“the system through which research and other scholarly writings are created, evaluated for quality, disseminated to the scholarly community, and preserved for future use. The system includes both formal means of communication, such as publication in peer-reviewed journals, and informal channels, such as electronic listservs.” (Association of College & Research Libraries, “Principles and Strategies for the Reform of Scholarly Communication 1,” 2003).
It can even include activities like social media posts and community service.
Scholarly communication involves a lot of different topics. For more information about the different aspects of Scholarly communication, be sure to visit the Topics in Scholarly Communication page.
Scholarly communication is a broad conversation involving researchers, academics, students, higher education administrators, libraries, publishers, nonprofit groups and private entities, governments, and the public.
It can take place in various formal and informal spaces; on campuses, in coffee shops and art galleries, at academic conferences and international research forums, and in cyberspace.
Scholarly communication conversations involve issues around open access, data management, research productivity and impact, copyright and author's rights, publishing strategies, open educational resources, alternative metrics (altmetrics), research partnerships, multidisciplinary research platforms, and researcher IDs, profiles, and communities.