Scholarly communication: a concept analysis
| Date | 28 March 2023 |
| Pages | 1182-1208 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-09-2022-0197 |
| Published date | 28 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Rachel Fleming-May |
Scholarly communication:
a concept analysis
Rachel Fleming-May
School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Abstract
Purpose –“Scholarly Communication”is a frequent topic of both the professional and research literature of
Library and Information Science (LIS). Despite efforts by individuals (e.g. Borgman, 1989) and organizations
such as the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) to define the term,multiple understandings
of it remain. Discussions of scholarly communication infrequently offer a definition or explanation of its
parameters, making it difficult for readers to form a comprehensive understanding of scholarly communication
and associated phenomena.
Design/methodology/approach –This project uses the evolutionary concept analysis (ECA) method
developed by nursing scholar, Beth L. Rodgers, to explore “Scholarly Communication”as employed in the
literature of LIS. As the purpose of ECA is not to arrive at “the”definition of a term but rather exploring its
utilization within a specific context, it is an ideal approach to expand our understanding of SC as used in LIS
research.
Findings –“Scholarly Communication”as employed in the LIS literature does not refer to a single
phenomenon or idea, but rather is a concept with several dimensions and sub-dimensions with distinct, but
overlapping, significance.
Research limitations/implications –The concept analysis (CA) method calls for review of a named
concept, i.e. verbatim. Therefore, the items included in the data set must include the phrase “scholarly
communication”. Items using alternate terminology were excluded from analysis.
Practical implications –The model of scholarly communication presented in this paper provides language
to operationalize the concept.
Originality/value –LIS lacks a nuanced understanding of “scholarly communication”as used in the LIS
literature. This paper offers a model to further the field’s collective understanding of the term and support
operationalization for future research projects.
Keywords Scholarly communication, Scholarly publishing, Scientific communication, Concept analysis,
Invisible college
Paper type Research paper
Introduction and statement of the problem
Scholarly Communication is a term that appears frequently in the scholarly and professional
literature of both librarianship and the information sciences. In fact, a recent search of the Library
and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) index retrieves 1,025 publications with “scholarly
communication”or its plural in the title. Despite its ubiquity, however, according to Wolfram “[w]e
lack a universally accepted definition”of the term (2019, unpaged). Nevertheless, “scholarly
communication”is frequently treated as a concept with a single, agreed-upon definition for the
purpose of LIS-related research and discussion. The lack of a common, clear understanding of the
term leads to statements like the following: “as the implementation of this new model of scholarly
communication has escalated, there has been increasing acknowledgement of its consequences
for scholarly communication ...”(Gorman and Rowley, 2015; unpaged).
This paper employs the evolutionary concept analysis (ECA) method to explore the
concept of scholarly communication as presented in the scholarly and professional literature
of library and information science. Rather than settling on “the”definition of a term, the goal
of ECA is illuminating its facets, if present, to increase awareness and understanding of a
concept previously considered self-explanatory.
Findings are based on close analysis of 96 papers about scholarly communication
published in core LIS journals between 2007 and 2022.
JD
79,5
1182
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 12 September 2022
Revised 18 December 2022
Accepted 21 December 2022
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 79 No. 5, 2023
pp. 1182-1208
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-09-2022-0197
A note about structure
Because the data source for this project is a collection of LIS literature, the literature review is
somewhat different from the traditional model. Instead, the paper is structured as follows:
(1) Background: description of “scholarly communication,”related terminology and their
significance in the literature of LIS published prior to the time period covered in the
data set (2007–2022)
(2) Method: description of ECA and procedures for constructing the collection of
individual works for analysis, as well as the approach toward the analysis itself.
(3) Findings: analysis of the concept of scholarly communication as presented in the
literature of LIS, including a proposed model for describing the different aspects of
the concept
(4) Conclusions and areas for future research.
Background
Many of the most influential early works use different terminologies to describe scholarly
communication, placing them outside the bounds of the concept analysis method, which
focuses on verbatim expression of a specific concept. While these are not appropriate for
inclusion in thisproject’s data set, which is comprisedof LIS journal and conference literature
published since 2007, earlier discussions of scholarly communication and synonymous
expressions of the concept (e.g. “scientific communication”) provide essential context for the
paper’sfindings. Although scholarlycommunication is certainlydiscussed in otherdisciplines,
manyLIS scholars believeit to be central to the field’sfounding (Andersen,2002, p. 464), and the
LIS literature provides ample evidence of efforts to establish the concept’s parameters.
Attempts to define the term are less common than discussions of its attributes, but in 1989,
Borgman offered a definition that is still cited frequently and in diverse contexts:
the study of how scholars in any field (e.g. physical, biological, social, and behavioural sciences,
humanities,technology) use and disseminateinformation through formaland informal channels. The
study of scholarly communication includes the growth of scholarly information, the relationships
among researchareas and disciplines, the informationneeds and uses of individualuser groups, and
the relationshipsamong formal and informal methods of communication.(pp. 13–14)
Borgman’s definition represents a broad view of scholarly communication as it includes the
research-related behaviors (formal and informal) and information needs of scholars in all
disciplines as well as the networks connecting them on individual and disciplinary levels. It also
incorporates the artifacts of scholarlycommunication, i.e. publishing. Most discussions of scholarly
communication took one or more of the following approaches to representing the phenomenon:
(1) Attempts at creating a model of the phenomenon of scholarly communication;
(2) Description of the artifacts created by scholarly communication, or moved and shared
through secondary scholarly communication processes;
(3) Explorations of the relationship between scholars and scholarly communication
(individually and in aggregate), including formal and informal scholarly
communicationbehaviors and specific activitiesinvolved in scholarly communication;
(4) Discussion of the functions served by scholarly communication.
Briefly reviewing coverage of these topics will set the stage for our discussion of the concept
of scholarly communication as explored in the LIS literature between 2007 and 2022.
Scholarly
communication:
aconcept
analysis
1183
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