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Copyright of Canadian Political Science Review is the property of Canadian Political Science Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Due to the popularity of sport, the need to have sport management programs that properly train practitioners is justified (Pedersen & Thibault, 2014). However, with 505 sport management bachelors programs worldwide ("Degrees in Sports," n.d.) housed in various academic units, there is little consistency within the field of study. This paper strives to explore the field of sport management and to better understand sport management faculty members' perceptions of the discipline. Grounded in Foucault's (1971) theory of discourse, total of 154 sport management faculty members worldwide participated in the study. The data revealed there is a lack of consistency within the field regarding faculty members' perceptions of sport management. This study offers a vital, first step in an empirical examination of a critical phenomenon in the sport management academy.

Background: COVID-19 has a direct impact on the employment of older people. This adds to the challenge of ageism. The World Health Organization has started a worldwide campaign to combat ageism and has called for more research and evidence-based strategies that have the potential to be scaled up. This study specifically aims to identify solutions to combat the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the global ageing workforce. Methods: We present 15 case studies from different countries and report on what those countries are doing or not doing to address the impact of COVID-19 on ageing workers. Results: We provide examples of how COVID-19 influences older people's ability to work and stay healthy, and offer case studies of what governments, organizations or individuals can do to help ensure older people can obtain, maintain and, potentially, expand their current work. Case studies come from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Across the countries, the impact of COVID-19 on older workers is shown as widening inequalities. A particular challenge has arisen because of a large proportion of older people, often with limited education and working in the informal sector within rural areas, e.g. in Nigeria, Thailand and China. Remedies to the particular disadvantage experienced by older workers in the context of COVID are presented. These range from funding support to encouraging business continuity, innovative product and service developments, community action, new business models and localized, national and international actions. The case studies can be seen as frequently fitting within strategies that have been proven to work in reducing ageism within the workplace. They include policy and laws that have increased benefits to workers during lockdowns (most countries); educational activities such as coaching seniorpreneurship (e,g, Australia); intergenerational contact interventions such as younger Thai people who moved back to rural areas and sharing their digital knowledge with older people and where older people reciprocate by teaching the younger people farming knowledge. Conclusion: Global sharing of this knowledge among international, national and local governments and organizations, businesses, policy makers and health and human resources experts will further understanding of the issues that are faced by older workers. This will facilitate the replication or scalability of solutions as called for in the WHO call to combat ageism in 2021. We suggest that policy makers, business owners, researchers and international organisations build on the case studies by investing in evidence-based strategies to create inclusive workplaces. Such action will thus help to challenge ageism, reduce inequity, improve business continuity and add to the quality of life of older workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this study was to survey 2018-2019 Year III students at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in order explore their perceptions of the components of the revised Jurisprudence, Ethics and Business Management course. Methods: This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board. A paper survey was distributed to all enrolled students. Using a five-point Likert scale, students were asked if they perceived the course material was (i) well-presented and (ii) important for them to know as future chiropractors. Students were required to sign a consent form to participate. Results: Survey response rate was 94%. Over 90% of respondents 'strongly agreed/'agreed' lectures, small group session and course assignments were well presented and important for them to know as future chiropractors. Respondents were more critical of the online business modules (on average, 50% 'strongly agreed/agreed'). Conclusions: The information from this survey will enable refinement of future versions of this course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance public understanding of the outcomes of cannabis legalization in Canada and avoid this skewed situation, provincial and territorial governments must become more transparent with their cannabis data. Despite the many potential impacts of the legalization of cannabis in Canada, provincial and territorial governments' poor disclosure of data about their recreational sales hinders researchers' efforts to study the the medical and social effects of legalization. [Extracted from the article]

