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Contribution short abstract:

As co-founder and co-editor of "boasblogs" and editor-in-chief of the journal for medical anthropology "Curare", I will elaborate on two different ways of publishing anthropological knowledge open access and analyze the different requirements, strategies, and challenges involved in each case.

Contribution long abstract:

As co-founder and co-editor of "boasblogs" and editor-in-chief of the medical anthropology journal "Curare", I will present two different ways of publishing anthropological knowledge open access. The founding of boasblogs in 2016 as a series of thematic blogs that address current issues in anthropology while at the same time exploring the public role and social relevance of anthropological knowledge, was intended from the beginning as an open access format in which neither authors nor readers would pay any fees. The boasblogs are supported and financed by various institutions and the character of the website has evolved over time. Curare also aims to function as public anthropology. It was founded in 1978 by the Association for Anthropology and Medicine (AGEM), which aims to build a bridge between an interdisciplinary university public and a non-university public consisting of practitioners of all kinds of medical professions and other people interested in medical anthropology issues. From the beginning, Curare has been published in printed form, financed by AEGM membership fees. With financial support of the German Research Foundation, all previous issues will be digitized and the journal will be converted into an open access journal in the coming months, whereby the print version will be continued - with still unknown consequences for the editorial board, the readership, the publishing house and the AGEM. I will analyze the different preconditions, strategies, and challenges involved in each case in order to ask what lessons can be learned from these processes for similar publication projects.

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Contribution short abstract:

This presentation outlines the role played by anthropological (diamond) journals in training anthropologists on publishing, and calls for expanding their training capacity for early career scholars, especially in diamond journals that are inherently open, free, critical, and socially relevant.

Contribution long abstract:

How we are being trained in publishing our anthropological research? This is a rhetorical question as much of publishing issues are self-taught along the way. There is not a consistent coaching programs to fully understand the publishing practices and the voracious system in which it is embedded. Yet, if existent, it is approached in a one-shot format, for example, in short modules attached to research syllabi on methods for graduate students, briefly discussed within writing labs for postgraduate researchers, coached in national or international anthropological events in the form of workshops about “how to make publishable your research”, or in self-help books about writing and publishing. Of course, there are some exceptions, when committed teachers and mentors (maybe interested in being co-authors with their mentees) and dedicated editorial boards (maybe interested in having texts for their beloved journals), take a long time for hands-on support on early career researchers to make “publishable” their first texts. Often, these dedicated editorial boards are also early career researchers themselves, working voluntarily in supporting their peers, and making a thankless and offstage training contribution. This presentation is grounded on my own experience as the main editor of the journal Perifèria (2018-2021), as well as my position as an early career researcher working in the so-called publish or perish academic bubble. I call for the necessity of expanding the training capacity for early career scholars in anthropological journals, especially in diamond journals that are inherently pursuing open, free, critical, and socially relevant research.

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Contribution short abstract:

We are presenting the challenges and opportunities of the current transition to open-access publishing of three main anthropological journals in Germany.

Contribution long abstract:

Scientific publishing and science communication today primarily rely on digital formats. Databases and digital repositories are increasingly being used to store and publish research data. Open-access (OA) publishing is regarded as a desirable and contemporary publication strategy. Within this evolving landscape, Diamond journals play a key role by emphasizing non-commercial, community-driven distribution of anthropological knowledge, contrasting commercialized OA models. However, despite democratizing access to anthropological knowledge, the challenges that come with these developments often remain underexposed.

While OA enhances the visibility and representation of research and may give a voice to marginalized groups, it also introduces new vulnerabilities. Challenges include the increasing difficulty of anonymizing informants, the potential for decontextualization and appropriation of sensitive content, and the risks researchers face, exemplified by cases like Ahmed Samir Santawy's imprisonment in Egypt. Additionally, the transition from printed journals to PDF documents raises epistemological questions related to digital-material practices intertwined with OA, such as reading habits, the roles of algorithmic actors, and the increasing significance of metrics like clicks and download counts.

The EthnOA project, funded by the German Research Foundation, seeks to accompany the ongoing transformation within German Social and Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology. Over three years, the project aims to foster critical debates on OA publishing possibilities and challenges, support journal editors and researchers, contribute to sustainable OA infrastructures, and ethnographically investigate ethical issues associated with OA. In our roundtable contribution, we aim to explore and engage in a joint discussion on the complex ethical issues surrounding OA in anthropology.

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Contribution short abstract:

Facing the Diamond OA project, as editor-in-chief of Anthrovision and co-editor of the Visual Anthropology section of the Journal des Anthropologues, I'm confronted with a double reality.

Contribution long abstract:

Diamond OA worldwide is a largely fragmented archipelago of 50.000 titles in Humanities and Social Sciences. ( Jan Szczepanski). Most of these journals are relatively small, but they represent 44% of all Online publications. The recommendations of OADJS was to build a Diamond Capacity Hub that would align, coordinate and improve the sustainability of Diamond OA. From https://thd.hypotheses.org/35, Pierre Mounier.

As editor-in-chief of Anthrovision and co-editor of the Visual Anthropology section of the Journal des Anthropologues, I'm confronted with a double reality. On the one hand, to publish text, images and sound online in a single medium, to have a trilingual journal with international accessibility. On the other hand, I'm faced with the injunction for paper/online journals to provide access to articles as soon as they are published or risk losing their funding. Even though both publications advocate free access, the consequences of OA are not the same.

