How open publishing tools are changing research representation: An account of early open journal system users

Abstract

In this response to Willinsky's chapter on representing research, I describe a small sample of early users of the open source software system the Open Journal System (OJS) who deployed the system to publish digital open access academic journals. Based on the responses and experiences of these users, I argue that participation in the open access movement by using online publishing tools which enable a 'do-it-yourself' ethic, allows for the creation and dissemination of new knowledge, the use of new epistemologies and alternative methodologies. All of these new knowledge spaces that have been created via OJS users work to fill in the gaps in the pre-existing traditional academic knowledge network and connect the processes of research and representation.