Mental health researchers and practitioners alike have recognized that there are special considerations and challenges involved in diagnosing and treating mental illnesses in athletes. However, very few clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in Canada specialize in sport, representing a significant gap in mental health care service provision for this population. In this study, a group of expert sport and mental health stakeholders (n = 17) employed a Participatory Action Research approach to design a specialized sport-focused mental health care model integrated within the Canadian Centre for Mental Health in Sport (CCMHS). Stakeholders engaged in focus group discussions to perform an environmental scan of the Canadian sport and mental health care contexts that laid the foundation for a Group Concept Mapping (GCM) exercise. Using the Concepts Systems software, stakeholders individually produced statements that described the elements to include in a sport-specific mental health care model implemented within the CCMHS. A total of 106 unique statements were organized into 6 themed clusters, focusing on: (1) service delivery [40 statements], (2) communications and promotion [20 statements], (3) business, policy, and operations [19 statements], (4) partnerships [9 statements], (5) research [6 statements], and (6) education and training [6 statements]. These findings were operationalized to establish a sport-centered mental health care model and the CCMHS itself - the first Centre of its kind in Canada. GCM is seldom used to conduct sport research, thus the validity and reliability of this methodology was assessed. Lay Summary: In this study, 17 sport and mental health expert stakeholders participated in group concept mapping to design a sport-focused mental health care delivery model. The group produced 106 unique statements that were organized into six strategic priority areas and operationalized to establish the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the Arms Trade Treaty, state parties must assess the extent to which the export of conventional arms might contribute to, inter alia, serious violations of human rights or international humanitarian law. The stated aims of Canada's arms export licensing decision-making process are, similarly, to assess such risks on a case-by-case basis. This paper examines Canada's ongoing arms transfer arrangements with Saudi Arabia in light of health-related international humanitarian and human rights law considerations enumerated in the Arms Trade Treaty. It assesses available information suggesting serious violations that implicate acts of commission by the Saudi-led coalition in the conflict in Yemen. The article centers on questions about the potential health-related consequences of Canadian-made, Saudi-coalitionused arms for people in Yemen and how risks are being assessed in export decision-making processes. Ultimately, it argues that Canada is failing to meaningfully take into account the possible negative impacts of its arms exports on people's health and health care in Yemen. It counters the government's approach to risk, which it argues is serviceable to exporter interests, with a health-based precautionary approach to exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is reported that a large part of the mining activity abroad comes from Canada, a robust regulatory framework for addressing human rights violations committed by Canadian mining companies is lacking in Canada. From Canadian and international law perspectives, this paper addresses the issue of accountability of Canadian companies who commit human rights violations while operating in foreign countries. The paper discusses reports of human rights abuses by Canadian corporations and the jurisdiction of Canadian courts in cases of alleged violations committed abroad. It analyses selected recent decisions from Canadian courts as case-studies and argues that legal reform is needed to ensure accountability of Canadian corporations operating abroad and access to civil law remedies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the practical use of The Audit Risk Model (ARM) in Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) settings. International Auditing Standards (IAS) suggest that auditors of financial statements rely on the ARM to plan audit engagements. Sixty practicing auditors (30 from Canada and 30 from China) performed risk assessments on Audit Risk (AR), Inherent Risk (IR) and Control Risk (CR) in light of identical case materials. Our findings suggest that there is no significant difference between Canadian and Chinese auditors when interpreting similar data to establish their risk assessments. Nevertheless, the information regarding ERP caused the biggest discrepancy both between and within the two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the medical cannabis industry in Canada moved from a single government producer to an open market model in 2014, this paper provides insight into how entrepreneurs from illegal medical cannabis dispensaries, as well as legal licensed producers, protect their position and reputation in this 'emerging' market. On the one hand, MCDs are illegal, niche-filling entities that have historically been 'boxed out' by the legal framework, trying to survive untouched by enforcement and supported by faithful clientele. Licensed producers (LPs), on the other hand, are new legal entities that follow a strict government regulated framework, and are essentially stepping on their illegal predecessor's territory. This project draws on 63 in-depth qualitative interviews, when medical cannabis access transitioned to an open market model. In this context, we see that rather than attempts to construct a credible shared identity for legitimacy, the emphasis is on building a distinct identity narrative in the face of market competition. The emergence of legal cannabis markets and the future of cannabis legalization in Canada presents a fruitful avenue for continuing the study of both the micro and macro processes in emerging markets, organizations, and entrepreneurial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores contract cheating from the perspectives of researchers at three post-secondary institutions in Alberta, Canada, describing their efforts to develop and advance awareness of, interventions against, and responses to contract cheating at their respective institutions. Contract cheating is when a third party produces or completes academic work for a student, and the student then presents the work as their own. The student might have personal connections to the third party, or the student might pay a fee and outsource the academic work to the third party. All three institutions are experiencing an increase in the incidence of contract cheating, which is consistent with trends at colleges and universities across Canada and the world. Contract cheating is not a new phenomenon, but it is a growing one, due in part to students having access to thousands of online companies offering to help them with their academic work. This paper examines personal narratives from four researchers and identifies five key themes: types of contract cheating, students, awareness, evidence and policy implications, and educational development.

