Description
As reproduced at crimrxiv.com
We are writing with respect to the American Society of Criminology’s journals, Criminology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, and Criminology & Public Policy.1 Their self-archiving policy prohibits authors from sharing the accepted version of their manuscripts, or “postprints,”2 for a period of 24 months on all publicly accessible websites.
This policy is in conflict with the Society’s Purpose & Objective and Code of Ethics. It directly opposes free and open access to knowledge; hinders the study of crime and social control; impedes exchange and cooperation among stakeholders; shrinks the forum for disseminating criminological knowledge; thwarts public discourse on findings and dissemination of them; and, forbids a key countermeasure to social injustice.
Therefore, we ask the Society to revise the journals’ self-archiving policy. It should be legal for their authors to immediately share their postprints on any website.
The change poses no legitimate danger to the Society’s revenue from licensing its journals to a publisher.3 Actually, the change will increase citation of the journals, increasing their value.4 We recognize that the journals are under contract with Wiley. This letter’s goal is not to retroactively change the current contract, though that would be ideal. The goal is to shape the future; to ensure that the next contract is better for the Society and its stakeholders.
In what follows, we begin with background information that informs this letter. This includes a description of two types of open access, “gold” and “green,” followed by how the Society’s journals compare to other criminology journals in green open access. We conclude with a call to action.
The free and timely sharing of information and knowledge are pillars of science, democracy, and social justice. The Society informs scientific discourse on crime and social control. It is a leader in that regard. Among other ways, it performs this important role by supporting its two journals. These publications provide an evidence-base to all stakeholders: scholars, policymakers and practitioners, journalists, and the public at large.
A problem facing the Society is the tradeoff between providing open (i.e., free) access to its journals and generating income from licensing them to a publisher. By licensing them to a publisher, the journals are paywalled, which reduces their and the Society’s impact. By “impact,” we do not simply mean citations and downloads. We mean influence on public discourse.
The Society’s journals are not the only ones paywalled, of course. All of criminology’s top journals are the same.5 These journals are referred to as “hybrid open access.” The default is to paywall works therein, but authors can purchase “gold open access” to make the publisher version free for everyone to read. Currently, the APC for a Criminology article is $3,300; for Criminology & Public Policy, it is $3,100.6 At those prices, few authors can afford to make their works gold access. It is not a tenable solution.
A better option is “green open access.” It entails the public sharing of postprints.7 Green access offers numerous benefits: (1) enables paywalled journals to maintain their business model; (2) provides authors a legal and free way to publicly share their work; (3) facilitates engagement with scholarship among all stakeholders; (4) increases impact; and, (5) serves social justice.8
Green access does not require radical change to academia or publishing. Already, every major publisher has one or more green access policies. The best ones permit the fastest and widespread sharing of scholarship. At many criminology journals, authors may immediately share their postprints on many websites.9 Other criminology journals allow immediate sharing on authors’ personal websites, but not others. The worst policies are those that embargo sharing postprints on all websites.
The Society’s journals have the most restrictive green access policy of any criminology outlet.10 Authors are prohibited from sharing on any website for 24 months after publication of the final article.
The policy is bad for the Society, its journals, their authors,11 and all other stakeholders. Because many people cannot afford paywalled access to the journals, the embargo impedes their timely consumption of scholarship and ability to engage in public discourse. Consider that for articles published from 2017 to 2019, only 11% and 26% of works in Criminology & Public Policy and Criminology, respectively, are publicly accessible.12
The Society’s Purpose & Objective is in conflict with the policy. It hinders criminological scholarship, research, education, and training (2.1.3.2); impedes scholarly, scientific and practical exchange and cooperation among those engaged in criminology (2.1.3.3); and, shrinks the forum for the dissemination of criminological knowledge (2.1.3.4).
Also, the Society’s Code of Ethics is at odds with the policy. It is contra members’ commitment to free and open access to knowledge (II.7); public discourse on findings (II.7); disseminating their research findings (III.A.15); and, contractually prevents them from promoting social justice (II.5).
In line with the Society’s mission and ethics, we call on it to be a leader in green access. The society should work with its current publisher, or next publisher, to revise the journals’ self-archiving policy.
The new policy should make it legal for the journals’ authors to immediately share their postprints on any website.
Does the Society have the power to answer this call to action? Yes.
By doing so, will the Society increase its impact and better serve stakeholders? Yes.
Properly negotiated, should it cost the Society anything? No.
