This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

 

1 PURPOSE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF PUBLISHING

The principles of publishing set guidelines for publishing at the University of Jyväskylä (JYU). This helps researchers and the authors of final theses in publishing their research findings or theses/dissertations.

Secondly, the principles define objectives for JYU’s own publication production and the phases of the publishing process. The aim is to make the University’s own publishing more systematic, improving its quality and efficiency, while also increasing its visibility and impact.

 

2 GENERAL POLICIES RELATED TO PUBLISHING AT JYU

2.1 Principles of scientific publishing

Publishing research findings in one way or another is an essential part of a research process. It enables bringing the findings to be reviewed by the science community, disseminating scientific knowledge more widely in society, diversifying scientific and societal discussion as well as research-based education. The publishing of research results brings more visibility for both the researcher and the University.

The results of research conducted at JYU are published in a publication channel that the researcher, the research team or the department considers best in terms of quality and impact. The aim of publishing is to promote the development and openness of science as well as the responsible conduct of research. The publications are produced following the principles of research ethics. The ethical issues of publishing are outlined in the principles of publication ethics at the University of Jyväskylä. The research processes are transparent and reliable. According to the strategy of JYU, special attention should be paid to the quality and societal impact of research.

2.1.1 Openness of science

According its strategy, the University of Jyväskylä promotes responsible and open science and research. The aim is to disclose research findings, research data and the methods used in research. JYU follows the national and international principles of open science and research, and is committed to promote openness according to the Declaration for Open Science and Research (Finland).

The University of Jyväskylä

• requires that all research publications are self-archived to the University’s publication archive.
• encourages publishing in open-access publication series in the fields of science with distinguished open-access series.
• does not recommend buying articles for open publications that require a subscription fee (hybrid model); an exception to this is agreements that enable publishing in hybrid journals without separate article-specific APC payments.
• encourages researchers to negotiate with the publisher about self-archiving and other rights regarding the use of the publication, if the publisher has no clear policy to entitle further use. JYU does not recommend publishing in publications, in which the publisher refuses to give permission for self-archiving in spite of negotiations.
• encourages researchers to share their research outcomes openly and to send article copies to people asking for them, as long as there are no particular legal or contractual reasons preventing it.

Publishing costs are costs generally accepted by research funders and should always be included in funding applications. In particular, this should be taken into account for funders who are committed to the Plan S principles. In other cases, publishing fees can be paid from the department’s funds. The Open Science Centre helps researchers in all issues related to open-access publishing.

Publishing costs are monitored closely at the University, and mechanisms are developed based on the data to increase the transparency of costs and ease individual researchers’ work. The openness of JYU publications is monitored systematically and related information is reported to the national Research.fi portal and  JUULI portal.

2.1.2 Publishing with JYU affiliation

The University of Jyväskylä can be marked in a publication as an affiliation when the publication is based on the person’s research work at JYU or expert work essentially related to the research work or the operations of the University. Publications that pertain to hobby, association or business activities as well as ideological, religious or political activities or marketing communications, which are not based on the author’s research work, are excluded from the University’s publication data.

Recording, maintaining and presenting JYU publication data take place in compliance with the instructions of the data collection manual (KOTA manual), which is jointly maintained by Finnish universities. Recording publication data in the University’s research information system concerns publications that are significant for monitoring research and development activities. Researchers are responsible for monitoring that their publications can be found in the research information system.

Publications are recorded for the higher education institute where the research work related to the publication was mostly conducted, even if the researcher moves to another organisation before the publication is published. Connection to the higher education institution is noted primarily based on the affiliation information the author provides in the publication. If the affiliation is not mentioned in the publication, a six-month transition period is applied. This means that articles published during the first six months of the new employment relationship are regarded as outcomes from the researcher’s work for the previous organisation.

A publication is eligible to be recorded in the University’s research information system when

• the publication is publicly available to anybody;
• the publication channel has an editorial board or publisher, which is independent from the author and decides on the publications published on the channel;
• the publication has not been published earlier in a data collection in a reported form.