BACKGROUND: Many people living with mental illness want paid work, but finding and maintaining mainstream employment remains challenging. In recent decades, social enterprises have emerged as one alternative site for paid employment. Existing research has examined the experiences of people with mental illness working in social enterprises, but less is known about the organizational character of these workplaces. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to develop a better understanding of social enterprises as organizational contexts for workers with mental illness. METHODS: The research employed a qualitative methodology, conducting semi-structured interviews with executive directors and managers at 42 organizations operating 67 social enterprises across Canada RESULTS: While there are strong similarities in organizational mandate to create meaningful employment there are also important variations between social enterprises. These include variations in size, economic activity and organizational structure, as well as differences in hours of work, rates of pay and the nature and extent of workplace accommodation. These variations reflect both immediate organizational contexts as well as broader economic constraints that enterprises confront. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the varied nature of social enterprises is important for thinking about future enterprise development, and the capacity of such organizations to create meaningful employment for people living with mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Sociology is the property of Canadian Journal of Sociology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose Emerging evidence correlates increased physician leadership effectiveness with improved patient and healthcare system outcomes. To maximize this benefit, it is critical to understand current physician leadership needs. The purpose of this study is to understand, through physicians’ self-reporting, their own and others’ most effective and weakest leadership skills in relation to the LEADS leadership capabilities framework.Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed 209 Canadian physician leaders about their perceptions of their own and other physicians’ leadership abilities. Thematic analysis was used, and the results were coded deductively into the five LEADS categories, and new categories emerging from inductive coding were added.Findings The authors found that leaders need more skills in the areas of Engage Others and Lead Self, and an emergent category of Business Skills, which includes financial competency, budgeting, facilitation, etc. Further, Achieve Results, Develop Coalitions and Systems Transformation are skills least reported as needed in both self and others.Originality/value The authors conclude that LEADS, in its current form, has a gap in the competencies prescribed, namely, “Business Skills”. They recommend the development of a more comprehensive LEADS framework that includes such skills as financial literacy/competency, budgeting, facilitation, etc. The authors also found that certain dimensions of LEADS are being overlooked by physicians in terms of importance (Systems Transformation, Achieve Results, Develop Coalitions), and this warrants greater investigation into the reasons why these skills are not as important as the others (Engage Others and Lead Self). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study assessed systematic bias and the effects of data set error on the validity of food environment measures in two municipal and two commercial secondary data sets.Design: Sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV) and concordance were calculated by comparing two municipal and two commercial secondary data sets with ground-truthed data collected within 800 m buffers surrounding twenty-six schools. Logistic regression examined associations of sensitivity and PPV with commercial density and neighbourhood socio-economic deprivation. Kendall's τ estimated correlations between density and proximity of food outlets near schools constructed with secondary data sets v. ground-truthed data.Setting: Vancouver, Canada.Subjects: Food retailers located within 800 m of twenty-six schools RESULTS: All data sets scored relatively poorly across validity measures, although, overall, municipal data sets had higher levels of validity than did commercial data sets. Food outlets were more likely to be missing from municipal health inspections lists and commercial data sets in neighbourhoods with higher commercial density. Still, both proximity and density