We urge the Society to make this change, which will greatly benefit science, democracy, and social justice.
Note: Upon clicking the above link, you will be directed to SurveyMonkey. We will only use the information that you provide to enter it on the list, below. Your name will not auto-update on the list; rather, it will be manually input at a later time. By January 1, 2021, we will delete the information on SurveyMonkey, which will not be shared with third parties. We will indefinitely maintain the list on this publicly accessible page.
First Name | Last Name | Affiliation |
Carolina | Agoff | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |
Andrea | Allen | Criminology Open and Clayton State University |
George | Anderson | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Martin | Andresen | Griffith University and Simon Fraser University |
Barak | Ariel | Hebrew University and Cambridge University |
Matthew | Ashby | Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, University College London |
Margit | Averdijk | University of Zurich |
Lorena | Avila | Rutgers University |
David | Ayeni | Georgia State University |
Nina | Barbieri | University of Houston Downtown |
Tim | Barnum | Max Planck Institute |
Josh | Beck | Georgia State University |
Jacob | Becker | Oakland University |
Laura | Bedford | Deakin University |
Popy | Begum | Rutgers University-Newark |
Craig | Bennell | Carleton University |
Colleen | Berryessa | Rutgers University |
Lorenz | Biberstein | Zurich University of Applied Sciences |
Riane | Bolin | Radford University |
Brenda | Bond-Fortier | Suffolk University |
HERVE | BORRION | University College London |
Lisa | Bostaph | Boise State University |
Martin | Bouchard | Simon Fraser University |
Noemie | Bouhana | University College London |
Bobby | Boxerman | University of Missouri - St. Louis |
Anthony | Braga | Northeastern University, ASC Fellow |
John | Braithwaite | Australian National University, ASC Fellow |
Ryan | Broll | University of Guelph |
Kevin | Buckler | University of Houston-Downtown |
Brett | Burkhardt | Oregon State University |
Callie | Burt | Georgia State University |
Calli | Cain | Florida Atlantic University |
Paolo | Campana | University of Cambridge |
Joel | Caplan | Rutgers University |
Brianna | Caprio | John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY Graduate Center |
Krystlelynn | Caraballo | Georgia State University |
Alison | Cares | University of Central Florida |
Kerry | Carrington | Queensland University of Technology, Australia |
Jeremy | Carter | Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis |
Vania | Ceccato | KTH Royal Institute of Technology |
Katarzyna | Celinska | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Aaron | Chalfin | University of Pennsylvania |
Steven | Chermak | Michigan State University |
Kyung-Shick | Choi | Boston University |
Sarah | Chu | John Jay College of Criminal Justice/ CUNY Graduate Center |
Silvia | Ciotti | EuroCrime - Research, Training & Consulting |
Ronald | Clarke | Rutgers University |
Todd | Clear | Rutgers University, ASC Fellow |
Ellen G. | Cohn | Florida International University |
Nathan | Connealy | John Jay College of Criminal Justice / The CUNY Graduate Center |
Eric | Connolly | Sam Houston State University |
Eric | Cooke | Sam Houston State University |
Danielle | Cooper | University of New Haven |
Heith | Copes | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
Francis | Cullen | University of Cincinnati, ASC Fellow |
Theodore | Curry | University of Texas at El Paso |
Dean | Dabney | Georgia State University |
Sarah | Daly | Saint Vincent College |
Jane | Daquin | University of Alabama |
Andrew | Davies | Southern Methodist University |
Lynnea | Davis | George Mason University |
Alaina | De Biasi | University of California Davis Firearm Violence Research Center |
Stephen | Demuth | Bowling Green State University |
Michael | DeValve | Bridgewater State University |
Timothy | Dickinson | University of Texas at El Paso |
Stephanie | DiPietro | University of Iowa |
Mary | Dodge | University of Colorado Denver |
Beidi | Dong | George Mason University |
Joseph | Donnermeyer | The Ohio State University |
Brendan | Dooley | Mount St. Mary's University (MD) |
Grant | Drawve | University of Arkansas |
Kathryn | DuBois | Washington State University |
Robert | Duran | Texas A&M University |
Frank | Edwards | Rutgers University |
Jamie | Fader | Temple University |
Chantal | Fahmy | University of Texas at San Antonio |
