Shaking it up: Embracing new methods for publishing, finding, discussing, and measuring our research output

Abstract

The scholarly communication ecosystem is changing. Scholars produce and publish a wider range of products than ever before, and scholars and others increasingly interact with these diverse products in new ways within the online ecosystem. The widespread availability of research products and interaction paths is informing new methods for finding, discussing, measuring, and rewarding diverse types of research output. Some research fields are adopting these new methods faster than supporting tools, processes, and policies can keep up. In other fields the changes are happening very slowly - perhaps at the expense of accelerated progress and impact. We have assembled a panel of information science researchers who both study and implement many of these new ways of doing research. Together with attendees of the session (you!), we will consider several new methods of scholarly communication, highlight some of their strengths and drawbacks, and discuss how they play out today in the field of information science. several fundamental issues behind these changes. Panelists will then briefly highlight several of the new approaches, including motivation, evidence of benefit (or lack thereof), and how the new method is or could make a difference in information science research. We encourage audience members to document their thoughts on these points during the panelist presentations. Audience notes will be summarized in a poster within the Interactive Showcase later in the conference. We hope this panel will inspire conversation about the ways these new approaches may impact how we study scholarly communication, as well as how we participate in scholarly communication ourselves.