Please use the quick links to preview the sections of the article:
Firstly, as many are starting new semesters and still navigating the turbulence of adjusting to hybrid and in-person working environments, I hope that you are staying safe and healthy. Throughout the past two years, we can all agree that we have seen amazing resilience from society and due to the upheaval, seen so many inadequacies be discovered and addressed, which includes the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As you have seen, IGI Global is taking a strong stance on DEI in academia (
view our full stance), as we have always historically supported providing all researchers an outlet to share their perspectives and research findings.
Through this, we have worked with over 150,000+ international researchers (40% of which are from non-Western countries), published over 6,600+ reference books and 175+ scholarly journals containing truly international research, and supported libraries and institutions worldwide on enhancing their collections. However, the mission to help institutions and the academic community goes deeper than just providing valuable research to institutions and providing researchers with an independent, quality publishing outlet. For us as a publisher, our mission is to provide services and innovative solutions to encourage libraries and researchers to embrace DEI, increase accessibility, and more importantly, push the overall industry to evolve.
Accessibility and WCAG Compliance
This mission and movement are very personal to me, as I was born with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (ONH), a rare congenital disorder that results in the underdevelopment of the optic nerves. ONH has resulted in me being visually impaired and, through this personal experience, has brought the topic of true accessibility to the forefront of our approach when providing your library with resources.
With this, coupled with IGI Global’s technologically rich background, we are continually improving all of our products and our InfoSci
® platform, which hosts all of our electronic content, to fully meet WCAG standards, and our IT Team has worked directly with institutions to provide the functionality to ensure that all of our research is fully accessible.
Learn More and View our Full VPAT Documentation >Pushing the DEI Envelope with Transformative Open Access Agreements
Further understanding that accessibility goes beyond what formats and functionality a publisher provides, we committed to ensuring that research is fully accessible to all institutions. We provide
flexible open access transformative agreements, which are a sustainable solution to increase the accessibility of open access research and funding, maximize libraries’ budgets, mitigate double-dipping, and providing a higher level of DEI. These models have inspired many current transformative OA models, including the University of Cambridge’s popular Read & Publish model and other presses.
- Read & Publish Model: When an institution invests in one of IGI Global’s e-Collections, including our e-Book (6,600+ e-books) and e-Journal (140+ e-journal) Collections, we will match the investment with a fund to provide 100% OA article processing/chapter processing charges, convert an existing IGI Global journal to platinum/diamond, or a full gold OA book.
- Publish & Read Model: Institutions can help fund an OA project or based on their publishing demand. Through this, they will receive access to our full e-Collections and can assist truly support the DEI movement. Through an institution funding a full OA journal or reference book, it opens the path to for individuals outside of their institutions (including international researchers and underrepresented researchers) the ability to receive OA waivers, as each of the titles includes international perspectives.
Historically, under traditional Publish & Read models (i.e. Elsevier’s offering with the University of California, Wiley’s agreement with JiSC, etc.), the availability of open access funding and access to the publisher’s research has been limited to the individual institution(s), which only enables faculty, staff, and students at the institution to take advantage of OA funding. Additionally, they will often only provide discounts on OA APCs in their agreements, where we are focused on providing 100% funding. Learn More about these models on our
OA Fee Waiver (Read & Publish) Initiative webpage.
Continuing to Support Your Institution in Embracing DEI
Overall, through librarian and publisher collaboration, we can work together to champion the DEI movement through these models, as well as create a sustainable future of open access research. Through this we will continue to provide ongoing opportunities and services to assist your institution in embracing DEI and will continue to challenge the status quo. Additionally, as a reminder, if you are in search of enhancing your collection, we do offer our
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) e-Book Collection, which features 320+ e-books on accessibility, gender and identity, culture and race, religion, human resources, civic engagement, and more.
|
Notable Publications Featured in IGI Global’s DEI e-Book Collection
| | | | | | | | |
|
Offered as low as US$ 1,000, it is a critical resource for institutions looking to champion DEI and many international institutions have invested including Texas Tech University, Purdue University Global, University of Rochester, and more. Download the full list of titles featured in
IGI Global’s DEI e-Book Collection >
Overall, we look forward to continuing to support the DEI movement, as well as your institution in supporting your research patrons. It is not until librarians, researchers, and publishers come together to discuss topics like DEI that true change will occur. As such, I welcome conversation and discussion on this topic and how we can collaborate on increasing DEI in the industry. I am available for an online meeting or phone call to discuss our stance on DEI, OA transformative agreements, WCAG compliance, etc., please feel free to contact me directly at
nnewcomer@igi-global.com or 717-533-8845 ext. 111.
About IGI Global
Founded in 1988, IGI Global, an international academic publisher, is committed to producing the highest quality research (as an active full member of the Committee on Publication Ethics “COPE”) and ensuring the timely dissemination of innovative research findings through an expeditious and technologically advanced publishing process. Through their commitment to supporting the research community ahead of profitability, and taking a chance on virtually untapped topic coverage, IGI Global has been able to collaborate with over 150,000+ researchers from some of the most prominent research institutions around the world to publish the most emerging, peer-reviewed research across 350+ topics in 11 subject areas including business, computer science, education, engineering, social sciences, and more. To learn more about IGI Global, click here.
Newsroom Contact
Caroline Campbell
Assistant Director of Marketing and Sales
(717) 533-8845, ext. 144
ccampbell@igi-global.com
www.igi-global.com