Chelsea | Farrell | University of Rhode Island |
Averi | Fegadel | Arkansas State University |
Ben | Fisher | University of Louisville |
Bryanna | Fox | University of South Florida |
Camilla | Friis | University of Copenhagen |
Owen | Gallupe | University of Waterloo |
Kathryn | Genthon | Virginia Commonwealth University |
Adam | Ghazi-Tehrani | University of Alabama |
Matthew | Giblin | Southern Illinois University |
Michael | Gibson-Light | University of Denver |
Sheena | Gilbert | University of Nebraska Omaha |
Charlotte | Gill | George Mason University |
Lily | Gleicher | Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority |
Elizabeth | Groff | Temple University |
Jessica | Grosholz | University of South Florida |
Susila | Gurusami | UIC Criminology, Law, & Justice |
Cory | Haberman | University of Cincinnati |
Carter | Hay | Florida State University |
Susan | Hayes | University of Portsmouth |
Howard | Henderson | Texas Southern University |
David | Hetu | Université de Montréal |
Tarah | Hodgkinson | Griffith University |
Meghan | Hollis-Peel | Ronin Institute |
Jonathan | Intravia | Ball State University |
Stefan | Ivanov | University at Albany, SUNY |
Shannon | Jacobsen | Drexel University |
Scott | Jacques | Georgia State University |
Thaddeus | Johnson | Georgia State University |
Ingrid | Johnson | University of Alaska Anchorage |
FM | Jonrd | University of Central Oklahoma |
Jacob | Kaplan | University of Pennsylvania |
Lila | Kazemian | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Erin | Kearns | University of Alabama |
Tyler | Keller | Rutgers University |
Jay | Kennedy | Michigan State University |
Bitna | Kim | Indiana University of Pennsylvania |
Nicole | Kinbarovsky | none |
Keron | King | The College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago |
Laura | King | Boise State University |
Pallie | Koehn | George Mason University |
Debi | Koetzle | John Jay College |
Stuti | Kokkalera | Sam Houston State University |
Alex | Knorre | University of Pennsylvania |
Kelsey | Kramer | Sam Houston State University |
Charis | Kubrin | University of California - Irvine, ASC Fellow |
Kiseong | Kuen | George Mason University |
Justin | Kurland | University of Southern Mississippi |
Sarah | Lageson | Rutgers University |
Renee | Lamphere | UNC Pembroke |
Charles | Lanfear | University of Washington |
Julia | Laskorunsky | University of Minnesota |
Brian | Lawton | John Jay College |
Peter | Lehmann | Sam Houston State University |
Paul | Leighton | Eastern Michigan University |
Katherine | Limoncelli | John Jay College |
Marie Rosenkrantz | Lindegaard | NSCR/ University of Amsterdam |
Yu-Hsuan | Liu | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Nicholas | Lord | University of Manchester, UK |
Daniel | Lytle | North Carolina Central University |
David | Maimon | Georgia State University |
Aili | Malm | CSULB |
Dennis | Mares | SIUE |
Christopher | Marier | Appalachian State University |
Shadd | Maruna | Queen's University Belfast |
Mike | Maxfield | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
David | May | Mississippi State University |
Evan | McCuish | Simon Fraser University |
David | McDowall | University at Albany-SUNY, ASC Fellow |
Karen | McElrath | Fayetteville State University |
Edmund | McGarrell | Michigan State University |
Jean | McGloin | University of Maryland |
Danielle | McGurrin | Portland State University |
Danye | Medhin | Georgia State University |
Juanjo | Medina | University of Seville |
Josh | Meisel | Humboldt State University |
Gorazd | Mesko | UM-FCJS |
Kimberly | Meyer | Central Connecticut State University |
Monica | Mielke | University of Pennsylvania |
Toniqua | Mikell | University of Massachusetts Dartmouth |
Jody | Miller | Rutgers University, ASC Fellow |
Glen | Mills | Public Safety |
Ojmarrh | Mitchell | Arizona State University |
Meghan | Mitchell | University of Central Florida |
David | Mitre Becerril | University of Pennsylvania |
Kim | Moeller | Malmö University, Sweden |
Emily | Moir | Griffith University |
Asier | Moneva | Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) |
Christopher | Mullins | Southern Illinois University |
Nicole | Myers | Queen's University |
Elias | Nader | University of Baltimore |
John | Navarro | Sam Houston State University |
Mirlinda | Ndrecka | University of New Haven |
Michael | Newman | University of Queensland |
Justin | Nix | University of Nebraska Omaha |
Robert | Norris | George Mason University |
Seyvan | Nouri | Southern Illinois University Carbondale |