The definitions above concern scientific, professional and popular publications, also documents distributed in electronic form only (e.g. online magazines, online publishing platforms).

For policies related to the authorship of publications, see JYU’s ethical principles of publishing.

Publications related to research work conducted at JYU by the following members of the university community are included in the publication data of the University of Jyväskylä:

• Persons in an employment relationship with the University at the time of research and writing work for the publication
• Postdoctoral grant researchers working at the University at the time of research and writing work for the publication
• The University’s doctoral students with active doctoral study rights (see the Degree Regulations)
• For the University’s doctoral students, publications are recorded for those doctoral students who a) participate actively in their doctoral education and b) have received a regular grant for at least six consecutive months
• Docents and/or other external experts with work contributions to JYU research projects
• The University’s emerita/emeritus professors and researchers.

Those working outside an employment relationship or without active doctoral study rights are required to sign a separate contract related to the research in question (e.g. an agreement on conducting research using JYU facilities and equipment). The publications to be recorded in the research information system must be based on the authors’ research work at JYU.

Because of researcher mobility, results to be published may be gained from many different universities. A publication might be written only after ending the employment relationship under which most of the research was conducted. Therefore, researchers coming to or leaving JYU must ensure that their publications are recorded for the university, in which the research work took place. In the publishing process, it should be ensured that the connection (affiliation) to the university is stated in the publication.

The publications of visiting researchers and doctoral students are not included in the JYU publication data, unless the body of authors include one or more JYU staff members.

The publications of bachelor’s and master’s degree students are not included in the JYU publication data of the research information system. However, master’s degree students may use the JYU affiliation in their publications when publishing an article as a member of a research team or when publishing a publication related to the student’s own master’s thesis supervised at JYU. If the student continues to doctoral studies at JYU, his/her publication data can also be supplemented in the research information system with publications accomplished before the start of doctoral studies.

Not all publications originating from research activities are to be saved in the research information system Converis. These publications include, for example, researchers’ presentations, posters, abstracts or research-related documents presented in events or electronic media. Nevertheless, JYU researchers are encouraged to document their research work also for this part, and the above-mentioned outcomes can be saved in the publication archive JYX. This way, the documents receive a permanent identification code allowing easier referencing.

2.1.3 ORCID researcher ID

It is recommended that all JYU researchers use the international ORCID identifier. ORCID enables reliable identification of researchers and their publications. It is advisable to add your personal ORCID to your research profile in the research information system Converis and, as far as possible, systematically to your all publications or other documents dealing with research work.

2.1.4 Resolving possible conflicts related to Converis data

The Open Science Centre (OSC) enters JYU-based publications to the Converis research information system and categorises them according to the data collection manual of the Ministry of Education and Culture. If a researcher disagrees with OSC about the categorisation or recording of a publication, the researcher can tell his/her views to OSC. If, after a closer review, there is still disagreement about the publication, OSC contacts the Head of Research Development, who will then prepare the matter to be decided by the Vice Rector responsible for research.

The Vice Rector’s decision is submitted to the researcher, OSC, and for information to the next meeting of the steering group for the entity of digitalisation in research. The group also serves as the steering group for the Converis research information system.

2.1.5 Science and expert communication

JYU researchers are encouraged to take part in societal discussion. Communicating about one’s research, popularising science, and interaction with relevant stakeholders and target groups constitute a part of a researcher’s communication and publishing strategy. The departments of the University of Jyväskylä are encouraged to create publishing strategies of their own, accounting for the special characteristics of each discipline. The University’s marketing and communications services help researchers in issues related to science communication. In addition, there are versatile training and instructions available.

2.2 Publishing of final theses at JYU

Final theses (master’s and licentiate theses and doctoral dissertations) at the University of Jyväskylä are saved in the University’s open JYX publication archive. They are public documents (Act on the Openness of Government Activities 1999/621) that the University is obliged to archive. A final thesis becomes public once it is approved. The publishing of a final thesis, parts of it or a text based on it elsewhere, for example, as a scientific article, does not void the publicity obligation.

