Kyoto University Library Network - Voice of Publishers: Benefit of Publishing Journals on KURENAI

Voice of Publishers: Benefit of Publishing Journals on KURENAI

KURENAI publishes the journals issued by the organizations of Kyoto University and the academic society based on Kyoto University.
We asked the faculty members who in charge of publishing journals the benefit for the journals open access via KURENAI (in no particular order).

Reason for making journal(s) open access on KURENAI
Benefit of publishing journal(s) on KURENAI

Prof. Shusaku Kanazawa (Graduate School of Letters): THE SHIRIN and Fenestra new!: 1. Reason for making journals open access on KURENAI
Since THE SHIRIN was first issued in 1916, it is one of representative journals on history in Japan, maintained by faculty members of the departments of history, geography, and archaeology in the Graduate School of Letters. As one of the executive directors involved in the publication on KURENAI, I would like to write the following. For a decade, I have been considering a system that makes the journal available online as well as the printed one, to maintain the impact of journal in the digital era. There were several candidates, but we decided on KURENAI, which promotes the dissemination of the research outputs produced at our university and would digitize the journal without any burden on us. This is why we made the decision to make it open access on KURENAI.
The Fenestra is an online journal launched in 2018 by the Department of European History. We aimed to publish essays that describe the current state of European History, and to disseminate broader communities, not just researchers. Since we already had experience with THE SHIRIN, we were able to fully understand the advantages of KURENAI when we asked them to take on the project.

2. Benefit of publishing the journals on KURENAI
Many young graduate students publish their articles on Fenestra. For this new generation, online format is convenient for disseminating their publications on social media. Besides, because they can see the number of downloads, it also gives them an opportunity to learn about their unexpected impacts. I believe that it gives them motivation.
In THE SHIRIN, the issues up to a few years ago can become freely read, such that people who usually don't have access to libraries or universities can easily obtain high-quality articles. I believe that is extremely significant in terms of raising the awareness of THE SHIRIN in the future. Especially, THE SHIRIN, vol. 103 issue 1 was a special issue that collected essays on "illness." Since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred after publication, we immediately made this issue available online as a special case. Looking at the number of downloads, it seems that quite a lot of people have become interested in the journal (subscription members receive a paper copy, so they probably won't download it). It's thanks to KURENAI that I was able to unexpectedly make a kind of academic contribution to society.
Prof. Takeshi Sasaki (Graduate School of Law): Acta Romanistica Kiotoensia new!: 1. Reason for making the journal open access on KURENAI
Since we already understood the benefit of KURENAI, which makes the Acta Academiae Antiquitatis Kiotoensis open access, we decided to utilize the methodology with the cooperation of the publisher. Besides, the biggest advantage of publishing as an online journal is that the publishing costs are essentially free.

2. Benefit of publishing the journal on KURENAI
The counter function is a valuable reference as it allowed me to see the number of downloads, which is tallied for each article. It is not able to acquire from a printed version.
Dr. Bjorn-Ole Kamm (Graduate School of Letters): Japanese Journal of Analog Role-Playing Game Studies new!: 1. Reason for making the journal open access on KURENAI

Not only can I assign DOIs to articles in the new online-only Open Access journal, for which I am an editor, with relative ease, but the journal is now permanently accessible on KURENAI. The background to the journal is the Joint Degree Master of Arts Program in Transcultural Studies at Kyoto University and Heidelberg University, which was established in 2017, and I thought that I could link Kyoto University with the transcultural studies program not only in education but also in research.

2. Benefit of publishing the journal on KURENAI

Functions such as the Article Linker make it easy to access, and the articles are now easily found not only on the journal's website but also through Google search, which has increased the visibility of the journal. Besides, I can easily view the number of downloads and understand the reach of my research.
Prof. Motohiro Kojima (Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies): MURAKAMI REVIEW new!: 1. Reason for making the journal open access on KURENAI

When we launched the MURAKAMI REVIEW, the journal on research of Haruki Murakami, three years ago, we were determined to publish it as an online journal rather than a printed one.
We believe that KURENAI is extremely useful in compensating for the weakness of online journal, which is their weakness of preservation.

2. Benefit of publishing the journal on KURENAI

It has become accessible from all over the world. As a result, I have seen the mentions to articles published in this journal several times.
An anonymous faculty member (Humanities) new!: 1. Reason for making the journal open access on KURENAI

By broadly disseminating the educational and research outputs of my belonging both inside and outside the university, I believe that the repository promotes academic interactions and further improvement of the quality of my education and research.

2. Benefit of publishing the journal on KURENAI

It has become possible to effectively and easily disseminate reports on educational research practices and results both inside and outside the university.
An anonymous faculty member (Humanities) new!: 1. Reason for making the journal open access on KURENAI

A journal in a similar discipline within the graduate school is open access via the repository.

2. Benefit of publishing the journal on KURENAI

I don't feel anything special about it myself, but I believe that it's become widely read by students.

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