Power and politics in a changing scholarly communication landscape

CTICC-Terrace Room

Scholarship in transition: mapping the changing ecology

The entire scholarship ecology has been changing shape as scholarly practices become digitally-mediated as a norm, and as openness in the higher education terrain becomes more mainstream. Every dimension of traditional scholarly cycles are affected: the conceptualisation of research, data collection and data analysis, the publishing and sharing of findings, as well as the translation of findings through teaching and engaged scholarship. In a context where communication is visible, content now intrinsically includes communication; expectations are for two-way interaction, new relationships are formed and old ones change shape with emergent roles and activities which previously did not exist. Understandings of impact and value are under scrutiny with the rise of non – traditional outputs and the development of alternative metrics of impact. This presentation will map these changes, provide examples of new tools and trends, and consider the power plays, threats and opportunities for the role players involved.