Bachelor’s theses are kept at JYU for at least five years. Also bachelor’s theses can be saved in the JYX publication archive.

As a rule, final theses are published in JYX as full open-access versions. If the authors so wish, they can opt for an open Creative Commons licence for their graduation work in JYX. Only in exceptional cases and with adequate justifications, a final thesis can be published for “restricted use”, so that it can be viewed at the workstations located in the OSC facilities. Nevertheless, final theses in restricted use can be send by email to anybody asking for it.

A bachelor’s or master’s thesis can be made as a commission to an organisation or a company outside the University. It must be noted that the work is assessed by academic criteria in such cases as well. In addition, the commissioner must be aware of the publicity of the final thesis. If a final thesis contains confidential material, such content must be placed in an appendix or background material. Issues related to background material need to be agreed beforehand with the commissioner. Agreements are signed either between the commissioner and either the University or the author. It must be mentioned both in the thesis itself and in its metadata that the work includes confidential background material.

If the purpose is to make a scientific article based on a master’s thesis and offer it to an external academic publisher, it is advisable that the author and/or supervisor contacts the Open Science Centre. As a rule, offering such an article to an academic journal does not prevent publishing the master’s thesis in JYX in accordance with the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. The publisher’s policy on this matter should be considered already when selecting the publication channel.

2.2.1 Doctoral dissertations

Doctoral dissertations accomplished at the University of Jyväskylä are published as open-access online versions in the JYU Dissertations series. The dissertations published in this series are available in the JYX publication archive with the same principles as the previously mentioned other final theses.

A dissertation can be published also elsewhere, but even then, the aim always is to get a self-archived copy to the JYX archive.

As for article dissertations, the included articles or article manuscripts are openly readable in JYX in line with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. In other cases, you can receive an article by asking it from the author.

 

3 JYU AS A PUBLISHER

3.1 Aims of publishing

The University’s own publishing is aimed to offer noteworthy, high-quality and low-threshold open publication channels also for writings other than those published in scientific journals. Such writings include, for example, various investigation reports, working papers, interim and final reports of research projects, learning materials, pilot studies, committee reports, conference publications, and policy briefs. These can be even more significant than writings published in scientific journals, especially in terms of societal impact.

There is need for different, easy-to-find publication channels, and comprehensible research data is needed, for example, to strengthen the connection between decision-making and research knowledge. The need for the above-mentioned policy briefs has increased, but until now there has not been a dedicated publication channel for them at JYU.

A flexible model will be created for the University’s own publication production, which can be broadened into actual university publishing if necessary. The primary aim is to always centralise the publication production of JYU units to publication series, and, thus, ensure the coordination of publishing activities, centralised support measures, and the visibility and long-term availability of the publications.

OSC is prepared to expand its publishing activities in the future. Therefore, the general development of academic publishing as well as the development of new publication platforms and models, both in Finland and internationally, are watched closely. If needs to increase the volume of publishing arise from within the academic community, JYU has readiness for it.

All publications of JYU are published primarily as electronic and open-access versions. In exceptional cases, also printed versions are possible, also for sale where needed.

3.2 Current state of publication production

At present, there are in total around 100 JYU publication series in the ISSN register (situation in January 2020). Their profiles can be divided into the following main categories:

• Scientific journals
• Scientific book series
• Newsletters, customer and personnel magazines
• Subject association magazines
• Partnership publications
• Study guidebooks
• Lecture handouts
• Organisation magazines
• Science publications (research reports, working papers, teaching materials, graduation theses)

In order to start the coordination of publishing activities, the OSC publishing services surveys the current state of publication production in JYU units. The purpose of the survey is to form an overall image of the University’s own publishing activities, and to recognise what kind of publication channels and support services are needed for unit-based works other than those offered to science journals.

The survey includes checking the current activity status of the above-mentioned JYU publication series. Any publication series with, for example, no new publications during the 2010s or no expected new publications, will be discontinued by negotiating with the unit concerned, and the unit’s possible future publications will be directed to the common JYU publication series (see, JYU publication series).

