Giving Community Psychology Away: A case for open access publishing

Abstract

Author Biographies: Crystal N. Steltenpohl, is an assistant professor of psychology and founder of the Online Technologies Lab at the University of Southern Indiana. As a scholar, gamer, and participant in online worlds, her major research interests revolve around how we interact with various technologies, especially those that house online communities. She is particularly interested in understanding how technologies influence communities, the self, and health behaviors. Amy J. Anderson, is a doctoral candidate in community psychology at DePaul University. Her research focuses on positive youth development and educational equity. Specifically, she is interested in the roles of identity and supportive adult relationships on youth educational experiences. In addition, she is interested in public policy solutions to increase educational access. Katherine M. Daniels, is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Southern Indiana. Her major research interests include animal cognition and student learning. She and Dr. Steltenpohl head an effort to create an open source video game that teaches high school and undergraduate students about research methods. AbstractAmidst increased pressure for transparency in science, researchers and community members are calling for open access to study stimuli and measures, data, and results. These arguments coincidentally align with calls within community psychology to find innovative ways to support communities and increase the prominence of our field. This paper aims to (1) define the current context for community psychologists in open access publishing, (2) illustrate the alignment between open access publishing and community psychology principles, and (3) demonstrate how to engage in open access publishing using community psychology values. Currently, there are several facilitators (e.g. an increasing number of open access journals, the proliferation of blogs, and social media) and barriers (e.g. Article Processing Charges (APCs), predatory journals) to publishing in open access venues. Openly sharing our research findings aligns with our values of (1) citizen participation, (2) social justice, and (3) collaboration and community strengths. Community psychologists desiring to engage in open access publishing can ask journals to waive APCs, publish pre-prints, use blogs and social media to share results, and push for systemic change in a publishing system that disenfranchises researchers, students, and community members."I can imagine nothing we could do that would be more relevant to human welfare [...] than to discover how best to give psychology away." -George A. Miller (1969)

A systematic review of psychodynamic theories in community psychology: Discovering the unconscious in community work

“…For instance, it could depend on the applied and practical emphasis of community psychology, traditionally less focused on academic and research interests (Jenkins, 2016), making community practitioners less prone to disseminate their experiences through scientific publications. Whereas in alignment with values of citizen participation, social justice, and collaboration, community psychologists might refuse to publish in journals that impose prohibitive fees and do not adequately support open science and research sharing (Steltenpohl, Anderson, & Daniels, 2019).…”

“…Whereas in alignment with values of citizen participation, social justice, and collaboration, community psychologists might refuse to publish in journals that impose prohibitive fees and do not adequately support open science and research sharing (Steltenpohl, Anderson, & Daniels, 2019).…”

The role of cyberbullying victimization in the relationship between adult BTS fans' psychological sense of community and wellbeing

“…Some community psychologists have advocated for the public sharing of methods and data to: encourage citizen participation, promote social justice, and foster collaboration and community strengths (Steltenpohl et al, 2019). There have also been calls for anti‐bullying researchers to embrace more “open science” practices in recent years (e.g., Noret et al, 2021).…”

“…Some community psychologists have advocated for the public sharing of methods and data to: encourage citizen participation, promote social justice, and foster collaboration and community strengths (Steltenpohl et al, 2019).…”

Introducing a Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training (FORRT)

“…To mitigate the detrimental effects on the access to, learning about, and production of scientific content, it is paramount to create conditions for knowledge to become a public goodaccessible to all members of society (Steltenpohl, Anderson, & Daniels, 2019). One way to achieve this goal is to integrate the teaching and mentoring of subject matters with open and reproducible research practices.…”