Current Models of Digital Scholarly Communication: Results of an Investigation Conducted by Ithaka for the Association of Research Libraries.

Ithaka is an independent not-for-profit organization with a mission to accelerate the productive uses of information technologies for the benefit of higher education worldwide. Ithaka promotes innovation in higher education by supporting entrepreneurial not-for-profit initiatives to develop sustainable organizational and business models. We aim to combine a commitment to the core values of higher education, a deep understanding of technology and its impact, and experience developing economically sustainable not-for-profit business models, to help advance community-wide benefits during this time of technological transition. In what ways do scholars engage with new models of digital publishing? ...16 Preface How are we to understand new forms of scholarship and scholarly works in their own right? It is a vexing question for those of us who aspire to grasp how the system of scholarly communication is adapting to a digital net-worked environment. Nearly a decade into the twenty-first century, new forms are no longer hypothetical but increasingly part of the everyday reality of research and scholarship. The urge to consider new forms in comparison to the monograph and journal genres that dominate library collections and the consciousness of the Academy is powerful. Yet, this frame for interpreting changing practices of scholarly communication carries the risk of falling into a certain circularity of thought – we may acknowledge that scholarly works will change and yet behave as if anything that doesn't look like a traditional work of scholarship is not a scholarly work; thus the immutability of traditional publishing models becomes axiomatic. Different becomes less by definition. From this perspective, any counterexample is regarded as exceptional rather than appreciated as transitional or transformational. Yet, for close observers of scholars and scholarship, something about this doesn't seem quite right. Within the library community, discussions of new kinds of scholarly works have tended to return again and again to the same short list of examples. While these seem to be thriving and growing, scholars and research can often identify others they use. Collectively, there has been a sense that many new kinds of scholarly works are successfully contributing to the scholarly communication system, but that effective frameworks for noticing them, understanding trends and patterns, or simply judging how far change has progressed are lacking. An organized scan of new models of scholarly works has been needed, and this study set out to identify examples from as many disciplines as possible. With a sizable collection of resources, it …