodified and fetishised publishing praxis, creating an open intellectual commons. However, despite OA's public good, academics remain indifferent to its praxis. The UK academy's policy environment and cultural practices, represent a unique arena to consider these issues within. Limited research concerning the UK academy's rationales for OA engagement exists, particularly qualitative work critically evaluating influences and barriers to achieving cultural change. From a novel ethnographically-framed sociological perspective, combined with empirical investigations, this research addresses this gap in knowledge through comprehending academics' OA responses, publishing influences, actor power-relationships and related HE policy environments.
A novel theoretical framework employing Marx, Foucault, Gramsci and the Italian Autonomous-Marxists' conceptualisations of power-relations, struggle and resistance, empower an ideological critique analysis. An examination of how increasingly marketised universities have embraced cognitive capitalism and academic alienation, contrasts with the tensions, events and concepts underlying UK OA's development. Extensive semi-structured interviews with different publishing actors provide cultural-native insights. OA practitioners expose the publication field's configuration, academics and other publishing actors' discourse develop further insights, while academic activists reveal how differing approaches affect dissemination praxis.
Analysis indicates actors, including governmental bodies, commercial publishers and funders, dominate a hegemonic ruling-bloc, through controlling economic and symbolic esteem capital. An academy is revealed shifting from idealised OA, towards pragmatic compliance with a normative gold-OA form, although concerns about perceived cost barriers and diminished prestige capital remain. Despite ruling-bloc efforts to address the conjunctural crisis OA represents, a disaggregated counter-hegemonic resistance exists: providing platforms, sustainable publishing, and exposing inequities. While gold-OA praxis proliferates, a struggle for agency within scholarly publishing praxis continues. Hence, ostensibly future dissemination will contain OA elements, but its conformation remains uncertain.
A novel theoretical framework employing Marx, Foucault, Gramsci and the Italian Autonomous-Marxists' conceptualisations of power-relations, struggle and resistance, empower an ideological critique analysis. An examination of how increasingly marketised universities have embraced cognitive capitalism and academic alienation, contrasts with the tensions, events and concepts underlying UK OA's development. Extensive semi-structured interviews with different publishing actors provide cultural-native insights. OA practitioners expose the publication field's configuration, academics and other publishing actors' discourse develop further insights, while academic activists reveal how differing approaches affect dissemination praxis.
Analysis indicates actors, including governmental bodies, commercial publishers and funders, dominate a hegemonic ruling-bloc, through controlling economic and symbolic esteem capital. An academy is revealed shifting from idealised OA, towards pragmatic compliance with a normative gold-OA form, although concerns about perceived cost barriers and diminished prestige capital remain. Despite ruling-bloc efforts to address the conjunctural crisis OA represents, a disaggregated counter-hegemonic resistance exists: providing platforms, sustainable publishing, and exposing inequities. While gold-OA praxis proliferates, a struggle for agency within scholarly publishing praxis continues. Hence, ostensibly future dissemination will contain OA elements, but its conformation remains uncertain.