Scholarly Communication: Information and Resources for the UNI Community

Scholarly communication is a multi-faceted term that encompasses various aspects of research and scholarship.  It can be defined succinctly as "the system of people, procedures, and tools through which the results of research and scholarship are registered, evaluated, disseminated, and preserved" (Ober, 2008)

Issues that may be considered under the umbrella of scholarly communication include:

• Authors’ rights,
• Open access and other publishing models,
• Control of intellectual property,
• Copyright, 
• Cost of commercial publications,
• Role of scholarly associations,
• Preservation of intellectual property, and
• Institutional repositories. 

These issues impact:

• Collaborative research,
• An author's use and dissemination of his or her work,
• The accessibility of unpublished and published books, articles, and other products, and
• The archiving of scholarly output. 

Decisions made in these areas may have a broad impact in the classroom, in the conduct of research, and the ways in which research and scholarship are shared.  The position that an academic institution takes on these matters can affect not only its students, faculty, and staff, but also its standing and reputation. 

• 10 Things You Should Know about...Scholarly Communication 

               - Association of College & Research Libraries publication