Scholarly work in the Internet age: Co-evolving technologies, institutions and workflows

Abstract

This study explores how ICTs and the Internet are influencing, and being influenced by, the evolution of institutions, organizations and workflows that play a role in scholarly work. Based on a literature review and a structured analysis of 8 carefully selected web sites, this study explores: (i) the evolving business models of scientific journals; (ii) the new competitive dynamics triggered by open access and article-level metrics; (iii) the traditional and emerging forms of peer review; and (iv) the emerging ICT-enabled changes in research workflows. The findings depict a highly complex and dynamic scenario, in which different scholarly communities, with their respective institutional and organizational environments, are experimenting different ICT-based arrangements and solutions, which are dramatically widening the range of possible activity systems through which scientific knowledge is created, exchanged, evaluated and leveraged. JEL classification: M10, M15, Keywords: Research workflow, Scholarly commons, Academic publishers, Publish or perish, Open scientific data, Academic libraries, Academic incentives, Digital publishing