The Transition to...Open Access

This report describes and draws conclusions from the transition of the Association for Learning Technology’s journal Research in Learning Technology from toll-access to Open Access, and from being published by one of the "big five" commercial publishers to being published by a specialist Open Access publisher. The focus of the report is on what happened in the run-up to and after the transition, rather than on the process of deciding to switch between publishing models, which is covered in in ALT's 2011 report "Journal tendering for societies: a brief guide" - http://repository.alt.ac.uk/887/

ALT Strategy, February 2011 to January 2014

The Association for Learning Technology (ALT) is an independent educational charity. ALT's charitable object is "to advance education through increasing, exploring and disseminating knowledge in the field of learning technology for the benefit of the general public". This document sets out our strategy for the three years February 2011 to January 2014. The strategy is reviewed and updated annually. Its main purpose is to: · translate ALT’s single charitable object into a practical strategy; · provide people and organisations inside and outside ALT with an overview of ALT’s approach; · set priority activities to shape the work of ALT’s committees, office-holders and staff

Journal tendering for societies: a brief guide

Hundreds of societies publish journals in collaboration with publishers. Some may be considering how and whether to renegotiate or go out to tender. Some may be considering whether they can/should/wish to change the business model of the journal (e.g. by a move to Open Access). Other societies may be considering using an external publisher for the first time. This guide, based on our experience, is written for all of these. In their negotiations with publishers learned societies – especially smaller ones – may have difficulty articulating their requirements and assessing the publishers’ offerings. This is true where they wish to compare the newer models with typical "conventional" models, or simply compare different conventional offerings. The reasons are complex and include: * lack of knowledge of the publishing industry on the part of the society's executive staff (who cannot always find the time to acquire the knowledge); * the "author/research funder pays" models, which, whilst becoming more prevalent in the domains of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), appear (but may not actually be) rather less feasible in other domains. This guide draws on the experience of one learned society, the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), in reviewing the publishing arrangements for its journal Research in Learning Technology, between September and December 2010