Expanding our collection
Over the past year, 22 new journals were added to the collections distributed on the platform. 16 of these journals are open access.
It is worth noting that 16 of these new journals use PKP’s Open Journal Systems (OJS), an open-source software suite, to produce their online publications. Their dissemination on the erudit.org platform is enabled by a data link developed through our Coalition Publica partnership. In addition to these journals, there were 6 backlist digitization projects, including the dissemination of all issues of the journal Surfaces, which was one of the first digital scholarly journals (1991-2001).
The digitization of these archives and the implementation of a technological bridge between OJS and our platform have allowed us to expand our collection. In fact, it has led to a 30% increase in the number of journals distributed on erudit.org since 2017.
Digital dissemination
The impact of the health crisis on journal consultations
When the world went into lockdown, we began tracking usage data to see whether the crisis would affect journal consultations on the erudit.org platform. What we found is that consultation patterns were no longer aligned with university calendars, which are generally set to specific times of day, days of the week and course sessions. Instead, consultations reflected the general public’s schedule, peaking on weekends.
In addition, during the first few weeks of the pandemic, we noted a substantial increase in views of articles addressing crisis-related topics. Here were some of the most popular articles.
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+ 12,559%
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+ 5,271%
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+ 1,205%
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+ 929%
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+ 221%
We used consultation data from 2019 to calculate the increase in views.
Initial results of the Wikipedia partnership
Érudit is involved in the Wikipedia Library project, which provides the online encyclopedia’s regular editors with free access to subscription journals. This collaboration helps give visibility to Canadian research in the humanities and social sciences, while improving the quality of Wikipedia entries and strengthening their scholarly validity.
We’re proud to contribute to this important initiative and pleased to note that it is having the desired result. In 2019/2020, a record number of references to journals disseminated on erudit.org were included in Wikipedia articles in French and English, resulting in an 18% year-over-year increase. Some 698 new citations from journals disseminated on erudit.org were recorded on Wikipedia between July 1, 2019 (first data availability date) and March 31, 2020, bringing the total to 3,283.
Wikipedia is available in more than 280 languages and offers more than 30 million articles. The online reference receives nearly 500 million visitors every month, making Wikipedia the fifth most popular site in the world. Owing its success to independent governance and funding models, the use of credible and verifiable sources, and a rigorous collaborative review process, Wikipedia is an essential tool for ensuring public access to knowledge and information in an age where media platforms are inundated with fake news.
Collecto agreement renewal
Érudit has renewed its agreement with Collecto Services, through which 175,000 CEGEP students have access to Canada’s largest collection of social science and humanities journals. Given the broad range of content found through search engines and the transformation of the media landscape, it is increasingly difficult to find reliable information on the internet, especially for young students. Supported by 53 college libraries, the partnership between Érudit and Collecto guarantees access to a high-quality database of more than 200 scholarly and cultural journals.
-> Read the press release
Communication
Satisfaction survey
We conducted a survey of erudit.org users to get a sense of their satisfaction and learn more about their search habits (November 12 to December 9, 2019; 1,139 respondents).
After compiling and analyzing the results, we came up with the following key findings:
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71% of users consider the collections on Érudit to be essential or absolutely essential for their research activities
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80% of users say they are satisfied or completely satisfied with the platform’s features
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54% of users consult erudit.org at least once a week, with 21% accessing the platform at least once a day
User search topics are heterogeneous:
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between 3 and 10% of users being interested in the same discipline
The most represented disciplines:
- Education 11.5%
- Sociology 11.2%
- History 9.6%
- Language studies 6.6%
Most of our users are:
- University students 43%
- Instructor-researchers 25%
- College students 6,8%
- Retirees 7%
« Improving the search engine » was by far the most asked-for enhancement.
The survey results will allow us to update our tools to meet user needs.
New “About Us” website
Our About Us Website describes our mission and the services we provide to users, including journal editors, librarians, students, researchers and curious members of the public. Created in Wordpress, the site was redesigned to improve its indexing, promote content discovery and reflect Érudit’s new visual branding. The new site will go live in the Winter of 2021.