measures constructed from all secondary data sets were highly correlated (Kendall's τ>0·70) with measures constructed from ground-truthed data.Conclusions: Despite relatively low levels of validity in all secondary data sets examined, food environment measures constructed from secondary data sets remained highly correlated with ground-truthed data. Findings suggest that secondary data sets can be used to measure the food environment, although estimates should be treated with caution in areas with high commercial density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Saskatchewan's introduction in April 2010 of minimum prices graded by alcohol strength led to an average minimum price increase of 9.1% per Canadian standard drink (=13.45 g ethanol). This increase was shown to be associated with reduced consumption and switching to lower alcohol content beverages. Police also informally reported marked reductions in night-time alcohol-related crime.Objectives: This study aims to assess the impacts of changes to Saskatchewan's minimum alcohol-pricing regulations between 2008 and 2012 on selected crime events often related to alcohol use.Methods: Data were obtained from Canada's Uniform Crime Reporting Survey. Auto-regressive integrated moving average time series models were used to test immediate and lagged associations between minimum price increases and rates of night-time and police identified alcohol-related crimes. Controls were included for simultaneous crime rates in the neighbouring province of Alberta, economic variables, linear trend, seasonality and autoregressive and/or moving-average effects.Results: The introduction of increased minimum-alcohol prices was associated with an abrupt decrease in night-time alcohol-related traffic offences for men (-8.0%, P < 0.001), but not women. No significant immediate changes were observed for non-alcohol-related driving offences, disorderly conduct or violence. Significant monthly lagged effects were observed for violent offences (-19.7% at month 4 to -18.2% at month 6), which broadly corresponded to lagged effects in on-premise alcohol sales.Discussion: Increased minimum alcohol prices may contribute to reductions in alcohol-related traffic-related and violent crimes perpetrated by men. Observed lagged effects for violent incidents may be due to a delay in bars passing on increased prices to their customers, perhaps because of inventory stockpiling. [Stockwell T, Zhao J, Sherk A, Callaghan RC, Macdonald S, Gatley J. Assessing the impacts of Saskatchewan's minimum alcohol pricing regulations on alcohol-related crime. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;36:492-501]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study conducted on the judgment of chief executive officers' (CEOs) leadership ability from their facial appearance. Topics discussed include the role of the facial appearance of CEOs in predicting the financial success of their companies; the role of formal training in increasing a person's skills in various tasks; and leadership ability of Master of Business Administration (MBA) students.

Social businesses use market strategies to advance the employment and economic situation of people with mental illness who have experienced high levels of social marginalization. They have the potential to achieve these goals by fostering the work identity of the workers within the business, and to themselves acquire an identity as a viable commercial entity that contributes to the prosperity and social fabric of the local community. This study used in-depth case study methods enhanced by comparisons with international social businesses to understand the processes by which social businesses influence work identity. Six business processes that are salient to the development of a strong work identity were identified. Eight propositions for how work identity can be supported by social businesses are offered. The propositions may be useful as a guide for the development of social businesses that are organized and implemented to positively develop work identity, regardless of the nature of the business model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the initial business success story of the Ottawa, Ontario based service startup bOK Systems Corp. It discusses the challenges faced by the startup which include lack of money for the entire operation, difficulty in raising money, and lack of experience amongst the working team of the startup. It states that the startup is currently funded by a large multinational telecommunications company where one of the author is a full time employee.

