Université de Sherbrooke
AC-11: Open Access to Research

The institutional repository is called Savoirs UdeS [EN: Université de Sherbrooke Knowledges], which is an open access web platform provided by the Libraries and Archives Services that gathers, preserves, and disseminates the intellectual production of the Université de Sherbrooke, without financial or legal barriers. In addition, to facilitate the process, students and researchers alike can benefit from a support framework providing services that will handle the deposit of their publications.

Support to students and researchers for open access publishing takes several forms. A team of four technicians and two librarians from the Libraries and Archives Services is directly affiliated with Savoirs UdeS repository. This team provides technical support for the deposit on the open access web platform or for open access publishing more broadly. In each faculty (or division), there are administrators of the Savoirs UdeS repository who are responsible for answering some of the students' inquiries. For open access publishing by researchers, subject or discipline librarians, supported by a team of technicians, are responsible for the following: receiving documents, carrying out compliance verification, filling in licenses, and completing a final validation with researchers.

Subject or discipline librarians answer researchers' questions about online open access repositories, including Savoirs UdeS repository, but also about other web platforms that might better meet their specific needs, such as arXiv.org. In addition, the librarians assist researchers in identifying open access journals in which to publish or to assess the quality of certain open access journals in order to avoid predatory and poor-quality journals. For highly technical questions, the Savoirs UdeS repository team is there to provide answers and solutions.

The authors retain control and full copyright privileges, and the end user agrees to properly acknowledge and cite the source when making use of the materials made available on Savoirs UdeS platform. Lastly, and in order to promote visibility, the content of Savoirs UdeS is harvested or retrievable from other open access resources such as Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Google Scholar, and WorldCat.

https://savoirs.usherbrooke.ca/?locale-attribute=en
https://libguides.biblio.usherbrooke.ca/savoirs/accueil

The Université de Sherbrooke strongly encourages open access publishing since open access to research results offers several benefits, among them:

• Accelerating the advancement of research through greater sharing of results
• Reducing duplication of work
• Democratizing access to knowledge
• Ensuring transparency in the investment of public funds
• Developing a critical analysis of the population
• Enabling greater use of knowledge

It is within this context that the University Executive Committee has adopted guidelines to provide a framework and allow all researchers to publish the results of their work in open access. One, adopted in 2005, is aimed at students and describes the modalities of the digital repository of theses, dissertations, and essays (Directive 2600-025), and the other, adopted in 2016, is aimed at all members of the university community who wish to make their research accessible, and sets out the guidelines for the digital repository of all research publications (Directive 2600-060).

Notwithstanding the University's above undertaking to allow all researchers to publish in open access, it abides by Canada’s guidelines originating from the "Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications" (i.e., Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ("the Agencies")) and those of Québec which are detailed in the “Open access policy for the dissemination of research” from the Québec Research Funds- Health (QRFH). Indeed, the Canadian and Québec granting agencies (i.e., CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC, and QRFH) adopted these policies as to promote the principle of knowledge sharing and mobilization. It is pursuant to these policies, and according to specific requirements, that all articles resulting from such sponsored research must be freely accessible on the publisher's website or in an online repository within twelve months of publication.

Despite the fact that this policy aims to improve access to the results of Agency-funded research, it has to be mentioned that the policy also states that “All researchers, regardless of funding support, are encouraged to adhere to this policy.” It also adds (under FAQ) that “The Agencies encourage all researchers and trainees to adopt the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications as a best practice and to increase the dissemination of research findings.” In that respect, the policy would apply to all researchers, not only those who are funded by the Agencies.

University’s Adopted Guidelines:
• 2600-025 - Directive relative au dépôt des productions de fin d'études [EN: Guideline for the submission of final products]
https://www.usherbrooke.ca/biblio/fileadmin/sites/biblio/documents/pdf/2600-025_7juin2016.pdf
• 2600-060 - Directive relative au dépôt institutionnel Savoirs UdeS [EN: Directive on the institutional repository Savoirs UdeS]
https://www.usherbrooke.ca/biblio/fileadmin/sites/biblio/documents/pdf/2600-060_7juin2016.pdf

Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications and the FRQ Policy:
• https://www.science.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_F6765465.html
• https://frq.gouv.qc.ca/en/open-science/open-access-policy/

Departmental support funds are made available to each professor annually and can be used to cover the costs of open access publishing.

Also, as a member of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), the Université de Sherbrooke offers its members discounts on article processing charges (APC) for journals with certain publishers. Initiatives in which the Libraries and Archives Service participates also make it possible to make certain periodicals open access and to eliminate the cost of processing articles.

Les Éditions de l’Université de Sherbrooke (ÉDUS) [EN: Université de Sherbrooke Publishing] provide open access journal hosting services through which peer-reviewed open access journals are hosted on local servers with dedicated staff who provide publishing support.

The mission of the ÉDUS is to provide digital scientific publishing services in digital format to the university community (professors, students). ÉDUS focuses on two main collections: conference proceedings and scientific journals. The content produced through the ÉDUS is published in open access in Savoirs UdeS.

Under the responsibility of the Service d'appui à la recherche, à l'innovation et à la création (SARIC) [EN: Research, Innovation, and Creation Support Service], a full-time professional is dedicated to the ÉDUS management, which includes providing the necessary support to researchers.

https://www.usherbrooke.ca/saric/valorisation-rayonnement/publier-resultats/edus