Publication analysis
About the publication
Title: College & Undergraduate Libraries
ISSN: 1069-1316 (Print) and 1545-2530 (Online)1
Website: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/wcul20/current
Purpose, objective, or mission: “College & Undergraduate Libraries supports the continuous learning of academic library staff to become more effective professionals as they discover how to provide and assess outstanding, creative, and innovative services, resources, and facilities.”2
Target audience: Academic library staff3
Publisher: Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group4
Peer reviewed? “Full length articles are subject to anonymous double-blind review. Column type submissions are reviewed by the editor, and in some cases, are subject to anonymous double blind review.”5
Type: College & Undergraduate Libraries is an open access hybrid scholarly journal and professional and trade publication. It is a scholarly publication because of its commitment to peer-reviewed research articles.6 It can also be considered a professional publication as it provides college librarians with “practical, step-by-step articles on subjects such as understanding statistics and purchasing and maintaining microcomputers, as well as columns on stretching library dollars.”7
Medium: Print and online8
Content: College & Undergraduate Libraries features “research-based articles, case studies, reports of best practices, occasional literature or product reviews, and columns or special issues devoted to current topics.”9
Frequency of publication: Quarterly10
About the publication’s submission guidelines
Location of submission guidelines: https://www-tandfonline-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=wcul20
Types of contributions accepted: The journal publishes “research-based articles, case studies, reports of best practices, occasional literature or product reviews, and columns or special issues devoted to current topics.”11 The journal specializes in “articles by faculty, librarians, paraprofessionals, library staff, and students (that) provide practical information and creative solutions to common problems.” Recent areas of interest include collection management, preservation and conservation of library materials, trends in library support for undergraduate courses, standards and assessment, preparing for accreditation, archive management without an archivist, staff development on a limited budget, and marketing the college library.12
Submission and review process: College & Undergraduate Libraries receives all manuscript submissions electronically via its ScholarOne Manuscripts site .13
Per the publication website, “Full length articles in College & Undergraduate Libraries are subject to anonymous double-blind review. Column-type submissions are reviewed by the editor, and in some cases, are subject to anonymous double blind review.”14
Editorial tone: Academic15, yet per the submissions guidelines, a “highly readable” writing style is sought.16
Style guide used: The Chicago Manual of Style, latest edition17
Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors
College & Undergraduate Libraries “supports the continuous learning of academic library staff to become more effective professionals as they discover how to provide and assess outstanding, creative, and innovative services, resources, and facilities.”18 Newer, as well as more seasoned LIS authors will find opportunities for publication with this journal. It may be assumed that the work of authors working in in university and undergraduate library environments would be of especial interest to the editors of College and Undergraduate Libraries.
College & Undergraduate Libraries is abstracted/indexed in: De Gruyter Saur; IBZ; EBSCOhost; Academic Search Complete; H.W. Wilson; Education Research Complete; INSPEC; Library & Information Science Source; MasterFILE Complete; MLA International Bibliography; TOC Premier; Elsevier BV; Scopus; Gale; John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; OCLC; ArticleFirst Ovid; ProQuest; Aerospace Database; Civil Engineering Abstracts; Engineering Research Database; Materials Business File; LISA: Library & Information Science Abstracts; METADEX; MLA International Bibliography; PAIS International; and VINITI RAN.19
Audience analysis
About the publication’s readers
Publication circulation: Circulation statistics are not available.
Audience location and language or cultural considerations: This journal is written in English,20 primarily by American authors for an audience of “librarians at two- and four-year colleges and university undergraduate libraries.”21
Reader characteristics: As this publication targets LIS practitioners at two- to four-year colleges and undergraduate libraries, the backgrounds and cultural experiences of the audience will be as diverse as the institutions they represent. According to the American Association of Community Colleges, “Community colleges are the gateway to postsecondary education for many minority, low income, and first-generation postsecondary education students. Since 1985, more than half of all community college students have been women. In addition, the majority of Black and Hispanic undergraduate students in this country study at these colleges.”22 Because of this diversity in their workplace, the readers of this publication will likely be committed to accessibility of information and services.
Knowledge of LIS subject matter: Readers of College & Undergraduate Libraries will represent all areas of Library and Information Science, including “faculty, librarians, paraprofessionals, library staff, and students”23 Therefore, there will be different levels of knowledge of LIS topics depending on level of education and workplace roles. Potential authors should avoid overly technical language, and strive for a “highly readable (writing) style”24
Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors
According to ResearchGate, “this unique journal provides busy college librarians, already saddled with an array of responsibilities, with practical, step-by-step articles on subjects such as understanding statistics and purchasing and maintaining microcomputers, as well as columns on stretching library dollars.”25
The readers of this journal serve a variety of patrons, including “the students who attend to upgrade their skills for a particular job, students who are pursuing an associate degree to transfer to a 4-year institution, and students who attend to pursue a hobby (such as learning a language). The educational outcomes of community college students reflect this diversity.”26
Authors writing for this publication must take this diversity into consideration.
Last updated: December 19, 2020
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