The Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) is consulting its members regarding access to the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation (CJPE).

The CJPE aims to promote the theory and practice of program evaluation in Canada. The journal has been in circulation since 1986 and currently publishes three issues per year.

In the past, electronic access to the CJPE was restricted to CES members. Non-members could pay a fee in order to access specific articles. However, in 2011, the CES decided to provide the CJPE as an open access journal. This means that anyone (CES members and non-members) can access the journal online, at no cost.

Since the initial distribution of the journal, CES members have also received hard copies of the journal. However, as of September 1, 2014 members only have access to an online issue of the CJPE. Members wishing to continue receiving hard copies of the journal are required to pay a $50 annual fee.

The CES Board of Directors has put forward the idea of once again restricting access to the online CJPE, for the main purpose of increasing benefits to members. The CES is currently considering several options regarding access to the CJPE in order to best serve CES members as well as the evaluation discipline.

The following provides arguments to further inform the open versus restricted access debate specific to CJPE:

Open access

• Providing individuals outside of CES membership with access to the journal means that the CJPE will have the ability to reach more individuals, including those outside of Canada;
• Unrestricted access to the journal has the potential to promote growth of the CJPE as well as the discipline of evaluation;
• Open access provides greater opportunity for knowledge exchange among the discipline;
• It is important for the CJPE to maintain, as well as increase, the number of article submissions to the journal. Potential authors may see more value in submitting articles to an open access journal due to increased exposure and potentially increased citations;
• Currently, 45% of the costs associated with the CJPE are funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Aid to Scholarly Journals program. SSHRC is a strong supporter of open access, although it is not currently a requirement to obtain funding.

Restricted access

• Members-only access to the journal would increase benefits to membership;
• Many researchers and academics would continue to have access to the CJPE through institutional subscriptions;
• Restricted access is necessary for the maintenance of the library membership category. Library memberships are estimated to produce 1.7% of revenues to the CES in the next year which is equivalent to approximately 20% of the cost of producing the CJPE;
• Restricted access embodies the very high value ascribed to the intellectual property found in the Journal;
• Most journals associated with evaluation societies around the world currently restrict access to their journal.

An invitation to complete the survey will be sent to members by email.