Copyright of Canadian Tax Journal / Revue Fiscale Canadienne is the property of Canadian Tax Foundation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Modern society is rife with inequality. People's interpretations of these inequalities, however, vary considerably: Different people can interpret, for example, the existing gender gap in wages as being the result of systemic discrimination, or as being the fair and natural result of genuine differences between men and women. Here, we examine one factor that may help explain differing interpretations of existing social inequalities: perceptions of system stability. System justification theory proposes that people are often motivated to rationalize and justify the systems within which they operate, legitimizing whatever social inequalities are present within them. We draw on theories and evidence of rationalization more broadly to predict that people should be most likely to legitimize inequalities in their systems when they perceive those systems as stable and unchanging. In one study, participants who witnessed stability, rather than change, in the domain of gender equality in business subsequently reported less willingness to support programs designed to redress inequalities in completely unrelated domains. In a second study, exposure to the mere concept of stability, via a standard priming procedure, led participants to spontaneously produce legitimizing, rather than blaming, explanations for existing gender inequality in their country. This effect, however, emerged only among politically liberal participants. These findings contribute to an emerging body of research that aims to identify the conditions that promote, and those which prevent, system-justifying tendencies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores in brief the nature of ice hockey in Canada, its impact on the national identity, and its origins and legacies. The authors also refer to hockey's relation to politics and business and its growing popularity in these fields. By studying the impact of ice hockey in Canada, the authors have discovered that hockey allows researchers to get an insight into the political life in Canada and the nature of Canadian national identity, and that it has also become a profitable business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Validation studies of secondary datasets used to characterize neighborhood food businesses generally evaluate how accurately the database represents the true situation on the ground. Depending on the research objectives, the characterization of the business environment may tolerate some inaccuracies (e.g. minor imprecisions in location or errors in business names). Furthermore, if the number of false negatives (FNs) and false positives (FPs) is balanced within a given area, one could argue that the database still provides a "fair" representation of existing resources in this area. Yet, traditional validation measures do not relax matching criteria, and treat FNs and FPs independently. Through the field validation of food businesses found in a Canadian database, this paper proposes alternative criteria for validity. Methods: Field validation of the 2010 Enhanced Points of Interest (EPOI) database (DMTI Spatial®) was performed in 2011 in 12 census tracts (CTs) in Montreal, Canada. Some 410 food outlets were extracted from the database and 484 were observed in the field. First, traditional measures of sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) accounting for every single mismatch between the field and the database were computed. Second, relaxed measures of sensitivity and PPV that tolerate mismatches in business names or slight imprecisions in location were assessed. A novel measure of representativity that further allows for compensation between FNs and FPs within the same business category and area was proposed. Representativity was computed at CT level as ((TPs +|FPs-FNs|)/(TPs+FNs)), with TPs meaning true positives, and |FPs-FNs| being the absolute value of the difference between the number of FNs and the number of FPs within each outlet category. Results: The EPOI database had a "moderate" capacity to detect an outlet present in the field (sensitivity: 54.5%) or to list only the outlets that actually existed in the field (PPV: 64.4%). Relaxed measures of sensitivity and PPV were respectively 65.5% and 77.3%. The representativity of the EPOI database was 77.7%. Conclusions: The novel measure of representativity might serve as an alternative to traditional validity measures, and could be more appropriate in certain situations, depending on the nature and scale of the research question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the possibilities of an alternative development of Canadian Aboriginal society by analyzing the influence of their traditional values on business operations. In order to identify if and how Aboriginal traditions can be included in their economy, this study conducted interviews with First Nations individual entrepreneurs in Quebec and Ontario. It identifies that traditional Aboriginal values facilitate the formation of social behaviors in business operations. Aboriginal peoples are involved in the mainstream market economy in a distinct and social way. Alternative Aboriginal development, and perhaps even the development of the larger society, is possible through emphasizing various social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it has long been assumed that exchange-rate volatility introduces a level of uncertainty that helps reduce trade flows, this need not be the case for particular country pairs or for specific products. This study examines the case of trade between Canada and Mexico—two members of the highly integrated North American market. Trade flows are examined for a number of specific products using the “bounds testing” cointegration approach over the period from 1973 to 2006. Relatively few industries see a long-run reduction in trade volumes due to volatility. This indicates that multinational producers in these integrated markets might be able to hedge against exchange-rate risk. Since major Mexican exports appear to see the largest reductions, Mexico might have a stronger incentive to reduce the volatility of the peso. