New opportunities in scholarly communication

A revolution is underway. Digital scholarship offers possibilities for new ways to share information and for new economic models to sustain the process of scholarly communication.

Researchers benefit from sharing
Scholars can gain tremendous professional benefits from increased dissemination of their work. Beyond the convenience and speed of more open scholarly exchange, a growing body of evidence indicates articles that are freely available on the internet have greater impact. Read more...

Open Access expands sharing
Faster and wider sharing of research material gives broader access to the needed resources. There are a growing number of publishing alternatives, such as institutional repositories, open access journals and other kinds of new media. Read more...

Funders support sharing
Governments and funding agencies are recognizing that dissemination of research results is part of the research process itself. Many are implementing or exploring policies to facilitate the sharing of information. Read more...

Breaking down the barriers
Considering all the benefits of more open sharing of research, why hasn’t change proceeded more rapidly? There are a number of factors that have slowed progress, but promising changes are starting to emerge. Read more...

How the internet is transforming scholarship

For most scholars, the ways in which research is conducted, conveyed, and shared are far different today than they were a few years ago. Yet these changes only hint at the technology-driven transformation of scholarship that is on the horizon.

An information-rich environment
Many of yesterday’s limitations on research and learning are being swept away by the internet, which presents an opportunity for unlimited dissemination of information at virtually no cost beyond that of providing it to the first reader. Read more...

New tools for collaboration
By seamlessly linking scholars to data, knowledge, and each other, the emerging research environment promises to stimulate and accelerate discovery — and ultimately to fuel advances beyond the realm of scholarship. Read more...

Embracing digital scholarship
Practices that made sense in the print environment must be reconsidered and adapted to fit the opportunities and demands of digital scholarship. Read more...