Laurentian University refused the transfer of the scientific journal Childhood in difficulty — one of the only two French-language scientific journals it publishes — at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR). Due to a lack of institutional funding, it was one of the last resorts available to editor-in-chief Yvon Gauthier to ensure the survival of his periodical, which could publish the last issue of its history this week.
In 2021, when Laurentian University in Sudbury took shelter from its creditors, Yvon Gauthier found that the budget of approximately $47,000 reserved for it had disappeared. This allowed him to publish at least nine issues of his journal, the only one in French Canada that is interested in the field whose name it bears, he says. If he kept a very slim hope of seeing this amount again in January, Yvon Gauthier now says he is “100% sure” that he will not receive the amount.
Looking for a solution to ensure the survival of his journal over the past few months, Yvon Gauthier turned to UQTR, where a professor, Nadia Rousseau, agreed to direct it. In an interview, the professor maintains that the management of her university was open to hosting the journal. But according to an email seen by The duty, Laurentian’s outgoing vice-rector of studies, Marie Josée Berger, personally informed Yvon Gauthier in May that the establishment refused the transfer. The decision would have been taken “after much deliberation”, writes the vice-rector, without offering further details.
On July 21, as part of its plan of arrangement — a document in which the establishment explains how it plans to resolve its financial problems — Laurentian, however, revealed that Vice-Rector Berger would leave her position. Yvon Gauthier hopes that the person who will replace her on an interim basis will give the green light to the transfer. “Presumably, the interim leaders will probably say they can’t make a decision,” warns the professor, however.
More visibility
Professor Nadia Rousseau has spoken to Yvon Gauthier several times over the past few months, she who is also responsible for the next issue of the journal. She believes she can offer pan-Canadian visibility to the journal if she leads it because of her position as director of the Network for Research and Promotion of Research on Well-Being and Success (REVERBÈRE), which has partners in different provinces. .
“Some members of REVERBÈRE tell us that we could publish in English, but our actors in the field are French-speaking,” explains Nadia Rousseau, from UQTR. “The idea is for the journal to survive thanks to actors from the Canadian Francophonie and not simply from a Quebec perspective,” says the professor. Authors who publish in Childhood in difficulty could turn to the periodical Education and Francophoniebut this one does not have a range as precise as the review of Yvon Gauthier.
Difficult to get funded
Yvon Gauthier is dipping into his savings to publish the issue that will appear this week, having been unable to obtain the approximately $5,000 needed to pay for the layout, linguistic revision and proofreading, among other things. When asked if he was able to continue publishing at Laurentian with the help of external grants, the editor replied that the competition for them is “fierce”.
On the other hand, he judges, no organization will take a positive look at a request for a grant from the University while it is facing significant financial challenges. Finally, the professor confides that his heart is “no longer in the same place” since the University “tore up” the agreement confirming his retirement. The latter, signed in November 2020, three months before the University began its insolvency proceedings, indicated that Yvon Gauthier would have access to the funds granted to him while he was editor.
The interest for Childhood in difficulty didn’t flinch despite the uncertainty. At least a dozen researchers have contacted Yvon Gauthier since January to find out if they could submit articles. ” I refused [les propositions] telling them that the journal for the moment does not publish and that its future is uncertain,” he says.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.
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