Andrew | Novak | Department of Criminology, George Mason University |
Meghan | Novisky | Cleveland State University |
Montana | Nowak | Georgia State University |
Marisa | Omori | University of Missouri-St. Louis |
Meg | Osborn | CUNY Graduate Center/John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Marie | Ouellet | Georgia State University |
Kathleen | Padilla | Arizona State University |
Troy | Payne | University of Alaska Anchorage |
Rebecca | Paynich | Curry College |
Anthony | Peguero | Virginia Tech |
Gohar | Petrossian | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Alexa | Piacquadio | Indiana University of Pennsylvania |
Justin | Pickett | SUNY-Albany |
Nathan | Pino | Texas State University |
Alex | Piquero | University of Miami & Monash University, ASC Fellow |
Eric | Piza | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Jeremy | Porter | CUNY |
Ráchael | Powers | University of South Florida |
William | Pridemore | University at Albany - SUNY |
David | Pyrooz | University of Colorado Boulder |
Kenneth | Quick | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Jerry | Ratcliffe | Temple University |
Brianna | Remster | Villanova University |
Luc | Robert | Ghent University & NICC, Belgium |
Jennifer | Roberts | Indiana University of Pennsylvania |
Eric | Rodriguez-Whitney | Northeastern University |
Richard | Rosenfeld | University of Missouri-St. Louis, ASC Fellow |
Kim | Rossmo | Texas State University, School of Criminal Justice and Criminology |
Zachary | Rowan | Simon Fraser University |
Vincenzo | Ruggiero | Middlesex University, UK |
Stijn | Ruiter | NSCR |
William | Sabol | Georgia State University |
Matheson | Sanchez | Georgia State University |
Jose | Sanchez | University of Colorado Boulder |
Lacey | Schaefer | Griffith University |
Joseph | Schwartz | College of Criminology and Criminal Justice Florida State University |
Jacqueline | Scott | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
Christine | Scott-Hayward | California State University, Long Beach |
Eric | Sevigny | Georgia State University |
Rita | Shah | Eastern Michigan University |
John | Shjarback | Rowan University |
Tayler | Shreve | American university |
Aiden | Sidebottom | University College London |
Michael | Sierra-Arévalo | University of Texas at Austin |
Ian | Silver | Rowan University |
Lee | Slocum | University of Missouri - St. Louis |
Kelly | Socia | University of Massachusetts Lowell |
Meridith | Spencer | Fisher College |
Jack | Spicer | University of West England |
Wouter | Steenbeek | Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) |
Alex | Stevens | University of Kent |
Danielle | Stoneberg | West Virginia University |
Mercer | Sullivan | Rutgers School of Criminal Justice |
Lucia | Summers | Texas State University |
Raymond | Surette | University of Central Florida |
Victoria | Sytsma | Queen's University |
Jason | Szkola | John Jay College |
Christine | Tartaro | Stockton University |
Angela | Taylor | Fayetteville State University |
Maria | Tcherni-Buzzeo | University of New Haven |
Cody | Telep | Arizona State University |
Amanda | Thomas | John Jay College |
Rob | Tillyer | University of Texas at San Antonio |
Natalie | Todak | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
Volkan | Topalli | Georgia StateUniversity |
David | Topel | Graduate Center- CUNY |
Jillian | Turanovic | Florida State University |
Matthew | Valasik | Louisiana State University |
Jace | Valcore | University of Houston-Downtown |
Christophe | Vandeviver | Ghent University |
Michael S. | Vaughn | Sam Houston State University |
Mateja | Vuk | University of Hertfordshire |
Courtney | Waid-Lindberg | Northern State University |
Sara | Wakefield | Rutgers University |
Jeffery | Walker | University of Alabama, Birmingham |
Xinting | Wang | Sam Houston State University |
Jessica | Warner | Miami University |
David | Weisburd | George Mason University, ASC Fellow |
Ralph | Weisheit | Illinois State University |
William | Wells | Sam Houston State University |
Andrew | Wheeler | HMS |
Rainey | White | Georgia State University |
Margit | Wiesner | University of Houston |
Jason | Williams | Montclair State University |
James | Windle | University College Cork |
Michelle | Wojcik | University of Cincinnati |
Scott | Wolfe | Michigan State University |
Kevin | Wolff | John Jay College |
Mark | Wood | Deakin University |
Richard | Wright | Georgia State University, ASC Fellow |
Amarat | Zaatut | Temple University |
Sheldon | Zhang | University of Massachusetts Lowell |