The Canadian Scholarly Publishing Working Group (CSPWG) consists of representatives from research libraries, university presses research funding, publishers and education and industry groups.
The group carried out a review of the current scholarly publishing landscape in Canada and then set out principles for a sustainable scholarly publishing system in the future.
Principles for the future
Accountability to the academic community
The proceeds of Canadian publishing should be fed back into the system to fuel growth and innovation. Revenues should be fed into academic ventures. There must be transparency about the costs of publishing and accountability back to the academic community.
Supporting openness
The Working Group agreed that open publication should be supported to the fullest extent possible although there was considerable difference of opinion as to the best way to achieve this.
Supporting high quality publishing
Rigorous peer review and high quality editorial processes are critical to the research mission. Moves to more open peer review and open science are important trends. Rigorous authoritative evaluation is equally important to producers of new forms of scholarship.
Well informed authors
Well informed authors who are aware of copyright and their options for retaining or transferring their rights at the time of publication. They understand the use of open licenses and respect publisher agreements. Publishers and authors collaborate to achieve the most effective distribution of scholarship.
Rich Canadian publishing opportunities
In order to preserve Canadian culture, education, and language an array of made-in-Canada publishing options should be available.
Building on strength
The solutions to create a more sustainable Canadian scholarly publishing system will be built upon the existing foundations including longstanding university presses and new innovations including Open Journal Systems (OJS).
Flexible and adaptable
As scholarship evolves and new scholarly forms emerge, publishing must also evolve to ensure widespread dissemination and long-term preservation of the outputs of scholarship.
The full report can be downloaded here.