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Publish with Us

Publish with Us

Penn State Libraries Open Publishing offers digital publishing services for faculty, departments, societies, and student groups in the Penn State community. Using various publishing tools and software, including Open Journal Systems (OJS), Drupal, and Biblio, the Libraries host full featured open access publications that offer an attractive online presence, flexible editorial management options, and usage analytics. Our publications are all freely available to view online and download, all copyrights are retained by individual publications (or their parent organization), and all publications are licensed under a Creative Commons license. 

The Open Publishing program seeks to provide high-quality services to support all of our publications, which include the following:

  • OJS setup, training, and support for journal managers
  • ISSN and DOI registration services
  • Guidance on abstracting/indexing/discovery services
  • Analytics and usage statistics
  • Secure preservation: The University Libraries hosts the OJS platform locally on library servers with backup on off-site servers to ensure the availability, security, and longevity of data
  • Promotion and marketing assistance for Imprint publications

The Open Publishing program supports journal publications using three different levels of service:

  • Repository publications are those whose archive of published issues are provided online, fully Open Access, after an agreed upon embargo period. These partner repository journals are provided as a part of the Penn State Libraries Open Publishing Imprint program. 
  • Supported publications are those that are publishing under a probationary period, in which the editor works to obtain an ISSN, utilize DOIs, adhere strictly to their publishing schedule, and strengthen their peer review process and guidelines. 
  • Imprint publications are those that have proven to publish on time within their publication schedule for at least one year, and who uphold their scholarly, peer review guidelines. Imprint journals have also been reviewed and approved for endorsement as a Penn State Libraries Open Publishing publication by the Open Publishing Board. These publications receive the Open Publishing logo and University Libraries shield on their publication and are listed in our catalog of Imprint publications. They are provided with promotion and marketing support and guidance on abstracting/indexing/discovery services.

All of the bibliographies, monographs, and topical web portals we publish are reviewed for scholarly importance and impact before they are approved for publication. The following is the criteria for publishing with us:

  • Author must have a Penn State Affiliation (unless a major interest to PSU community e.g Western PA History)
  • Fully Open Access - licensed under a Creative Commons license 
  • Must fulfill a scholarly purpose with lasting value to scholarship
  • Must go through the applicable peer review processes

​Bibliograph publications also have the following criteria:

  • Must be of a substantial size
  • Must be an annotated/critical work (more than just a list)

To submit a proposal for a new publication or partnership, please complete the Publishing Proposal form below.