The discontinuation of a publication series has no influence on keeping the already published materials, which will remain available in the University Library’s collections and will also be saved in the JYX publication archive, if this has not been done previously.

New individual publications, for which there are no natural publication channels in the author’s own unit, are always directed primarily to the University’s general publication series (see JYU publication series). If a unit shows potential for continuity in publishing activity, it is also possible to consider establishing a publication series for the unit, and the unit will be offered support for this.

The visibility of scientific journals and publication series will be enhanced. For instance, all publications produced at JYU, instructions related to publishing activities, and the contact information of support providers in publishing will be collected in the same place on the JYU website. In the JYX publication archive, publication series will be organised in separate collections, in which they receive permanent identification codes and are easy to find, for example, with a Google search. OSC is responsible for the implementation and maintenance.

3.3 JYU publication series

The University’s own publishing activities are supported by offering centralised support services for publishing. The aim is that all JYU’s publications will be placed in some of the publication series so that they are archived and easy to discover. Publishing is directed either to a) the publication series of units or b) the University’s shared, open publication channels, which include:

• JYU Dissertations: Publication series for the University’s dissertations
• JYU Reports: Report series for the interim and final reports of projects
• JYU Working Papers and Policy Briefs: Publication series for the compilations of working papers and policy briefs
• JYU Studies: Peer-reviewed publication series for, e.g., collected articles or non-fiction books

The publication series publish new publications regularly or irregularly, but continuously. In each series, the publications are numbered with continuous or yearly running numbers. Each publication series has a distinctive layout, which is in line with the JYU brand but adaptable when necessary. For example, funders’ emblems can be integrated to it. In addition, the editors of publications are offered model templates and, in the future, also publication platforms in order to ease the publication process. The series are marked with the faculty’s emblem and the faculty data are added to the publication’s metadata to make the publication easier to find.

As for publications, the editing of content, complying with the principles of the responsible conduct of research, the copyright issues of images, grammatical correctness, referencing practices and arrangements for possible peer reviews belong to the responsibility of the author/editor. OSC provides a publication channel and platform, layout design or implementation when needed as well as printing when needed (paid by the unit producing the publication). Printed publications produced by units can also be taken for sale in the JYU’s online shop. The sales potential of each publication is estimated in order to optimise the printing volumes. Sales profits are directed to the unit in question. The OSC’s publishing services take care of mailing the publication to customers.

3.4 Coordination of publishing activities: aiming at uniform practices

Centralised support for JYU publishing activities brings consistency, improved quality as well as visibility and impact for the publications. Authors who are planning a publication are directed to OSC’s centralised publication services so that they can be systematically advised in the following issues:

• Selecting a publication series (either the unit’s own series or a series coordinated by the publication services)
• Registering and marking an ISBN identifier for the publication
• Choosing and marking the CC licence stipulating the further use of the publication
• Consistency and marking of bibliographic data in the publication
• Using and marking permanent identification codes (e.g. DOI) for the publication
• Using and marking the authors’ ORCID identifiers in the publication
• Copyrights and making publishing agreements
• Implementing or finishing the layout of the publication
• Checking the accessibility of the publication file (PDF)
• The abstract and keywords of the publication
• Saving the publication in a relevant publication series collection in JYX
• Delivering an electronic complimentary copy of the publication to the archive of the National Library of Finland
• Converis publication data
• Informing about the publication (in collaboration with the University’s marketing and communications services)

3.4.1 Copyrights

Copyrights of a work belong to the creators of the work. The University has a permanent right to convert or copy a work in order to ensure long-term storing. For online publishing, a separate agreement is signed between OSC and the author. OSC is entitled to distribute the work online in electronic form throughout the validity period of the agreement on online publishing.

3.4.2 Open licences

JYU publications are eligible for Creative Commons licensing. Publication services will describe the content of the licences to authors more closely.

3.4.3 Accessibility

The University’s publications and online documents are made to comply with the EU Accessibility Directive.

 

Publishing policy of the University of Jyväskylä (PDF)

Approved by the Rector’s decision on 12.6.2020

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.