Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/WikiJournal 2023
Thomas Shafee:
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Applicant details
[edit]Wikimedia username(s):
- User:Mikael Häggström
Thomas Shafee: User:Evolution and evolvability
Organization:
- WikiJournal
G. Have you received grants from the Wikimedia Foundation before?
- Applied previously and did receive a grant
H. Have you received grants from any non-wiki organization before?
- No
H.1 Which organization(s) did you receive grants from?
- N/A
M. Do you have a fiscal sponsor?
- No
M1. Fiscal organization name.
- N/A
Additional information
[edit]R. Where will this proposal be implemented?
- United States of America
S. Please indicate whether your work will be focused on one country (local), more than one or several countries in your region (regional) or has a cross-regional (global) scope:
- International
S1. If you have answered regional or international, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.
T. If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has. (optional)
- www.wikij.org
M. Do you have a fiscal sponsor?
- No
M1. Fiscal organization name.
- N/A
Proposal
[edit]1. What is the overall vision of your organization and how does this proposal contribute to this? How does this proposal connect to past work and learning?
"The mission of the WikiJournals is to publish scholarly works with no cost for the authors, apply quality checks on submissions by expert academic peer review, and make accepted works available online free of charge in perpetuity."
Open access journals are integral in the dissemination of peer reviewed scholarly articles to the public, as traditionally scholarly articles are at a high fee to either readers or authors. WikiJournal is a unique platform which allows the bridging of peer reviewed scholarly information, high user traffic, transparent article processing, and community involvement.
2. What is the change that you are trying to bring about and why is this important?
With a vision of expanding the reach of quality, open-access and peer-reviewed scholarly articles, WikiJournals requires an increased efficiency in the processing and handling of submitted work to develop a reputable standing within the academic field. As the journals expand, and the volume of time-consuming tasks therefore increase, the limited volunteer time begins to curtail growth and outreach as research is unable to be processed in a consistent and timely manner – factors imperative for building WikiJournals’ merit among its users.
Organisational refinements To continue improving the reputation and work outputs of the WikiJournals, a seamless and timely contributor experience is paramount. To encourage the submission of original research a clear and efficient pathway from initial submission to publication is essential, providing researchers with confidence that their work will be processed in a timely manner.
Movement Strategy With a global vision of improving access to the academic publishing space, WikiJournals can continue to carve the path by acting as a template for initiatives such as our metadata records on Wikidata.
Objectives
- Smooth processing and technical handling
- Updated automation and technology
- Exemplar Wikidata records and monitoring
- Program metrics and targets
- Technical tasks able to be fully performed by technical editor(s)
- Recruitment of CEO, Administrative assistant, Project Coordinators
- Training (production of materials, and ability for existing tech editor(s) to train new)
3. Describe your main approaches or strategies to achieve these changes and why you think they will be effective.
In 2023 we are planning to continue to utilize many of the strategies we have employed in previously years. In 2022 we have seen a decrease in the timing for article post acceptance processing, as well as a number of backlogged tasks that have been completed. Many of these successes we can attributed to the hiring of technical editor who have increased the overall productivity of WikiJournal. As such, in 2023 we plan to continue with many of the previous implemented strategies as we have had many past successes.
In 2023 we plan to expand WikiJournal through the addition of 2 additional roles: a CEO and an administrative assistant. We have already seen that additional contractors within an area that has been a “bottleneck” for article processing has proven highly effective. Through the creation of these 2 additional roles we aim to target our visibility and engagement goals whilst distributing tasks across a larger force to decrease stress on individual volunteers.
The WikiJournal User Group needs to be highly visible outside of the Wikimedia community, since a key aim is to build bridges with international expert communities, which also has the goal of attracting scholars to participate in Wikimedia projects overall. It additionally needs to both learn from and share with the Wikimedia community, given its unique capabilities and perspectives. The CEO position will be specially suited for increasing visibility. Additionally, we are planning to increase the breadth of tasks available the technical editors, including networking tasks to promote WikiJournal. We have already seen success with this model, with 2 of our technical editors currently undergoing discussions for expansion with university colleges in the UK, notably to provide peer reviewers for article submissions.
For organizational strategy, continuously reaching additional potential participants is particularly important, as we rely on a large proportion of first time (and often single-time) Wikimedia contribution from people in author and peer reviewer roles. Our discussions with universities is expected to result in new ideas for how to reach a broad range of academics, both those who are familiar and those who are not familiar with Wikimedia.
For movement strategy, this forwards our shared goals in raising engagement amongst expert contributor communities, which are highly valuable to engage and bringing into the movement. Therefore, a major objective will be awareness both within and outside the Wikimedia movement of group's activities. WikiJournal offers a unique pathway for scholars to engage in Wikimedia projects, especially scholars from low-income countries and communities, since it allows for reading and publishing without cost, whereas other journals generally pay for either or both access and publication.
