Pitt Open Library Publishing (POLP) is the University Library System’s open access publishing program. Because we're committed to helping scholarly communities share knowledge with as few barriers as possible, POLP’s portfolio is entirely diamond open access, meaning there is no fee to read or publish in any of our publications.
History
The ULS’s e-journal publishing program was founded in 2010 as a broadly focused, globally oriented, open access intervention into the scholarly communication space. In 2021, we launched the Pitt Open Library Publishing imprint with the goal of better communicating our identity as a distinctive open access journal publishing program.
Our Publications
We currently publish over thirty peer-reviewed journals with students and faculty from the Pitt community as well as scholars from around the world. Our portfolio encompasses an array of disciplines and ranges from preeminent society publications to law reviews and student-run undergraduate journals.
Our Services
POLP’s service offerings balance cost consciousness with core publisher functions. Services provided to all journals that we publish include:
- Journal setup and hosting on OJS (Open Journal Systems)
- Training and support in OJS software, plugins, and workflows
- Initial website design and article template consultation
- Library of Congress journal ISSN registration
- Assignment of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for journal articles
- Journal publication support
- Pre-publication metadata quality checks
- Advice on publishing standards, best practices, and ethics
- Assistance in gaining recognition as a scholarly journal (i.e., discoverability in Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), EBSCO Discovery Service, and other major search indexes)
- Basic statistics (OJS editorial statistics, Google Analytics)
- Journal archiving and digital preservation of journal content via LOCKSS and PKP Preservation Network
Our Policies
- Editorial Content
- Peer Review
- Advertising
- Research Ethics
- Informed Consent
- Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
- Author Copyright Agreement
Publishing with Us
Over the last fifteen years, we have built a diverse portfolio of journals. However, we are pivoting the focus of our program toward student journals and those that have a strong University of Pittsburgh or regional connection. For more information about publishing with us, please get in touch.
All POLP journals must:
- Ensure quality through a rigorous, documented peer-review process
- Support open access to scholarly research by publishing at no cost to the author or the reader
- Be supported by an editorial board
- Possess the staff resources needed to ensure timely publication
- Solicit new original scholarly research through an open call for papers
- Practice selectivity regarding published content
Get in Touch
Contact information for journals’ editorial teams can be found on their individual websites. All articles published by Pitt Open Library Publishing are published under Creative Commons licenses; for details about individual articles’ license terms, including reproduction, please consult the relevant journal’s policies.
General inquiries may be directed to e-journals@mail.pitt.edu.
