MOU between faculty editors and library

Publishing Practices
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Hi,

I’m at an academic library where we license OJS for faculty to establish their own journals. We’re currently reviewing our service model and developing a memorandum of understanding to have clear distinctions around what the library expertise support and what the journal editors would be responsible for.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I’d be curious to hear what you put in your MOU and how detailed (or not) it is.

Thanks!

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Hi there, I’m a librarian at SFU and have faced a similar task of developing an MOA between the Library and the journals we host / support. Our MOA is currently undergoing revisions, but it is published on our website and you are welcome to take a look: https://www.lib.sfu.ca/system/files/32407/2022-08-sfu-digitalpublishing-journalhosting-moa.pdf

Here are some others that I’m aware of in Canada:
UOttawa: https://www.uottawa.ca/library/sites/g/files/bhrskd381/files/2022-12/journal_services_agreement_web_version.pdf
University of Toronto: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/pubguide/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/240
University of Alberta: MOU Individual Journal.pdf - Google Drive

I have found that many academic libraries post their MOA / MOU publicly on their websites, so it may be worth doing some searching of institutions that are similar to yours, and perhaps talking to some colleagues there as well to hear how they developed their MOUs.

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Hi Kate,

Thank you so much for this! I hadn’t thought libraries would have made their MOUs public, but this is very helpful.

I appreciate you taking the time to post all the links!

Sonia

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For University of Zurich, we have sample agreements here: https://www.hope.uzh.ch/downloads

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Hello Sonia,
In Geneva, we decided not to have a memorandum of understanding, but rather general terms and conditions (https://www.unige.ch/biblio/en/openaccess/publish-a-journal/gtu/). We think this will be easier to maintain, and avoids the difficulty of asking a journal’s editorial board to set itself up as a legal entity in order to be able to sign a MoU with the University (a request by our legal office).
Best, JB

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