SASKATOON — The University of Saskatchewan (USask) Library is building on its commitment to open scholarship through a new diamond open access (OA) journal hosting service that provides software and expert support to OA journals with a USask affiliation.
While diamond OA journals are free for both readers and contributors, there are production costs. Such journals often rely heavily on volunteer editorial labour contributed by scholars, as well as financial and in-kind support from values-aligned organizations such as academic libraries.
Recently, the USask Library welcomed the (ESJ): Community-based Research, Teaching and Learning to its new hosting service. ESJ is a multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal and the first and only Canadian journal focused on 'engaged scholarship’ informed by community-academic partnerships. ESJ is a diamond open access (OA) journal, which means all articles are OA at the time of publication without fees for readers or authors. This enables important community-engaged research to be shared with the communities that participate in the research, as well as anyone who could potentially build upon, learn from, or put into practice the results regardless of institutional affiliation, geographic location, or financial means. The journal was first established and published by USask in 2014 and continues to be housed on campus with its editorial office in McLean Hall 107.
In addition to ESJ, the library currently hosts the University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal (USURJ) and the John Donne Journal.
Note: ESJ celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025. A celebration is planned for April 30, 2025, to mark this special milestone.
— Submitted by USask Media Relations
