This document summarizes the case study of transitioning the print journal "Canadian Military History" to a digital format and making it available online through an institutional repository. It describes the background and goals of the project, challenges around copyright and author agreements, lessons learned around policy development, and strategies for creating an online readership while maintaining the journal's prestige. The successful digital transition required a critical mass of content, metadata, and long-term investment of resources.

1. Bringing History into
the Digital Age:
A Case Study of
the Transition of a Journal
Caitlin Bakker
Wilfrid Laurier University
cbakker@wlu.ca

2. Some Background
• Part of a much larger project (the university’s
institutional repository—http://scholars.wlu.ca)
• Connections to the V.P. Academic & Provost, the
V.P. Research, and the Faculty of Graduate and
Postdoctoral Studies
• Since October 1, 2011, 22,500 full-text downloads
from 3,083 cities in 150 countries
• Joint initiative of the Library and the University
Press

3. “What distinguishes communication from
publication is that publication is created by a
whole process of selection, processing,
formatting, distribution, institutionalization of
forums, recognition and archiving of papers
submitted. This is the territory of journals.”
(Boismenu & Beaudry, 2004, p. 9)

4. Canadian Military History
• A quarterly publication of the Laurier Centre for
Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies
• Editorial board and contributors include some of
the foremost scholars in the field
• In print since 1992, no complete electronic edition
until this point
• Initial assumptions had been that working with
an existing journal would be simpler than
launching a new journal (partially true)

5. • 84% of SSH journals in English are available online
• Approximately 23,700 peer-reviewed journals
publishing 1.59 million articles every year
• Enormous public interest in the discipline
• But, there is a resistance to electronic publication
based on a perceived lack of quality and
recognition
The Central Problem: How do we maintain
prestige while broadening our readership?

6. SSHRC’s
Aid to Scholarly Journals
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
program to assist existing journals
• Up to $30,000 CAN per journal per annum
• Prerequisites for consideration include:
• “Diversity and relevance of the journal’s proposed
strategies for reaching the appropriate readership”
• “Nature and extent of the journal’s readership, and the
journal’s efforts to increase or broaden that readership”
• “Impact of the journal’s articles”

7. Lessons Learned
• Understand the journal’s mandate and motivations
• Learn what is not yet in place (by-laws, policies,
agreements)
• Leave the “fun stuff” for last
• Put it in writing!
• By-laws (internal)
• Policies (external)
• Expect resistance
• Manage expectations

8. Revision? Agreement?
Page proofs?
Selection? Function and
Timelines?
responsibility (Recruitment?
Submission? Review?)
Managing editor or editorial
teams? Division of duties? Accept
Author Editor Reviewers
Aims & scope? Mission
Selection?
statement? Submission
Recruitment?
guidelines? Style guide?
Conflict of interest?
Guidelines? Reject
Accountability?
Simultaneous submission?
Conflict of interest?
CTA? Moral rights?
Timelines?
Complaints?
Resubmission?

9. The Copyright Conundrum
• No author agreements
• Economic Rights and Moral
Rights to be considered
• An index for articles from 1992
to 2003, but nothing after
• Little or no contact information
for authors

10. Copyright Transfer Agreements
• A statement of authorship and originality
• Indemnification for libelous materials and assurance
that the article contains no violation of any personal or
property rights
• Provisions regarding further use, including education
use, deposit in IRs or subject repositories, revision and
republication
• Author’s rights and responsibilities (page proofs, etc.)
• Moral rights
Key Point: Define your terms!

11. Gratis Libre
• “Free beer” open • “Free speech” open
access access
• Removal of price • Removal of
barriers permissions barriers
• Individuals are free to • Individuals can
consume/read as they consume, but can
please also revise,
reproduce, etc.

12. Access
• 2-year moving wall
• A calculated risk
• Risk can be lessened by included copyright symbols
(©) and registering copyright
• Considering journal objectives
• Multiple revenue sources considered
• Subscription
• Advertising
• Author pays
• Pay-per-view

13. Creating an e-Readership
• Benefits of working with an established journal
• Maintaining prestige rather than building it
• Steady stream of submissions
• Extensive scholarly networks of editorial boards
• Large back catalogue
• Exposing metadata, even for subscription
materials
• Some journals use an incremental publishing
model

14. The Formula for Success
• A critical mass of high-quality materials
• Well-formed metadata and carefully chosen
keywords
• A long-term investment of time, energy, and
resources
• Sheer luck

15. Questions?
Comments?
Canadian Military History
is now electronically available at
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh

16. References
• Boismenu, G., & Beaudry, G. (2004). Scholarly journals in the new
digital world. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
• Gould, T.H.P. (2011). Protocols and challenges to the creation of a
cross-disciplinary journal. Journal of Scholarly Publishing, 42 (2),
105-141.
• Harris, L.E. (2001). Canadian copyright law. (3rd ed.). Toronto:
McGraw-Hill.
• Phillips, A. (2009). Business models in journal publishing. The Future
of the Academic Journal. Eds. B. Cope & A. Phillips. Oxford:
Chandos. 87-104.
• Solomon, D. (2008). Developing open access journals: A practical
guide. Oxford: Chandos.
• Xia, J. (2009). Library publishing as a new model of scholarly
communication. Journal of Scholarly Publishing, 40 (4), 370-383.