4. What are the activities you will be developing and delivering as part of these approaches or strategies?
With the increase in technical editors to deal with repetitive tasks, the editorial boards will be able to focus on dealing with new article submissions, including peer review. It will also allow members to spend more time in outreach, to attract new board members, authors and peer reviewers. Since WikiJournal is highly integrated with Wikimedia projects, such recruitment will bring more people to learn wiki editing and the contribution of knowledge, especially from academic people.
The CEO position will also be instrumental in the smooth running of the Journal. As currently all of the board members are volunteers, usually with full time jobs, the time able to be dedicated WikiJournal is highly variable. By creating the role of a CEO many of the tasks will be able to be done in a more timely manner, taking a “load” off of board members which will allow them to focus on the article submission and peer reviewing. Additionally the CEO position will allow for a point of communication to target for outreach, which is expected to increase participation, such as the amount of article submissions as well as increasing the number of potential peer reviewers.
The addition of the administrative assistant will also be instrumental in the day to day running of the Journal. Currently much of the strain is placed on our Human resources volunteer, however the required amount of administrative work is significantly larger than our volunteer is able to complete on her own. The administrative assistant will also be able to help the new CEO with tasks to help with the running of WikiJournal.
5. Do you want to apply for multi-year funding?
No
5.1 If yes, provide a brief overview of Year 2 and Year 3 of the proposed plan and how this relates to the current proposal and your strategic plan?
- N/A
6. Please include a timeline (operational calendar) for your proposal.
- An expansion of technical editor activity is planned to gradually be implemented over the course of the year of 2023.
Taking account for setting up the administrative framework, recruitment, interviewing and appointment, a CEO and an administrative assistant may be active by mid-2023.
7. Do you have the team that is needed to implement this proposal?
Please see overview of participants at
In summary there are approximately 100 main participants (accounting for the people who participate in multiple boards):
- Editorial board members and associate editors of WikiJournal of Medicine - volunteer - 23
- Editorial board members and associate editors of WikiJournal of Science - volunteer - 40
- Editorial board members and associate editors of WikiJournal of Humanities – volunteer - 27
- Technical editors – Contractors - 13
- Administrative board members – Volunteer - 9
Additional roles we are planning to add in 2023 CEO – paid Administrative assistant – paid Projector coordinators – contractors
8. Please state if your proposal aims to work to bridge any of the identified CONTENT knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select up to THREE that most apply to your work.
Geography, Socioeconomic Status, Important Topics (topics considered to be of impact or important in the specific context)
8.1 In a few sentences, explain how your work is specifically addressing this content gap (or Knowledge inequity) to ensure a greater representation of knowledge.
WikiJournal allows scholars from low-income countries and communities to read and publish academic works for free, since it does not have any costs for reading and publishing without cost, whereas other journals generally pay for either or both access and publication. It is open for participation as editorial board member, author or peer reviewer regardless of country of origin. The integration of content into Wikimedia projects where appropriate is expected to result in increased participation and diversity across multiple WIkimedia projects.
9. Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or THEMATIC focus. Select up to THREE that most apply to your work and explain the rationale for identifying these themes.
Education, Open Technology, Diversity
10. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Please note, we had previously asked about inclusion and diversity in terms of CONTENTS, in this question we are asking about the diversity of PARTICIPANTS. Select up to THREE that most apply to your work.
Geographic , Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background, Socioeconomic status
11. What are your strategies for engaging participants, particularly those that currently are non-Wikimedia?
WikiJournal has a strong interest in having editorial boards that represents geographic areas equally. High-income and low-income countries can contribute more equally to the sum of all human knowledge. WikiJournal has an official Ethics statement aiming to avoid any negative effect on the ability to publish based on for example "nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender or other characteristics of the authors" (https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/WikiJournal_User_Group/Ethics_statement).
12. In what ways are you actively seeking to contribute towards creating a safer, supportive, more equitable environment for participants and promoting the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy, and/or equivalent local policies and processes?
WikiJournal has an interest in being open for everyone to participate, regardless of nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender or other characteristics of the authors, which is also reflected in the Ethics statement of the project (https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/WikiJournal_of_Medicine/Ethics_statement). WikiJournal hopes to broaden its editorial boards and authorship by contributors from diverse backgrounds.
13. Do you have plans to work with Wikimedia communities, groups, or affiliates in your country, or in other countries, to implement this proposal?
Yes
13.1 If yes, please tell us about these connections online and offline and how you have let Wikimedia communities know about this proposal.
Financial updates are shared with the community through the public email list: wikijournal-en@lists.wikimedia.org
Important matters are also brought up at: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Talk:WikiJournal_User_Group
The project also arranges regular combined meetings (notes here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12zNLAyqzHUajBTW29NE2hs2mNbgY9CVnh386UWodI-k/edit)
Routine outreach to potential peer reviewers and authors is performed by editorial board members or other volunteers ("peer review coordinators"), by email invitations.
14. Will you be working with other external, non-Wikimedian partners to implement this proposal?
Yes
14.1 Please describe these partnerships and what motivates the potential partner to be part of the proposal and how they add value to your work.
There is currently undergoing discussions for expansion with university colleges in the UK, notably to provide peer reviewers for article submissions.
