Scholarly Communication

Jill Cofield, Sheila Craft-Morgan, and Kristen Totleben

The C&RL News Scholarly Communication Column

A Two-Year Retrospective and Call for 2025 Submissions

Jill Cofield is visiting assistant professor in the University at Albany Department of Information Sciences and Technology and College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, email: jcofield@albany.edu. Sheila Craft-Morgan is research impact librarian at The Ohio State University Libraries, email: craft-morgan.1@osu.edu. Kristen Totleben is open publishing librarian at the University of Rochester, email: ktotleben@library.rochester.edu.

© 2025 Jill Cofield, Sheila Craft-Morgan, and Kristen Totleben

Dear Readers:

Happy 2025! The beginning of the new year marks a time of reflection and renewal for many of us. In this month’s scholarly communications column, we reflect on the significant contributions of librarians and information professionals in the scholarly communications space and on the outstanding work underway in the field by looking back on the topics discussed in this column over the last two years.

Similar to the trends identified by the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee,1 authors have written about the strategic leadership they have provided in the field to respond to the open research movement. They have shared lessons learned from their experiences with open access, open science, and open data; expanded collaborations; and adapting to new tools and technologies. Our colleagues have highlighted significant developments and trends impacting scholarly communications and have provided us with insights into practice in the future.

Open Access and Open Research

Several columns in the last two years featured discussions of the new requirements, opportunities, and challenges for open access and open research.

Caitlin Carter, Kimberly Cox-York, and Lorraine Haricombe discussed the important role of the Higher Education Leadership Initiative for Open Scholarship (HELIOS) and its member institutions in responding to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s memorandum on Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research—known as the Nelson Memorandum.2 The authors shared examples of how two HELIOS member institutions worked to raise awareness about the benefits of open scholarship, promote new programs and resources, and expand institutional structures.

Ana Peršić and Tiffany Straza discussed the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science as a mechanism for advancing open science globally. According to the authors, “with the adoption of the Recommendation, 193 countries have committed to promoting an enabling policy environment, investing in infrastructure for open science and capacity-building, as well as to aligning incentives and promoting innovation and cooperation to foster open science.”3

Ally Laird shared Penn State University’s experiences participating in the Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) Initiative.4 TOME was launched by the Association of American Universities, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Association of University Presses as a five-year pilot with colleges and universities and university presses. As a result of the success of TOME and the Penn State University Libraries’ commitment to open access publishing, the program was continued beyond the pilot, re-branded as “Open Access Monograph Funding.”

In “If Not a Transformative Agreement, Then What? Nine Questions and Answers about an Alternative,” A.J. Boston challenged readers to rethink assumptions about the tools in place to make the scholarly record accessible and equitable.5 Boston discussed the “Read & Let Read” (R&LR) proposal as a framework for reflecting on current practices and forging a path forward for making scholarly output open and accessible.

Elizabeth Bedford, Chloe Dufour, Corinne Guimont, Rachel Howard, and Shane Nackerud discussed the outcomes of their leadership on the Preservation Task Force, which was charged by the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) in 2021 to examine “the preservation activities and challenges of library publishers, and recommend actions for LPC to strengthen practice.”6 They shared findings and calls to action for the LPC and library publishers to advance the future of long-term preservation for open access publications.

Andrea Hacker contributed to an international perspective on open access in Switzerland by discussing the National Open Access Strategy and sharing highlights of work underway by higher education institutions and academic libraries to make all taxpayer-funded research publications available in open access in 2024.7

The Role of Repositories for providing Infrastructure for Dissemination of Research and Scholarship

Two articles discussed the importance of repositories to an open research infrastructure.

Meg Wacha, Michael Kirby, jean amaral, Elizabeth Jardine, Meagan Lacy, and Catherine Lyons discussed how while community colleges in the United States educate nearly one-third of undergraduate students, most do not maintain institutional repositories. The authors argued that it is “imperative that the faculty and students at community colleges are recognized as contributors to the scholarly communications landscape and empowered to disseminate their works, via repositories, to the larger knowledge ecosystem.”8

Tina Baich shared her experience serving as visiting program officer leading the work of the partnership of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) to launch a repository network in the United States.9 Baich discussed how the U.S. Repository Network (USRN) is working to support research repositories and has become recognized as fundamental to the nation’s research infrastructure.

Tracking, Capturing, and Curating the Scholarly Output of Faculty Members

Amanda Y. Makula discussed how the University of San Diego Copley Library partnered with the Office of the Provost and the Office of Sponsored Programs to “identify, organize, and celebrate the intellectual output of the university”10 by hosting a re-envisioned Research and Scholarship Recognition Reception in 2023. The reception featured faculty scholarship, showcased by comprehensive bibliographies, displays of faculty-authored books, and posters of the first page of scholarly or research articles.

Library Publishing

Brandon Locke shared lessons learned from the Library Publishing Workflows project, a collaboration between Educopia Institute, the LPC, and 12 partner libraries.11 From 2019 to 2022, project leaders investigated and modeled journal publishing workflows used by library publishers and worked to foster greater conversation about workflows in the library publishing community—all in an effort to fill gaps in workflow documentation and knowledge exchange.

The Importance of Cross-Campus Collaboration to Research Data Management

Kelsey Badger, Anna Biszaha, and Stephanie Schulte shared experiences from a collaboration between The Ohio State University Libraries, Health Sciences Library, and key research-support departments to advance data management and sharing practices.12 Cross-campus collaboration has led to formalized commitments positioned to sustain change in the long-term. Lessons learned through this partnership are applicable to any large collaboration in an institution.

