Michael Bemben
February 1, 2022
Michael Bemben received his doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Exercise Physiology and is currently a David Ross Boyd Professor and C.B. Hudson Presidential Professor at the University of Oklahoma and Chair in the Department of Health and Exercise Science on the Norman Campus. Dr. Bemben also holds adjunct appointments at the Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City and is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, the Gerontological Society of America, the Research Consortium, and the National Academy of Kinesiology.
His general research emphasis encompasses the broad area of aging. Some of Dr. Bemben’s research projects have included the effects of different supplementation programs on enhancing muscular strength and muscle mass following training in older individuals, different training interventions for improving balance and postural stability in older women and in patients with Multiple Sclerosis, assessing changes in total and regional body composition with normal aging and following exercise interventions, age related changes in hormonal responses to resistance training, and the effects of blood flow restriction during exercise. Outcomes from his research has helped develop safe, enjoyable resistance training programs that can improve strength and muscle mass so that elderly men and women are able to retain or regain normal daily activities and maintain independence in the community.
He is the author of the openly published article Acute and Chronic Effects of Whole-Body Vibration on Balance, Postural Stability, and Mobility in Women With Multiple Sclerosis. Search for and discover additional open resources by Dr. Bemben at SHAREOK.
Why do you choose to publish open access?
Open access can apply to a campus repository, like SHAREOK, as well as journals that can range from a hybrid model with some freely accessible articles, to Gold OA, where all the materials are freely available. With this in mind, there are many reasons why I choose to publish open access. First, and perhaps most importantly, is the OA allows for the dissemination of research and scholarly activity to the widest possible audiences in a free and timely manner while still allowing me to maintain the copyright for my work. It also means that access to my research is made available to smaller institutions and scholars in other countries that might not be able to afford subscriptions to more traditional journals.
Publishing in OA also helps to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion since it allows historically marginalized and under-represented groups to publish and have their works read by colleagues regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with an academic institution.
Additionally, OA publications result in higher citation rates compared to articles that are behind a journal paywall and there is almost a 90% higher number of article downloads for OA articles.
Why do you think open access is important to the OU community?
Yes, I think OA is important to the OU community, especially by utilizing SHAREOK and then exploring other OA publishing outlets. OA can provide much quicker turnaround times to publication and access to research that might be time sensitive (like some COVID findings). The quicker turnaround times are also better for annual faculty evaluations since articles spend less time as “accepted”, which can be up to 18 months or longer before moving to “in press” before eventually showing up as “published” or “in print”. There is also monetary support from OU Libraries to help with article processing charges, if there are any. However, if the OU community is going to benefit from OA policies and opportunities, then additional monetary support will be needed from the Provost’s Office and the VPRP Office.
Would you encourage others to publish open access? If so, why?
I would strongly recommend exploring OA options when publishing, however, individuals must be vigilant for predatory OA journals, an issue that the OU Libraries can help with. The reason I would encourage colleagues to publish in OA are basically the same reasons that I outlined in the first question.
Do you feel like you received the support you needed from OU Libraries when you published?
OU Libraries have been incredibly supportive and very knowledgeable about publishing OA. They are able to help determine the integrity of potential OA journals (non-predatory), help with article processing costs, and they are willing to help upload previously published materials to SHAREOK.