Tips & Tricks 

Scholarly Communications @ Tufts

Kate Thornhill ,

What is scholarly communication?

Scholarly communication refers to “the system through which research and other scholarly writings are created, evaluated for quality, disseminated to the scholarly community, and preserved for future use (Association of College and Research Libraries ).”

Scholarly communication relies in part on the ability of research libraries to purchase published works. The marketplace for scholarly publishing has developed in ways that challenge libraries’ ability to acquire the works needed by their users. Commercialization of publishing in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors has led to egregious price increases and unacceptable terms and conditions of use for some key research resources needed by the scholarly community.

How can Tufts University Libraries help?

The Tufts University Libraries are here to help you navigate through the publishing landscape and learn about copyright, fair use, and open access publishing.

Some ways Scholarly Communications @Tufts can help you:

  • Learn about managing your copyrights, and use the Author’s Amendment when you negotiate with publishers.
  • Consider using a less restrictive Creative Commons license.
  • Deposit your research in the Tufts Digital Repository, so that it can be openly accessed.
  • Consider putting your course in Tufts OpenCourseWare, and construct it carefully, so that you have the necessary permissions to do so.
  • Consider publishing in an Open Access Journal.
  • Keep up with developments in the open access movement by regularly reading:
    • Open Access News – daily blog following the latest open access developments supported by the Open Society Institute and SPARC
    • Create Change – advocacy and education campaign cosponsored with the Association of Research Libraries and the Association of College and Research Libraries to engage the academic community in reclaiming scholarly communication.
    • The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), is an alliance of universities, research libraries, and organizations built as a constructive response to market dysfunctions in the scholarly communication system.

For more information about Scholarly Communications @Tufts visit the website. And if you’re interested in keeping up with changes to publishing and open access visit the Scholarly Communications Team’s reading list.