Posts by Matthew Hunter

July 17, 2025

Announcing the second edition of the Library Publishing Research Agenda

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The Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) is thrilled to announce the release of a revised second edition of the Library Publishing Research Agenda. This new edition reflects our continued commitment to supporting a vibrant, inclusive, and evidence-based library publishing ecosystem.

This second edition of the Library Publishing Research Agenda builds on the foundation laid by the original 2020 publication, continuing to explore critical areas where research is needed to inform and strengthen practice in the field of library publishing. It offers updated and expanded exploratory overviews of six key topics: Assessment, Labor, Accessibility, Non-traditional Research Outputs, Peer Review, and Partnerships. The document is divided into sections corresponding to each of these topics, each of which includes a contextual summary, refreshed or newly proposed research questions, and updated resources for further reading. This revised edition reflects new developments in the field and ongoing conversations within the community. It is intended to support current and future researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders committed to advancing knowledge and practice in library publishing. The Research Agenda was developed by LPC’s Research Committee with input from the LPC community.

How to use the Research Agenda

The Research Agenda is offered as a starting point for individuals interested in learning about and conducting research related to library publishing. It aligns with the LPC Research Committee’s mission to promote research that can provide an evidence base to inform best practices for library publishers. 

We encourage the members of the library publishing community to use this document in a variety of ways, including purposes aimed at both research and practice. The research questions in each section can be used to develop more expansive research projects that might investigate general trends in library publishing, or as a means of examining current practices and policies within one’s own institution. The listed relevant resources are also intended as a starting point for individuals interested in learning more about aspects of library publishing, even if they are not interested in conducting research in that area. 

Where to check it out

The Library Publishing Research Agenda can be accessed in PDF (generously hosted by Purdue University Libraries) and in HTML. As with all LPC publications, the Research Agenda is released under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, and we encourage others to share and adapt it as widely as possible. Questions and comments about this document can be emailed to contact@librarypublishing.org. 

The creators of the Library Publishing Research Agenda

Karen Bjork, Nina Collins, Matthew Goldberg, Matt Hunter, John Martin, John Morgenstern, Talia Perry, and Mai Yamamoto. Production: Maggie Rosenau (copyediting and design). Educopia Institute.

April 23, 2020

Announcing the winners of the 2020 Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing

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As participation in library publishing grows, the development of a strong evidence base to inform best practices and demonstrate impact is essential. To encourage research and theoretical work about library publishing services, the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) gives an annual Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing. The award recognizes significant and timely contributions to library publishing theory and practice. 

The LPC Research Committee is delighted to announce that this year’s award recipients are Katrina Fenlon, Megan Senseney, Maria Bonn, and Janet Swatscheno for their article “Humanities scholars and library-based digital publishing: New forms of publication, new audiences, new publishing roles.” Library publishing programs need to constantly adapt to the ever-changing needs of their publishing partners, and this article provides rich survey data for practitioners to use to inform their own strategies for addressing the needs of their humanities scholar partners. The results of the survey conducted by Katrina, Megan, Maria, and Janet will provide invaluable data for publishing programs looking to expand their services to support the advancement of digital scholarship projects in the humanities , increase the diversity of supported scholarly outputs, support new modes of authorship, and increase the reach and impact of that scholarship through interdisciplinary and openly accessible publishing. The survey instrument itself will also be a useful tool for institutions interested in tailoring these results for their own particular communities.

The authors will receive a cash award of $250 and travel support to attend a future in-person Forum. They would also normally be formally recognized at the 2020 LPC conference reception, but in this time of decreased physical contact let’s all celebrate this achievement virtually just as robustly! 

In addition, the LPC Research Committee would also like to award an honorable mention to Kate Shuttleworth, Kevin Stranack, and Alison Moore for their article “Course Journals: Leveraging Library Publishing to Engage Students at the Intersection of Open Pedagogy, Scholarly Communications, and Information Literacy.” The committee felt that the intersection of pedagogy and journal publishing explored in this article was an exciting new avenue for Library Publishing programs to explore, and looks forward to continued growth of partnerships such as these across the LPC community.

Please join us in congratulating the Katrina, Megan, Maria, and Janet, as well as all the other nominees on their valuable contributions to our shared body of knowledge.