Advances and Updates on Open-Access Publishing by the IJOM

Abstract

An online, open-access, no-fee model of the International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy (IJOM) was established in December 2020 and includes all archived articles back to the journal’s origin in 1975. While aiming to increase content for the journal, the Editorial Review Board (ERB) has also been diligent about maintaining high standards for publication. This note From the Editor highlights recent publications, conference proceedings, and special issues. It also lists updates and challenges in terms of policies and practices. The IJOM remains both a traditional association-supported journal and is on the cutting edge of open-access publishing.

The International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy (IJOM) is sponsored by the International Association of Orofacial Myology (IAOM), a nonprofit, clinically grounded scientific association, and is managed by scientifically-trained content-matter experts. This is a publication model that has strong historical roots but has largely been driven out of practice by for-profit publishers [see Buranyi (2017) for a fascinating history]. Partly to combat publishers’ high subscription costs and strong restrictions for accessing content, a movement towards “open access” publishing arose in the early 2000s. The IJOM proudly joined this movement in December 2020, following a “gold” open-access model (i.e., all content is openly available with no option for subscriptions or paywalls). Its entire archive of articles is free and available to anyone who wishes to download the journal’s articles from the past 47 years. We could not do this, of course, without the support of the IAOM and the volunteer service of the entire Editorial Review Board (ERB). As always, we appreciate your support, either by submitting your work, reviewing for the journal, or making donations to the IAOM.

Most open-access journals charge the authors a substantial fee (called an Article Processing Charge, APC), usually in the range of $2,000-$3,000 USD, once their article has been accepted for publication. This is prohibitively expensive for most authors unless (or even if) their research is grant funded or their employment organization covers the fee. So far, the IJOM has not leveraged an APC for publication, as we strive to make publishing accessible to the clinicians and scientists generating the research as well as to the readers who benefit from it.

The journal’s online presence is continuing to grow: its website had over 11,400 metadata page hits and nearly 40,000 downloads from 166 countries comprising 2,100 separate institutions in 2022 (Figure 1). As I look back over the past year, I am gratified by the progress the journal is making but also clear-eyed as to its continued needs. In this year’s note From the Editor, I will highlight several of the journal’s accomplishments and challenges.

Highlighted Research Articles

This year’s research publications have brought new and innovative high-quality science to the attention of our readers. They also showcase the international contributions to the journal and the technological advantages to online publishing.

• Erin Kamarunas and colleagues from the United States used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology to explore for evidence of cortical plasticity from their previously published randomized controlled trial on mental versus physical practice for lingual resistance exercises in older adults (Szynkiewicz et al., 2021). The results suggest that combining mental practice with physical practice may enhance neural plasticity compared to either approach alone. Although preliminary, these results appear to have practical implications for providers of orofacial myofunctional therapy and dysphagia management.
• Rosalba Courtney and colleagues from Australia published a description of their online program on “Functional Nasal Breathing Rehabilitation” (FNBR), along with preliminary data. The paper includes several self-report questionnaires and outcomes data for 23 participants, which are quite encouraging and informative. The FNBR’s online format makes it a feasible and convenient approach for reducing mouth breathing and symptoms of nasal obstruction, even during a global pandemic!
• Flávia Rebelo Puccini and colleagues from Brazil published a Research Note that outlines the process by which the “Virtual Baby,” a 3D model of infant sucking and swallowing, was developed. This innovative format includes a brief demonstrational video, which can be viewed on the journal’s website and downloaded for personal use. The journal’s Creative Common license allows any reader to use, post or reprint content from the journal as long as the content is not modified and is appropriately attributed to the source (e.g., cited with DOI or linked).

Please visit the IJOM’s homepage or go directly to the 2022 issue to download and peruse these interesting papers (Including citations for individual papers from the IJOM in the References section is discouraged because it may be viewed as a manipulative practice to positively increase a journal’s impact factor (Kiesslich et al., 2016)).

