Breaking the Mold of Promotion and Tenure Polices that De-Incentivize Open Access Publishing: A Case Study of an LIS Faculty

Abstract

For almost thirty years, academic librarians have encouraged their faculty peers and patrons to publish in open access (OA) journals and other venues. Despite these efforts, one of the most difficult barriers to OA still exists: academic faculty at US higher education institutions lack strong incentives to publish in OA venues. This article describes one library school’s adoption of a faculty promotion and tenure policy—with evaluative criteria—that strongly and clearly supports OA publishing. The author concludes with recommendations for further research on how academic rewards systems can better incentivize OA publishing, as well as how to effectively develop and implement such policies.