E-journal and Open Access Journal Publishing in the Humanities: preliminary Results from a Survey among Byzantine Studies Scholars

Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary results of a survey conducted by the National Documentation Centre/NHRF in the fall of 2010 among specialists in Byzantine Studies. The survey sought to assess needs and satisfaction with the electronic version of the journal ‘Byzantina Symmeikta’ and to assess scholarly attitudes about and practices in publishing in e-journals and open access journals among scholars in Byzantine Studies. The paper focuses on the latter part. Survey result suggest that scholars in Byzantine Studies increasingly rely on e-journals to carry out their research, they are predominantly positively disposed towards electronic publishing and open access, but most of them have not published in an electronic journal. Use of e-journals, experience with publishing in ejournals and open access journals and positive attitudes toward the above are especially high among younger scholars.