Posts by Nancy Adams

April 14, 2025

Announcing the winners of the 2025 Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing

The expansion of the library publishing community over the past decade has increased the need for research and scholarship to inform best practices and demonstrate impact. Every two years, the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) gives an annual Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing to acknowledge impactful contributions to this growing body of work and to encourage its development.

As the LPC’s Research Committee, we are delighted to announce that this year’s award recipients are Jessica Kirschner, Hillary Miller, Preeti Kamat, Jose Alcaine, Sergio Chaparro, and Nina Exner for their article, “To Open or Not to Open: An Exploration of Faculty Decisions to Publish Open-Access Articles” (Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication). The article explores the factors influencing faculty decisions to publish in closed- or open-access formats, ultimately demonstrating the significance of the tenure and promotion process in their decision-making. Their survey data provides compelling evidence that library publishers throughout the community can use in advocating for policy changes to promote open access at their institutions. The authors will receive a cash award of $500 and complimentary registration to the 2025 and 2026 Library Publishing Forums.

The Research Committee would like to acknowledge two additional outstanding contributions to scholarship on library publishing with honorable mentions. Emma Molls and Kate McCready’s “The Open Monograph Distribution and Acquisitions Gap: A Look at TOME Titles” (Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication) examines the discoverability of and access to monographs published through the TOME initiative to make informed recommendations to libraries for developing and refining management strategies. Jessica Lange and Sarah Severson’s “Organizational Structures and Relationships in Canadian, Noncommercial Journals: Supporting Scholar-Led Publishing” (College & Research Libraries) draws on the examples of fifteen Canadian non-profit journals to examine how organizational structures and relationships with external partners bear on daily operations and long-term sustainability.

Please join us in congratulating all these authors on their valuable contributions to our field!

LPC Research Committee
Karen Bjork
Matthew Goldberg
Matt Hunter
John Morgenstern
Talia Perry
Mai Yamamoto

April 11, 2025

Reaffirming LPC’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

The increasing attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the United States at the national and state levels has negatively impacted research and scholarly communication and caused harm to many in our community, professionally and personally. The Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) reaffirms our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility and support of the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC).

LPC’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in library publishing is foundational to our vision of providing a “scholarly publishing landscape that is open, inclusive, and sustainable” through its values of openness and diversity. This vision is aligned with that of Educopia, our fiscal sponsor—“Reduced inequalities, increased access to knowledge.” 

LPC has actively sought to create a safer space for all in our community and to promote work that increases equity in libraries and publishing. Efforts undertaken by LPC to advance DEIA in the coalition and in library publishing include:

• Founding membership in C4DISC in 2018 and adoption of the C4DISC Joint Statement of Principles in 2020
• Creation of a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force in 2019
• Formalization of the task force into the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in 2019 (updating the name to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in 2024)
• Creation of LPC’s first Roadmap for Anti-Racist Practice in 2021, which continues to be updated and guides the work of LPC’s Board, committees, task forces, and working groups.
• Addition of a DEIA Officer position to the LPC Board in 2024

As a supportive and welcoming community, LPC will continue to uphold our inclusive values by continuing to center diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in our activities and support those in our community who have been impacted by the changing political climate.