Conference Proceedings

In 2021, the journal introduced the publication of Proceedings of the 50th Annual IAOM Convention. We are continuing with this new tradition by publishing the Proceedings of the 2022 IAOM Convention. In addition, we have partnered with the International Consortium of Ankylofrenula Professionals (ICAP) to publish their Proceedings of the 2022 ICAP Conference. Including this information in the IJOM makes these programs, including presenters, titles, abstracts and many with expanded summaries, permanently available for historical records and open-access for any interested persons to review. They may even help readers decide which conventions to attend in the future. The entire proceedings may be cited as indicated on the website, or individual presentations may be cited as published abstracts (Recommended APA-style format for citing an abstract from each of the Proceedings; replace the text shown in green font as appropriate: Last, First M. (2022, Oct). Title here (abstract). In Proceedings of the 2022 IAOM Convention (p. x). International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy, 48(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.52010/ijom.2022.48.1.5]; Last, First M. (2022, Sep). Title here (abstract). In Proceedings of the 2022 ICAP Convention (p. x). International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy, 48(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.52010/ijom.2022.48.1.6]); note that they are not peer- reviewed beyond the separate conference peer-review process for presentation acceptance by each organization.

Special Issues

Outreach efforts to recruit authors and topics to the journal have resulted in the establishment of two Special Issues. We are delighted to be collaborating with Dr. Carlos O’Connor Reina from Marbella, Spain, an otolaryngologist and sleep specialist well known for his development of a smartphone app designed to facilitate oral exercises for the management of obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. O’Connor Reina is Guest Editor of a Special Issue entitled “Current Practices in Orofacial/Oropharyngeal Myofunctional therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea.” A second Special Issue has two Guest Editors: Dr. Sharon Smart and Dr. Ray Tseng, two of the coordinators from 2022 ICAP Convention. Dr. Smart is a speech pathologist and lecturer in the Curtin School of Allied Health in Perth, Western Australia, and Dr. Tseng is a pediatric dentist in private practice in Cary, North Carolina, and adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They are a perfect team for managing manuscripts on the topic “Contemporary Approaches to Collaborative Management of Ankylofrenula.” We are thrilled to be championing these Special Issues to increase awareness and disseminate evidence on the role of orofacial myofunctional therapy in the management of obstructive sleep apnea and ankylofrenula.

Practice and Policy Updates and Challenges

The rules for establishing credibility as a legitimate online scientific journal have changed drastically in recent years and require recognition by groups that review journals for ethics, integrity, lack of bias, and originality. The IJOM has made progress in these directions by registering with a Creative-Commons license (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 license CC BY-NC-ND), assigning unique persistent identifiers to each article (DOIs, registered with Crossref), subjecting all articles to Similarity Check (to detect plagiarism), and securing the long-term survival of our digital content by contracting with CLOCKSS (Controlled-Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe). We have developed and instituted ethical publishing policies congruent with standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and have applied for official COPE recognition. Copyright ownership has been changed so that authors now retain copyright of their published work.

The journal has updated its style and submission guidelines to meet criteria for common indexing services. The IJOM is working towards meeting the full criteria for these services, but this depends on outside factors that may be beyond our control. For example, there must be a minimum number of research articles published annually (usually 5–10) to qualify for indexing, and the majority of these (usually 80%) must be authored by people who are not members of the journal’s ERB. Our ERB includes international experts who regularly publish on topics related to orofacial myology and myofunctional therapy. For example, two of the three research articles highlighted in this Editor’s Note include members of the journal’s ERB. We must now turn our efforts to recruiting authors who are not affiliated with the journal’s review process.

Although scientific publishing has largely shifted from an association-sponsored subscription-based endeavor to a for-profit commercially based system, we are pleased that the IJOM has remained free for content contributors and has evolved to allow free and open access for all readers. Its long history has helped it ride the wave of changes in scientific publishing. Our vision for the IJOM is to continue to expand its scope and discoverability while maintaining scientific integrity and open access.