Distinctions and awards
Several authors who contributed to journals on the erudit.org platform won awards last year:
Prix de l’Association Internationale des études françaises, 2019
Louis Laliberté-Bouchard (McGill University) was awarded the 2019 Prix de l’Association Internationale des Études françaises for his article “Le Testament de Philippe Fortin de La Hoguette entre témoignage sur soi-même et témoignage de l’esprit”, which was published in Études françaises (https://doi.org/10.7202/1055651ar). This award is presented to young researchers publishing their first article on French literature or language.
2020 Hilda Neatby Prize, Canadian Historical Association
Marilou Tanguay (Université du Québec à Montréal) received the 2020 Hilda Neatby Prize from the Canadian Historical Association for her article “La page féminine du Devoir, un « espace public alternatif » ? Une étude de cas des mécanismes d’exclusion et de contrôle du « féminin » et du « féminisme » dans le quotidien (1965-1975).” The article, which was published in Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française and disseminated on Érudit (https://doi.org/10.7202/1065044ar), demonstrates the complexity of a women’s newspaper page in a specific era and the ways in which women used the space to express their views on important social issues.
2019 Jean-Cléo Godin Award, Canadian Association for Theatre Research
Jean-Paul Quéinnec (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi) was presented the 2019 Jean-Cléo Godin Award for his article “De l’informe à la dramaturgie sonore au théâtre: le devenir ouvertement déclassé et enjoué d’une scène sans bord” (L’Annuaire théâtral, No. 62, Fall 2017, p. 95-116. (https://doi.org/10.7202/1052751ar). This award is presented by the Canadian Association for Theatre Research to the best French-language scholarly article about theatre. Quéinnec’s article helps break down the boundaries between theory and artistic practice in the field of research-creation, while presenting new theoretical and epistemological perspectives.
2019 Prix Leon-Dion
Audrey Gagnon (Department of Political Science, Concordia University) received the 2019 Prix Leon-Dion for her article “La construction des attitudes envers les Roms : le cas français” (https://doi.org/10.7202/1043572ar). The article sheds light on the mechanisms through which attitudes toward the Roma are constructed and analyzes how attitudes are shaped in two largely similar environments with diverging local integration policies towards the Roma. The Prix Léon-Dion is awarded every two years to the author of the best article published in Politique et Sociétés.
2019 Jean-Paul Brodeur Award
Esther Danais-Raymond and Dominique Robert (University of Ottawa) received the 2019 Jean-Paul Brodeur Award for their article “Faire entendre sa plainte. Le savoir-faire mobilisé dans la composition des rapports disciplinaires en prison.” This award recognizes the best student contribution published in the last two years in Criminologie (https://doi.org/10.7202/1051236ar).
2019 Prix Denis-Szabo
Presented on a bi-annual basis, the Prix Denis-Szabo is awarded to authors whose articles make a noteworthy contribution to the field criminology and provide quality critical insights. This year it was awarded to Gaëtan Cliquennois (Université de Nantes) for his article “La jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme” (https://doi.org/10.7202/1054236ar).
Presentations
2019
April |
Telford, UK |
UKSG 2019 |
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Montreal, Canada |
Round table discussion “Publier ou ne pas exister” |
May |
Cambridge, UK |
JATS-Con 2019 |
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Cleveland, USA |
PyCon US |
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Vancouver, Canada |
PKP Sprint 2019 |
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Vancouver, Canada |
CARL Advancing Open |
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Vancouver, Canada |
Library Publishing Forum |
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Vancouver, Canada |
Canadian Association of Learned Journals, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences |
June |
Marseille, France |
International Conference on Electronic Publishing (ElPub) |
September |
Copenhagen, Denmark |
OASPA Conference on Open Access Scholarly Publishing |
October |
Montreal, Canada |
Congrès des professionnel.les de l’information |
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Montreal, Canada |
Presentation for the periodical editing course, Université de Sherbrooke |
November |
Barcelona, Spain |
PKP Conference |
2020
February |
Baltimore, USA |
NISO Plus Conference 2020 |
March |
Online |
Coalition Publica, Webinar with CARL |