Developing an Institutionally-Funded Publishing Channel: Context and Considerations for Key Issues

A Report prepared for the Creating an Open Access Paradigm for Scholarly Publishing ProjectCornell's Internet First University Press (IFUP) seeks to explore the practical viability of direct institutional funding for serial and monographic publication of an institution?s faculty research. To effect fundamental change, such an institutional funding model must not simply shift the costs from the library to other budgets within the institution. It must disaggregate and restructure the academic publishing value chain to separate the services that facilitate publication from monopolistic control of the material published. To attain this goal in practical terms, the IFUP must demonstrate a sustainable economic model and guarantee author autonomy in the choice of publishing venue. This report reviews past and current academic publishing initiatives that provide context and practical insight into how an institutionally sponsored publishing model might be designed and implemented to satisfy these essential requirements