From Access to Praxis: the Case for Open Access in the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Public Good
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019-08-30 From Access to Praxis: The Case for Open Access in the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Public Good Whiteley, Andrea Marie Whiteley, A. M. (2019). From Access to Praxis: The Case for Open Access in the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Public Good (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/110889 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY From Access to Praxis: The Case for Open Access in the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Public Good by Andrea Marie Whiteley A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA STUDIES CALGARY, ALBERTA AUGUST, 2019 © Andrea Marie Whiteley 2019 iii Abstract This dissertation investigates how open access is challenging the renovation of the scholarly communication system, presents an argument why open access is an imperative for the sustainability of the humanities and social sciences disciplines (HSS), and supports the values of knowledge sharing for the benefit of society. The research adopts the position that public citizens are stakeholders in the debate about access to research. It examines the normative basis of access to research, and creates a theoretical vision for knowledge flow between scholars and their publics. The dissertation is informed by scholarship about the knowledge society, definitions of the public good, and a political economy understanding of knowledge. As part of this investigation, the dissertation also details the history of scholarly publishing and the recent history of the Open Access movement. The research employed a mixed methods approach to understand the issues around access to research, using surveys and interviews to gather the views and experiences of knowledge translators and professionals in the social sciences and humanities disciplines. Feedback from research participants contributes to a communication theory centered around the concept of knowledge flow, emphasizing researcher engagement with society, reflexivity as the key to knowledge transfer, the importance of capturing the benefits of HSS research, and ethical research practice. The research findings support the conclusion that without access to research, praxis, or the possibility of turning research into action, is also impeded. Finally, the dissertation also emphasizes that not only instrumental or utility-focused research warrants accessibility, but all research in the humanities and the social sciences -- whether foundational, theoretical, esoteric or critical -- because this research takes society as its subject. iv Preface This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Andrea Marie Whiteley. The research reported in Chapters 6-7 were covered by Ethics Certificate #REB16-0428, issued by the University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board for the project “Open Access to Social Sciences and Humanities Research and the Public Good” on September 15, 2016. v Acknowledgments I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. David Mitchell, for his guidance through each stage of the process. Dr. Mitchell has been a constant mentor, supervising my intellectual growth and development during my entire professional and academic career. I am also grateful to Dr. Maria Bakardjieva and Dr. Edna Einsiedel for their continued support during my doctoral journey. I am so fortunate to have also had advice and direction from many scholars including Dr. Michael Keren, Dr. Chloe Atkins, Dr. John Willinsky, and Dr. Richard Hawkins over the course of my degree. I would also like to acknowledge assistance from Susan Beatty and Christie Hurrell at the University of Calgary library, as well as my fellow students Ofer Berenstein, Heba Elsayed Mohamed, TA Pattinson, Jeremy Hexham, and Angie Chiang. I am indebted to my research participants who completed my survey, and those who met with me to share their views and ideas during the research interviews. This input was invaluable for expanding my understanding of the issue of open access and the public good. I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the University of Calgary Department of Communication, Media and Film, and the Graduate Studies Faculty at the University of Calgary without which I could not have completed this work. I am especially grateful for the longstanding support from my husband David, who helped me to achieve my dream of completing a PhD. I could not have succeeded without your absolute confidence in me and infinite patience with the process. I would also like to thank my children Davis, Grace, and Amelia, whose lives were shaped by my scholarly project. It has been wonderful to see how you have each grown and developed alongside my own intellectual development, and I am thankful my journey has positively influenced your personalities and abilities. Thank-you also to my Mother who encouraged me continuously with her prayers and support. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the team of caregivers who have helped me look after children and parents so I could focus on research and education. Tatiane, Lela, Nikki, Veronica, Rosa, Lydia, Rizalina, Narisa, Christine and others – you have been amazing. vi Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures vi Introductory Chapter 1 Chapter Two – The Pre-History of Open Access 17 Chapter Three – Open Access, the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Public 46 Chapter Four – Open Access, Knowledge Society and the Public Good 81 Chapter Five – Methodology and Research Methods 143 Chapter Six – Survey Analysis 163 Chapter Seven – Interviews Analysis 201 Chapter Eight – Conclusions 285 References 318 Appendices 357 vii List of Tables and Figures Figure 2.1 Monograph & Serial Costs in ARL Libraries, 1986 – 2011 33 Table 2.1 Operating Profit Margins 35 Table 2.2 Revenue and Profits for Taylor & Francis 2014 – 2018 37 Table 2.3 Revenue and Profits for Elsevier STM 2014 – 2018 37 Figure 2.2 Operating profits (million USD) and profit margin of Reed-Elsevier as 39 a whole (A) and of its Scientific, Technical & Medical division (B) Table 2.4 Executive Director and CEO Salaries for Informa and RELX 2015 – 2018 42 Table 3.1 Open Access Considerations for Humanities and Social Sciences 75 Table 4.1 Comparison of Knowledge and Information 114 Figure 4.1 Fountain of Latona 123 Figure 4.2 The Co-Produced Pathway to Impact (Revised) 131 Table 5.1 Interview Participants 156 Figure 6.1 Q3 Total Respondents 166 Figure 6.2 Q4 Total Respondents 167 Figure 6.3 Q5 Total Respondents 169 Figure 6.4 Q6 Total Respondents 170 Figure 6.5 Q12 Total Respondents 173 Figure 6.6 Q14 Total Respondents 174 Figure 6.7 Q16 Total Respondents 177 Table 6.1 Q17 List of KT Professions Among Survey Respondents 178 Figure 6.8 Q3 NGO/NFP Respondents 181 Figure 6.9 Q5 NGO/NFP Respondents 182 Figure 6.10 Q5 Non-NGO/NFP Respondents 182 viii Table 6.2 Q6 NGO/NFP Respondents 183 Table 6.3 Q8 NGO/NFP Respondents 185 Figure 6.11 Q16 NGO/NFP Respondents 188 Figure 6.12 Q16 NGO/NFP Respondents 189 Table 6.4 Q17 NGO/NFP Respondents Professions 190 Table 6.5 Comparison of Results Between Respondent Categories 191 Table 7.1 Knowledge Flow Barriers and Ways of Improving Flow 281 Figure 8.1 Open Access and the Public Good 292 Figure 8.2 Relationship between Engagement and Reflexivity 301 Table 8.1 Changes in Flow, Level of Engagement and Reflexivity Varies 302 with Choice of Media Format 1 Chapter 1 Introduction It may be true that open access is a simple idea, in theory. In its real-world implementation and transition, however, it is proving to be messy and contentious. -- Martin Eve, Open Access and the Humanitie,s 2015, p.3. Open access is a concept that contains all the ingredients for a motherhood and apple pie label – an idea with which no one can easily disagree. Yet, the current notion that “knowledge should be shared for the good of humanity”, or “research knowledge paid for by public funding should be publicly accessible,” has a fascinating history and many obstacles to implementation because it not only proposes to radically renovate a profitable system that underpins how universities function, but also alter how we conceive of and value knowledge. Renovations are motivated by flaws in a system, and as with any complex process of change, misinformation, stakeholder claims, costs, and resistance to new ideas add to the difficulty of the remodel. This dissertation investigates how open access is challenging the renovation of the scholarly communication system, presents an argument why open access is an imperative for the sustainability of the humanities and social sciences disciplines (HSS), and supports the values of knowledge sharing for the benefit of society. For the most part, the Open Access (OA) movement has been driven by the steeply rising costs of research journals, or serials, a problem known as the serials crisis, and secondarily by concerns about the public good and access to knowledge. Since the 1980’s, university libraries have struggled with balancing journal subscriptions purchases at the expense of other information needs. In Canada, the cost of journal subscriptions for university libraries range between $350,000 to $9 million annually 2 per institution (MacDonald & Eva, 2018). Over the last few years, university libraries in Canada have started to cancel large portions of subscriptions due to ever rising costs and the weak Canadian dollar.1 While rectifying the serials crisis is reason enough to re-evaluate the current system, this research project approaches open access from a broader social perspective.