Faced with the policy put in place by academic institutions and put forward by DiamonOA, it is very interesting and important to open a debate to clarify the procedures to be followed to protect online and paper journals, which do not have the same economic model.

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Contribution short abstract:

It is ever harder for Africa-based editors and scholars to sustain vibrant institutional journals. Using case studies from the African social sciences, this paper explores the impact of commercial publishing logics and systematic underfunding on university presses and journals across the continent.

Contribution long abstract:

'You should publish in a journal older than you are' was the guidance of one wise Ghanaian sociologist, when we talked to her about the publishing choices and dilemmas African scholars face. It is hard advice to follow. The combined impact of postcolonial austerity, commercial publishing models and powerful bibliometric infrastructures all undermine long-established research publishing cultures. Journals struggle to sustain a regular publication pattern without funding or sustained resource and commitment from their institutions. The pressure on academics to publish in 'indexed' journals further undermines those journals excluded from the two dominant commercial citation infrastructures owned by Elsevier and Clarivate.

This paper offers a series of reflective case studies of Africa-published journals from across the social sciences. An ethnographic attention to the daily struggles faced by editors and publishers based on the continent reveals that they are getting by – but only just – amid the metics-driven landscape of the global research economy.

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Contribution short abstract:

What does the future hold for open access publication? Editors at MAT look forward to sharing their experiences and reflecting upon shared ambitions and challenges with peers across the open access landscape.

Contribution long abstract:

MAT is grounded in the comparative and ethnographic traditions of medical anthropology but encourages engagement with cutting-edge thinking from other disciplines within the social sciences and humanities. It seeks to bring researchers with diverse theoretical and political positions into conversation with one another and encourages authors to tackle major current debates, challenges, and events related to health and medicine.

As academic publishing moves towards an open access future, MAT is committed to building structures and ways of working that are accessible, inclusive, fair, ethical, and sustainable. MAT recognises that academic publishing is rooted in historical, gendered, and colonial power relationships. Open access publishing addresses some of these issues but also creates new risks, including the potential for new forms of unfair labour relations and gender hierarchies, as well as the consolidation of knowledge within elite institutions. Our journal ethos statement includes commitments to abolishing internships and volunteer labour for administrative tasks; establishing a fair, supportive, and inclusive editorial practice; ensuring robust complaints procedures are in place; distributing credit for journal work; and internationalising the readership, authorship, and governance of the journal.

We are particularly keen to reflect in community about the nexus of the labour required of open access outputs (wherein the publication becomes a press) and labour politics more generally. If open access publications require “more work,” how do we ensure that this work is compensated and equitably distributed?

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Contribution short abstract:

The paper will delve into the dynamics of publishing in an open-access journal, Etnološka tribina. The journal publishes studies that represent innovative research within the epistemological framework and qualitative methodological tools available in contemporary ethnology and cultural anthropology.

Contribution long abstract:

The proposed paper will delve into shaping publishing policies in open-access journals, specifically Diamond Journals, and their impact on knowledge exchange in the Croatian anthropological publishing landscape, using Etnološka tribina as an example.

The first part of the presentation will highlight over forty years of dedicated editorial work and contributions from individuals who, since the inception of Etnološka tribina, have steadfastly maintained the high quality of published papers.

Published by the Croatian Ethnological Society and the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, the journal consistently advocates for an open-access policy, ensuring accessibility for members, including scholars, independent researchers, museum professionals, conservators, educators, and other interested audiences. As well the presentation will examine the current publishing landscape and impact of Etnološka tribina, ranking among the top 100 journals in Croatia according to the SCImago ranking.

The second part of the presentation will explore the future direction of publishing on open platforms, particularly focusing on the importance this has for the young scholars, as well as the target audience. In conclusion, examples will illustrate the role anthropological knowledge provided by the papers published in Etnološka tribina in the broader society and community. Not just within Croatia but also in the wider European context, given its publication of papers in both Croatian and English.

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Contribution short abstract:

The February Journal is a peer-reviewed open access independent publication. Its predecessor was shut down in the wake of the war on Ukraine. We will discuss challenges of publishing young and paradigm-breaking content beyond institutional affiliations in the face of censorship and safety concerns.

Contribution long abstract:

An independent publication, The February Journal is peer-reviewed and available in open access. Anthropological perspectives play a central role in the journal’s interdisciplinary scope. It was created in 2019 as The Garage Journal: Studies in Art, Museums & Culture, at Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. With the beginning of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent introduction of wartime censorship in Russia, The Garage Journal was shut down. The archive and platform rights were transferred to the journal’s team, who used the existing platform to launch the new publication.

There are four themes that we would like to discuss. First, the benefits of the journal’s

extra-institutionality and the limits that its no-funding existence imposes. The team are volunteers, and production costs are currently not covered. The second issue is the priority we give to early career researchers. This does not mean that the journal publishes younger researchers only; however, early-career professionals’ contributions receive comprehensive editorial attention before and after peer-review. A third topic to discuss is innovative research, which often involves experimental methodologies, transgressive treatments of genre and form, and speculative approaches. Although perhaps an independent publication's key benefit, innovative research can also present a challenge, especially when combined with the still somewhat distrustful attitude to open-access journals in academia. Finally, we will invoke the issue of security, which – in our specific case, with some editors and authors coming from Russia or having families there – must be given primary importance.