28 September 2021
Iowa State University, Knowledge Unlatched (KU), and JMIR Publications have signed an agreement to pilot the new Oable workflow management tool to monitor funds and administer Iowa State’s payments for eligible publications in the JMIR Publications portfolio. This pilot brings together three organizations with a shared mission in removing barriers to the widespread adoption of Open Access and Open Science publishing practices and will run from September 1, 2021, to August 31, 2023.
As part of the larger institutional deal, Iowa State University is protected from any price increases for the length of the agreement and invited to pilot ongoing and future initiatives, such as the Plan P publishing model. Curtis Brundy, Iowa State University Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Communications and Collections, says, “This agreement between ourselves, JMIR, and Knowledge Unlatched brings the clear communication between technology, publishing, and institutions required to advance the library’s support for open access publishing.”
The Oable workflow solution was developed by Knowledge Unlatched to streamline the management of OA funds and transformational agreements for librarians. Oable combines the most up-to-date policies and procedures available at an institution to support the Open Access publications in one convenient dashboard. On behalf of Iowa State University, Oable receives structured metadata from publishers participating in OA Switchboard, via the standardized messaging protocol, sent to Iowa State University (streamlining the communication via this back end central information exchange hub). Oable also consolidates eligibility and approval checks on accepted articles with a partner institution’s corresponding author and facilitates the payment of their respective article publication charge.
“Our core value, ‘Open Access made simple,’ has guided Oable’s development and implementation from the beginning,“ says Dr Olaf Ernst, Chief Solutions Officer at Knowledge Unlatched. “We are excited to expand on this mission and collaborate with leading organizations committed to Open Science like Iowa State and JMIR.”
Adrian Stanley, General Manager at JMIR, says, “Iowa State has a great history as an innovator and partner in Open Access initiatives, and we’re thrilled to join with Knowledge Unlatched in piloting a promising new solution for librarians.”