Creating a More Inclusive Future for Scholarly Communications

This paper reports findings from a study commissioned by the Association of College & Research Libraries to identify a new research agenda for scholarly communications and the research environment. The final report provides an overview of trends and practices and identifies and describes important questions where deeper inquiry is needed to accelerate the transition to more open, inclusive, and equitable systems of scholarship. This research agenda is informed by scholarly literature, as well as by advances in practice and the voices of historically underrepresented communities. The research involved structured engagement with the academic library community throughout the process, incorporated through project update webinars, expert interviews, focus groups, workshops, and an online survey. Over one thousand participants offered their thoughts and expertise to shape the research agenda. The themes that emerged include People, Content, and Systems, which each raised new research areas to explore. To further this new research agenda, ACRL is issuing research grants to investigate timely and substantial research questions, developing solutions that will move the community forward.