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-regulated learning processes have a potential to enhance the motivation of knowledge workers to take part in learning and reflection about learning, and thus contribute to the resolution of an important research challenge in workplace learning. An equally important research challenge for the successful completion of each step of a self-regulatory process is to enable learners to be aware of the characteristics of their organizationally-embedded learning context. In this paper, we describe how a combination of pedagogy and Semantic Web-based technologies can be utilized to address the above two challenges. Specifically, we demonstrate the proposed solution through the Learn-B tool that leverages ontologies to support self-regulation in organizational learning. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

Corporate and commercial values are inducing some healthcare organizations to prescribe a customer service model that reframes the provision of nursing care. In this paper it is argued that such a model is incommensurable with nursing conceived as a moral practice and ultimately places nurses at risk. Based upon understanding from ongoing research on compassion fatigue, it is proposed that compassion fatigue as currently experienced by nurses may not arise predominantly from too great a demand for compassion, but rather from barriers to enacting compassionate care. These barriers are often systemic. The paradigm shift in which healthcare environments are viewed as marketplaces rather than moral communities has the potential to radically affect the evolution of nursing as a discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article challenges assertions made by business magazine editors that the business press plays no role beyond reporting on women's executive advancement—or lack thereof. The study begins with the latest reported statistics on women's leadership roles in corporate Canada and a summary of the most common explanations for these numbers. The second half of the paper goes on to examine the Canadian print media coverage of Annette Verschuren, a woman who defied the executive odds. It argues that although Verschuren is prominently featured in the business press, gendered stereotyping, which has been identified as a major obstacle to women's promotion, is reinforced in that coverage by both the framing of her story and the language and imagery used to describe her and her accomplishments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how the implementation of special attributes of CEO compensation contracts is determined by both the acquisition and the acquirer features for a set of M&A deals undertaken by Canadian acquiring firms. Our findings reveal that when agency problems are higher, manifested by larger control premiums and poor firm performance, boards of directors tend to implement stronger mechanisms of incentive alignment around M&A transactions. Relying on multiple interdisciplinary logics that are activated to explain directors' ability to effectively perform their monitoring function, we show that boards are reactive rather than proactive in dealing with agency problems. Data are further interpreted in light of the unique aspects of the Canadian institutional context. Based on asymmetric risk properties of two different groups of executive compensation modes examined in this study, testing the substitution effects between alternative governance mechanisms is proposed as an interesting avenue for future research. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open access (OA) publication has emerged, with disruptive effects, as a major outlet for scholarly publication. OA publication is usually associated with on-line distribution and provides access to scholarly publications to anyone, anywhere--regardless of their ability to pay subscription fees or their association with an educational institution. The article overviews the growth and impact of OA publication in Canada and elsewhere. The article also presents a case study of the evolution over its first nine years of the "International Review of Research in Open and Distance Education" ("IRRODL"). "IRRODL" has become the most widely read and widely cited journal in the distance education and open learning community, yet it continues to struggle for recognition by some academics, funding, and rating organizations. In this article "IRRODL's" editors document the challenges involved in leading the charge for equal support for open access journals from Canada's research funding organizations and for review and accreditation from commercial and non-commercial review services. In its literature review section the article looks at scholarly works documenting and comparing on-line journals to ones that publish in paper only, or in which access is restricted behind the walls of licensed use. The article also documents issues related to various innovations, including production of articles in both text and audio formats, and the challenges of incorporating more interactive media into a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal. Data is produced demonstrating the ways in which influence and impact for open access journals can be measured, including hit rates and citations reference data from Google Scholar. The article concludes with a description and discussion of the advantages and challenges of using review and publication management tools such as Open Journal System in the production of open access journals. (Contains 3 tables.)