The eScholarship Repository is hosted by the California Digital Library, University of California Office of the President. The repository offers UC departments, centers, and research units direct control over creation and dissemination of the full range of scholarly output, from pre-publication materials through journals and peer-reviewed series. The faculty unit is responsible for the review, selection, and deposit of their content, including editorial support for journals and peer-reviewed series. The CDL is providing the repository infrastructure in response to expressed interest in experimentation with new forms of scholarly communication.

Requirements

An eScholarship Repository journal or peer-reviewed series must be:

• Free and available to any Internet user
• Digital only
• Sponsored by faculty from a UC research unit, center, or department (an individual faculty member cannot join the repository or sponsor a journal without a unit's participation)
• Able to use the currently available technical infrastructure, which supports PDFs along with associated content (images, Excel, etc.)

A journal or peer-reviewed series in the eScholarship Repository offers faculty the following capabilities:

• Automates the peer-review process
• Enables editors, reviewers, and authors to work from any web connection
• Speeds up the review and publication process
• Allows associated content to be published alongside articles, including data, images, etc.
• Uses infrastructure provided by the University at no charge
• Offers an alternative form of scholarly communication

eScholarship Repository policies are enumerated at http://repositories.cdlib.org/escholarship/policies.html. Additionally, for peer-reviewed content in the eScholarship Repository:

• Content may not be removed or changed once deposited in an eScholarship Repository journal or peer-reviewed series
• All journals and peer-reviewed series must have an author review step, which allows authors to verify the final article before posting

The eScholarship Repository accommodates both peer-reviewed series and journals. A key difference between a peer-reviewed series and a journal is:

• Journals are published by issue. Peer-reviewed series papers can be posted at any time and grouped in any kind of arrangement (e.g., a volume, a collection of individual peer-reviewed papers, peer-reviewed papers from a particular conference, etc). A journal assumes there will be a continuing stream of content appearing at at least somewhat regular intervals. Peer-reviewed series are best if your content is a one-time-only publishing event, if more content will be added only one or two more times, or if you're not sure the next time you'll add content.

• Content will be clearly labeled as "peer reviewed," with a link to a description of the peer-review process
• All decisions about what content appears in the series or journal are handled by the faculty unit
• All responsibilities for editorial, peer-review, publicity, indexing, etc. are the responsibility of the unit
• Web pages for peer-reviewed series and journals use a different template from that used for the rest of the repository; thus, repository peer-reviewed content has a different look and feel from repository content that was not peer reviewed
• Provides an alternative to the current publishing paradigm, one that is becoming increasingly recognized by tenure and promotion committees

The technical infrastructure is simple to use, but the editorial and academic demands of a journal or peer-reviewed series are far more complex. The CDL does not provide assistance or services beyond the basic set-up and training currently available to all eScholarship Repository participants. Editorial services, indexing, and all other journal functions are the responsibility of the unit. The FAQ on peer-reviewed content in the eScholarship Repository includes some common questions as well as topics faculty will want to consider when establishing a journal or peer-reviewed series.

Step-by-Step Guide to Establishing Your Journal or Peer-Reviewed Series

1. If you do not already have a repository site, fill out the setup questionnaire for the eScholarship Repository, get the agreement signed according to instructions on "Joining the Repository", and familiarize yourself with the Repository and its policies; you may want to consult the FAQ for journals and peer-reviewed series.
2. Complete the eScholarship Repository Journals and Peer-Reviewed Series Setup Questionnaire.
3. Complete the eScholarship Repository Journals and Peer-Reviewed Series Boilerplate and Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines.
4. Decide how you are going to handle author agreements (sample text is available as a Microsoft Word document).
5. Schedule a training session (even if you have already been trained on the eScholarship Repository, you will need to learn how to use the peer-review tools).
6. Apply for an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) from the Library of Congress using the online information and application. (You must have an ISSN, which you will need to get your journal indexed in abstracting and indexing databases.)
7. Upload articles.

For further information, contact or your campus eScholarship liaison.