Scholarly Communications

Scholarly Communications is the general term for the process of creating, disseminating, evaluating, and preserving research and the product of that research, namely articles, monographs, blogs, and informal channels of communication. The field of Scholarly Communications encourages the development of effective and economically viable access to information through the development of new models for publishing, open access to information, open education resources like collaborative textbooks, and new strategies for negotiating licensing to preserve the rights of authors. It also preserves and asserts the principles of fair use of copyrighted material for educational and research purposes.  

The Association of College and Research Libraries outlined the following Principles of Scholarly Communications:

• the broadest possible access to published research and other scholarly writings
• increased control by scholars and the academy over the system of scholarly publishing
• fair and reasonable prices for scholarly information
• competitive markets for scholarly information
• a diversified publishing industry
• open access to scholarship
• innovations in publishing that reduce distribution costs, speed delivery, and extend access to scholarly research
• quality assurance in publishing through peer review
• fair use of copyrighted information for educational and research purposes
• extension of public domain information
• preservation of scholarly information for long-term future use
• the right to privacy in the use of scholarly information.

Principles and Strategies for the Reform of Scholarly Communication. ACRL Scholarly Communications Committee, 24 June 2003. Web. 22 Aug. 2016.