Appendix E: Call for Proposals
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES FEDERATION OF CANADA
CALL FOR PROPOSALS ON THE CREDIBILITY OF ELECTRONIC PUBLISHINGUniversity Vice-Presidents, Deans and Presidents of Learned Societies are urged to make this information known to faculty and graduate students interested in and knowledgeable about these topics.
Using funds provided by SSHRC, the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada is issuing a Call for Proposals for research studies related to e-publishing by Canadian researchers in the humanities and the social sciences. These studies follow an initial project that resulted in the creation of a Web site linking research sites for the use of researchers, in a survey of the attitudes of social scientists and humanists to electronic publishing and in case studies of electronic journals. The initial project identified credibility as the main concern of academics in relation to the electronic publication of their monographs and articles. Please refer to these reports for the context of the present research.
The project consists of a critical assessment of the North American and European literature followed by recommendations in five different areas that fashion the issue of credibility.
1) Peer review. Peer review is identified as the most important factor to assuage the reluctance of scholars to publish electronically. The contractor will critically review the literature in order to: identify the characteristics of a peer review process conducted for electronic publication; analyze the implications for the process for both reviewers and for authors; and recommend best practices. The contractor should plan to interview publishers, scholars, representatives of the Aid to Scholarly Publication Programme, reviewers, university administrators and authors.
2) Copyright. Who owns the rights to the text on line? The contractor will review the literature and assess the critical issues that affect the process from the point of view of authors and publishers.
3) Text fluidity. E-Publications are texts that undergo continuing changes and adjustments. The contractor will review the consequences of this factor on traditional scholarship and will also review the methods used for dating the changes made to texts.
4) Imprint. Who is the publisher? A critical assessment of the literature in order to identify the importance of imprint to scholars since the Internet enables anyone to self-publish or to publish on a site of their choice.
5) Archiving. The contractor will provide an up-to-date analysis of the literature on the practices employed by organizations to safeguard texts in the present and over time. The contractor will also provide a list of identifiable steps (technological and cultural) still needed to secure content. Cooperation with the University of New Brunswick may save time.
Proposals will not exceed five pages and will include a description of the project, a shortlist of important sources, the methodological approach that will be taken and the experience of the applicant. The Federation will pay up to $10,000 for the study. The proposals can be filed electronically, mailed or faxed by April 15, 2000. Submitted projects will be peer-reviewed and the winner announced at the end of April 2000. The completed project is due on August 31, 2000.
For more information, applicants should get in touch with Dr. Louise Robert at the Federation. E-mail: robert@hssfc.ca; Tel. (613)238-6112, ext. 302; Fax: (613) 238-6114. Mailing address: HSSFC, #415 - 151 Slater, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5H3.