15. How do you hope to sustain or expand the work carried out in this proposal after the grant?
WikiJournal has established Bylaws (as example, see https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/WikiJournal_of_Medicine/Bylaws), Ethics statement (https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/WikiJournal_of_Medicine/Ethics_statement), and a steady participation in editorial boards. The hiring of technical editors gives more time for editorial board members and other volunteers to invite authors and peer reviewers, as well as inviting additional board members.
Also, during 2023, WikiJournal is planning on expanding the administrative infrastructure with a Chief Executive Officer and an administrative assistant. The infrastructure (including Bylaws modifications, responsibilities and guidelines) and subsequent election of a paid Chief Executive Officer will be approved by voting in the WikiJournal community. The Chief Executive Officer will report to the administrative board of WikiJournal.
The project is expected to have a large potential to grow, to fill its niche of allowing authors to write their articles directly online, following by academic peer review, and the ability to utilize for example images across Wikimedia Foundation projects.
16. What kind of risks do you anticipate and how would you mitigate these. This can include factors such as external/contextual issues that may affect implementation, as well as internal issues, such as governance/leadership changes.
- The Bylaws and Ethics statement account for most potential conflicts that may arise in the management of the project.
Coverage for even unexpected risks are included in the budget application.
17. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select a maximum of three options that most apply.
Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement, Provide for Safety and Inclusion, Innovate in Free Knowledge
18. Please state if your organization or group has a Strategic Plan that can help us further understand your proposal. You can also upload it here.
Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation
[edit]19. What do you hope to learn from your work in this fund proposal?
The project is constantly learning from the challenges, including article submissions of emerging sciences.
The project is expecting to use lessons learned when hiring technical editors for the purpose of establishing the organizational infrastructure for hiring a CEO.
20. Based on these learning questions, what is the information or data you need to collect to answer these questions? Please register this information (as metric description) in the following space provided.
| Main Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Board members | # of board members across all journals of the project. | 80 |
| Authors | Editors who submit articles to journals of the project | 40 |
| Peer reviewers | Number of people who review articles. Each article submission requires at least two invited external peer reviewers. | 80 |
| Associate editors | Associate editors across all journals. | 30 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Here are some additional metrics that you can use if they are relevant to your work. Please note that this is just an optional list, mostly of quantitative metrics. They may complement the qualitative metrics you have defined in the previous boxes.
| Additional Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of editors that continue to participate/retained after activities | N/A | N/A |
| Number of organizers that continue to participate/retained after activities | N/A | N/A |
| Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability | N/A | N/A |
| Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors | N/A | N/A |
| Diversity of participants brought in by grantees | N/A | N/A |
| Number of people reached through social media publications | N/A | N/A |
| Number of activities developed | N/A | N/A |
| Number of volunteer hours | N/A | N/A |
21. Additional core quantitative metrics. These core metrics will not tell the whole story about your work, but they are important for measuring some Movement-wide changes. Please try to include these core metrics if they are relevant to your work. If they are not, please use the space provided to explain why they are not relevant or why you can not capture this data. Your explanation will help us review our core metrics and make sure we are using the best ones for the movement as a whole.
| Core metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | READERS
Readers of WikiJournal content is complicated to estimate, especially as content is integrated into Wikimedia projects where appropriate. A notable example is an article of reference ranges for several hormones (https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/WikiJournal_of_Medicine/Reference_ranges_for_estradiol,_progesterone,_luteinizing_hormone_and_follicle-stimulating_hormone_during_the_menstrual_cycle), whose diagrams have been integrated into multiple Wikipedia articles, together amounting to a readership of over 250,000 per month. |
N/A |
| Number of editors | Sum of editorial board members and associate editors. | 110 |
| Number of organizers | This roughly corresponds to the number of members of the Administrative board, and will extend to a CEO and administrative assistant when hired. | 18 |
| Wikimedia Project | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Wikiversity | The contribution to Wikiversity equals the number of article submissions, as WikiJournal is currently hosted in Wikiversity. | 40 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
21.1 If for some reason your proposal will not measure these core metrics please provide an explanation.
N/A
22. What tools would you use to measure each metric selected?
WikiData can directly measure multiple metrics as specified above. WikiData can also:
- Wikidata store all WikiJournal article-level metadata, such as article authors and their affiliations
Wikidata can also sufficiently complete autogenerated dashboard/reports on:
- Countries of editors, authors and reviewers
- Article processing times and stages (for each journal and for each editor)
- Content themes
Financial Proposal
[edit]23. & 23.1 What is the amount you are requesting from WMF? Please provide this amount in your local currency. If you are thinking about a multi-year fund, please provide the amount for the first year.
- 311653 USD
23.2 What is this amount in US Currency (to the best of your knowledge)?
- 311653 USD
23.3 Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it.
23.4 Please include any additional observations or comments you would like to include about your budget.
- N/A
Please use this optional space to upload any documents that you feel are important for further understanding your proposal.
- Other public document(s):
Final Message
[edit]By submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.
We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
- Yes
Feedback
[edit]- Please add any feedback to the grant discussion page only. Any feedback added here will be removed.