New Technologies

Danny Kingsley’s column on the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the research process was one of the readers’ most highly reviewed columns.13 Kingsley discussed the “complicated” world of AI and shared predictions for how AI will be influential in the future. He reflected on the benefits of AI for coding survey responses, assisting with literature reviews, formatting bibliographies, and more. Kingsley also advised that users exercise caution using generative AI as it continues to develop.

The Future of Collections Assessment

Taylor Ralph discussed opportunities and challenges for libraries and their collections following adaptations made in response to fiscal constraints stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.14 Ralph shared the importance of careful planning and offered three recommendations for collections assessment: (1) ensure the health and relevancy of e-resource collections as user needs evolve, (2) ensure necessary data is available to make informed decisions about collections budgets, and (3) practice care for library staff.

Protecting Library Rights into the Future

Finally, Katherine Klosek emphasizes the importance of protecting libraries’ rights in the access and preservation space into the future.15 She discussed how private contracts, licensing agreements, and negotiations with vendors are challenging the special rights granted to libraries by Congress through limitations and exceptions in the US Copyright Act. The article summarizes recent bills introduced in states and includes recommendations for the US Congress to protect library rights into the future.

Invitation to Contribute

As we embark on 2025, we invite you contribute to this conversation by sharing your experiences, research, or perspectives on a wide range of scholarly communications topics such as the following:

• AI and other technologies and tools
• responsible use of metrics, including alternative metrics
• diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and accessibility in scholarly communications
• multimedia content and scholarly communications
• new publishing models
• digital content accessibility and preservation
• the role of social media in scholarly communications

Consider submitting a proposal or topic to the column editors at crlnscholcomm@gmail.com. For details on publishing with C&RL News, visit the Instructions for Authors at https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/about/submissions#authorGuidelines.

Thank you for the leadership you provide to support and strengthen scholarly communications in your institutions, across the country, and globally. Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2025.

Sincerely,

Jill Cofield, PhD, MLIS

Sheila Craft-Morgan, JD, MLS

Kristen Totleben, MA, MLS

Notes

1. ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, “2024 Top Trends in Academic Libraries: A Review of the Trends and Issues,” College & Research Libraries News 85, no. 6 (2024): 231–46, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.85.6.231; ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, “2023 Environmental Scan,” ACRL Association of College and Research Libraries, 2023, https://www.ala.org/sites/default/files/acrl/content/publications/whitepapers/EnvironmentalScan2023.pdf.
2. Caitlin Carter, Kimberly Cox-York, and Lorraine Haricombe, “The Nelson Memorandum: How Two HELIOS Members Are Responding.” College & Research Libraries News 84, no. 11 (December 2023): 428–33, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.11.428.
3. Ana Peršić and Tiffany Straza, “Open Science for All: Implementing the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science for an Equitable and Just Transition to Open Science,” College & Research Libraries News 84, no. 10 (November 2, 2023): 381, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.10.377.
4. Ally Laird, “Supporting Open Access Monographs: Penn State University Libraries’ Participation in the TOME Initiative,” College & Research Libraries News 85, no. 3 (March 2024): 66–70, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.85.3.114.
5. A. J. Boston, “If Not a Transformative Agreement, Then What? Nine Questions and Answers about an Alternative,” College & Research Libraries News 84, no.1 (January 2023): 22–26, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.1.22.
6. Elizabeth Bedford, Chloe Dufour, Corinne Guimont, Rachel Howard, and Shane Nackerud, “Preserving What We Publish: Findings from the Library Publishing Coalition Preservation Task Force,” College & Research Libraries News 85, no. 1 (January 2024): 32–37, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.85.1.32 .
7. Andrea Hacker, “Open Access in Switzerland: An Institutional Point of View,” College & Research Libraries News 84, no. 6 (June 2023): 212–16, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.6.212 .
8. Meg Wacha, Michael Kirby, jean amaral, Elizabeth Jardine, Meagan Lacy, and Catherine Lyons, “What’s Missing? The Role of Community Colleges in Building a More Inclusive Institutional Repository Landscape,” College & Research Libraries News 84, no. 4 (April 2023): 173–76, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.4.173.
9. Tina Baich, “From Vision to Action: Catalyzing the U.S. Repository Network,” College & Research Libraries News 84, no. 5 (May 2023): 172–75, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.5.172.
10. Amanda Makula, “Celebrating the Scholarly Communication of Our Campus Community: How Can Today’s Academic Library Play an Integral Role in Its Parent Institution’s Scholarly Output?” College & Research Libraries News 85, no. 9 (October 2024): 387–91, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.85.9.387.
11. Brandon Locke, “Library Publishing Workflows: Three Big Lessons Learned from Cohort-Based Documentation,” College & Research Libraries News 84, no. 3 (March 2023): 123–26, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.3.123.
12. Kelsey Badger, Anna Biszaha, and Stephanie Schulte, “We Couldn’t Have Done It Alone: Reflections on Getting Started with Cross-Campus Service Coordination,” College & Research Libraries News 85, no. 10 (November 2024): 439–43, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.85.10.439.
13. Danny Kingsley, “Can Generative AI Facilitate the Research Process? It’s Complicated,” College & Research Libraries News 84 no. 9 (October 2023): 342–45, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.9.342 .
14. Taylor Ralph, “Preparing for the Best: Adapting Collection Assessment for an Era of Transition,” College & Research Libraries News 85, no. 2 (February 2024): 67–71, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.85.2.67.
15. Katherine Klosek, “Protecting Library Rights: Considerations for Congress,” College & Research Libraries News 84, no. 8 (September 2023): 296–300, https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.8.296.