Open AccessOpen Access in Special Education: A Review of Journal and Publisher Policies
Author(s) -
Jesse Irvan Fleming,
Bryan G. Cook
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
remedial and special education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.392
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1538-4756
pISSN - 0741-9325
DOI - 10.1177/0741932521996461
Subject(s) - publishing , scholarly communication , work (physics) , open access publishing , information dissemination , open education , access to information , library science , public relations , political science , medical education , medicine , information access , computer science , world wide web , engineering , mechanical engineering , law
Open-access (OA) options, including preprints and postprints, provide free access to research, accelerate the dissemination of academic work, are associated with increased impact of scholarly work, and may aid in dissemination of null results. However, OA publishing is not an established practice for many special education researchers, and journal and publishers’ policies regarding OA are not always clear. In this article, we systematically reviewed OA policies (i.e., regarding preprints, postprints, OA publishing, article processing charges [APCs], and embargo periods) for 51 special education journals and five publishers of special education journals. Most journals provided few policies, only three journals provided information for each OA feature examined, and many journals and publishers reported substantial APCs and embargo periods over 18 months. We recommend journals and publishers clearly post OA policies and reduce APCs to foster broad and open dissemination of special education research.