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Category: scholarly communication

On “In Oldenburgś Long Shadow: Librarians, Research Scientists, Publishers, and the Control of Scientific Publishing,” by Jean-Claude Guedon

On “In Oldenburgś Long Shadow: Librarians, Research Scientists, Publishers, and the Control of Scientific Publishing,” by Jean-Claude Guedon

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In In Oldenburgś Long Shadow: Librarians, Research Scientists, Publishers, and the Control of Scientific Publishing, Jean-Claude Guédon assesses the state of academic publishing as of 2001, including library activities and commercial publisher strategies. This early contribution to the open scholarship / scholarly communication conversation was originally presented in a talk to the Association of Research Libraries. Guédon argues that libraries need to take a more prominent role in the dissemination elements of scholarly communication by actively supporting and being involved…

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On “Changing the Culture in Scholarly Communications,” by Alice Meadows

On “Changing the Culture in Scholarly Communications,” by Alice Meadows

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In this Scholarly Kitchen post, Alice Meadows suggests that we need to change the culture in the field of scholarly communication, especially around gender diversity. She points out that many working in the field are drawing attention to the lack of women working in more established positions. Meadows also suggests that there are other cultural elements of scholarly communication that should change as well, including around open scholarship, impact factors, tenure and promotion, and funding. Finally, as a disclosed FORCE…

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On “Final Report, Canadian Scholarly Publishing Working Group”

On “Final Report, Canadian Scholarly Publishing Working Group”

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The Final Report of the Canadian Scholarly Publishing Working Group outlines the current challenges to the Canadian academic publishing system, as well as suggests principles to guide a successful, sustainable system moving forward. These principles include accountability (to the academy), supporting openness and high-quality publishing practices, well-informed authors, dynamic Canadian publishing opportunities, building on strength, and flexibility and adaptability. The report applauds initiatives like the collaboration between Érudit and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network to bring more open access journals…

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On “Imagining a University Press System to Support Scholarship in the Digital Age,” by Clifford Lynch

On “Imagining a University Press System to Support Scholarship in the Digital Age,” by Clifford Lynch

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In this brief article, Clifford Lynch proposes a vision for the future of scholarly communication. He envisions a world where all universities have a university press of their own, not least at all for reasons of publishing their faculty’s more esoteric work. Lynch is adamant that a coordinated system across university presses would be beneficial, as it would streamline processes and be more economically viable than a collection of boutique institutions with idiosyncratic needs. Lynch also makes some proposals for…

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On “Creating an Intellectual Commons through Open Access,” by Peter Suber

On “Creating an Intellectual Commons through Open Access,” by Peter Suber

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Peter Suber is a well-known open access advocate as well as the Director of the Harvard Office for Scholarly Communication in the Harvard Library. In “Creating an Intellectual Commons through Open Access” Suber takes a measured approach at detailing the OA landscape, and of likening it to a commons. Suber details the difference between royalty-free and royalty-producing content, and suggests some options for convincing those who make royalties off of their academic work to consider switching to an open access…

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On Collaboration in Scholarly Communication: Opportunities to Normalize Open Access,” by Allyson Rodriguez

On Collaboration in Scholarly Communication: Opportunities to Normalize Open Access,” by Allyson Rodriguez

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Librarians play a key role in the scholarly communication cycle. In “Collaboration in Scholarly Communication: Opportunities to Normalize Open Access,” Allyson Rodriguez details how librarians can promote an open access agenda and educate faculty members about scholarly communication practices and pragmatics. Rodriguez suggests that there are three main areas where librarians can promote open access: through outreach and education, highlighting and celebrating, and acquisitions. As Rodriguez writes, “Open access must become a ‘normal’ part of the academic lifestyle,” and in…

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On “Sustaining Scholarly Infrastructures through Collective Action: The Lessons that Olson Can Teach Us,” by Cameron Neylon

On “Sustaining Scholarly Infrastructures through Collective Action: The Lessons that Olson Can Teach Us,” by Cameron Neylon

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In “Sustaining Scholarly Infrastructures through Collective Action: The Lessons that Olson Can Teach Us,” Cameron Neylon meditates on how best to enable sustainability for largescale scholarly communication infrastructure. Neylon’s goal is to explore “how we can sustain shared platform systems that support scholarly communities through the collection, storage, and transmission of shared resources” (n.p.), and he provides a number of examples of scholarly infrastructures their funding models. Based on political economy literature and by comparing these initiatives, Neylon comes to…

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On “Open Access Publishing and Scholarly Communication in Non-Scientific Disciplines,” by Martin Paul Eve

On “Open Access Publishing and Scholarly Communication in Non-Scientific Disciplines,” by Martin Paul Eve

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In “Open Access Publishing and Scholarly Communication in Non-Scientific Disciplines,” Martin Paul Eve considers why the humanities and social sciences have lagged behind the STEM disciplines in the widespread acceptance and implementation of open access. He argues that there are social and economic reasons for this gap in uptake. Eve provides the context for shifts in scholarly communication—namely the emergence of the “publish or perish” paradigm and the unsustainable serial subscription model—and suggests that it is a backdrop for both…

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On “The Impact Platform,” by Jefferson Pooley

On “The Impact Platform,” by Jefferson Pooley

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In “The Impact Plaform,” Jefferson Pooley weighs the pros and cons of the recent development of websites like The Conversation, which showcases scholarly pieces written for a non-specialist audience. Pooley argues that “The impact platform is flawed and problematic, but also a real gain for open scholarship” (n.p.). This sort of publication venue is “flawed and problematic” for Pooley because it encourages the data-driven reliance on quantitative metrics to judge the value of academic work. Many feel as though this…

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On “Scholarly Communications Shouldn’t Just Be Open, but Non-Profit Too,” by Jefferson Pooley

On “Scholarly Communications Shouldn’t Just Be Open, but Non-Profit Too,” by Jefferson Pooley

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Jefferson Pooley argues in “Scholarly Communications Shouldn’t Just Be Open, but Non-Profit Too” that we are at a crossroads when it comes to scholarly communication. There are now two factions working to develop an open science system: for-profit commercial companies and conglomerates, and non-profit presses, journals, and universities. Pooley outlines the major players on both sides, as well as their stakes in scholarly communication. He comes down, decidedly, on the side of non-profit open access publishing. “A publishing ecosystem centred…

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