Journal of New Librarianship

Publication Profiles > LIS Scholarly Journals > Journal of New Librarianship

 

Publication analysis


About the publication

Title: Journal of New Librarianship

ISSN: 2471-3880

Website: http://newlibs.org

Purpose, objective, or mission: The Journal of New Librarianship editors acknowledge the “need to offer quality literature in our field in an open, independently produced journal. Beyond that, we believe that the library is meant to set an example for academia. Free and open access to information and innovation is crucial to the future of our institutions and profession. By providing an outlet that mixes both traditional and disruptive forms of scholarly and professional communication, we can change the way our profession shares and leads.”1

Target audience: The Journal of New Librarianship aims to reach all library and information science (LIS) professionals, practitioners, scholars, teachers, and graduate students, as well as those who are interested in the LIS field.

Publisher: The journal is “independently produced.” It uses the Scholastic academic journal management system.2

Peer reviewed? Yes, blind review. The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles and other content that is not peer-reviewed.3

Type: LIS scholarly journal.

Medium: Online, open access.

Content: The Journal of New Librarianship is a new journal, first published in 2016. The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles, essays, editorials, book reviews, and columns4 on all topics in the field of LIS and seeks both “traditional and disruptive” forms of communication.5  The Columns section publishes “short pieces on topics of timely interest to information professionals covering innovations and issues for the next generation of librarians.”6

Frequency of publication: Articles are published on a rolling basis on the website; these are collected into two issues each year.7

About the publication’s submission guidelines

Location of submission guidelines: For Authors.

Types of contributions accepted: “Submissions may include, but are not limited to: Solicited articles; Scholarly Articles; Essays; Experience and opinion pieces; Media (i.e., podcasts, video, etc) relevant to innovative practices in librarianship; Book reviews; Technology reviews; Letters to the Editor on topics relevant to the field; Data sets; Manifestos; Extended scholarship (Greater than 15,000 words); and Interviews.”8 “We want lengthy treatises on intersectionality and library practice just as much as we want data analysis and recorded interviews with people doing awesome teen programming or video projects on the transformation of a library’s physical space and the perceived impact. All aspects of librarianship – by any name – are within the intended scope of the journal.”9

Submission and review process: Authors are asked to submit their articles stripped of identifying information so they are ready for peer review. They ask for a cover letter that explains “the origin of the project, whether it has been presented and if so where, and affirmation of its originality, veracity, and the author’s right to include all submitted material, data, and media.” Further, the cover letter should explain if the article has time constraints, for example, if it should be published immediately or during a particular conference. Finally, during the online submission process, authors are asked to list potential peer reviewers who are appropriate or those who should be avoided, and these suggestions should be explained in the cover letter. The editors ask authors to contact them with “preliminary pitches,” and they “encourage ideas for content in any and all forms.”10

Editorial tone: The editors encourage “submissions that we have no idea how to categorize,” so the tone should be appropriate to the piece: scholarly, conversational, casual, experimental, and so on.11

Style guide used: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition).12

Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors

The Journal of New Librarianship is an interesting, high-quality, experimental journal that aims to set an example in academia for free and open access to information, scholarship, and ideas.13 This is a great publication for LIS authors who want to publish traditional academic scholarship or who have novel explorations in theory or practice, timely observations, or experimental pieces, including multimedia, to contribute. LIS graduate students are encouraged to submit work and to volunteer as a part of the journal’s editorial team.14 This is an exciting new journal that is breaking new ground in the discipline’s publishing practices.

 

Audience analysis


About the publication’s readers

Publication circulation: Data are not available.

Audience location and language or cultural considerations: This is an open-access journal that is produced in the United States. Editorial board members are from U.S. universities and libraries.15 The journal welcomes non-English-language content and will provide translation assistance.16

Reader characteristics: Readers are librarians in all types of libraries and institutions and LIS professionals, scholars, and students.

Knowledge of LIS subject matter: Readers’ will have both an academic and practical knowledge and understanding of LIS subject matter.

Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors

Readers are members of the LIS community who are looking for novel, interesting, relevant, timely, and experimental work in the LIS field. The editors, and presumably the readers, “share a steadfast commitment to recognizing and discussing intersectionality –how social categories like race, class, and gender create overlapping and situational systems of discrimination and privilege.”17 Readers of this journal look for innovative models and practices in libraries and in LIS scholarship.

Last updated: April 16, 2018


References

Show 17 footnotes

  1. “About the Journal,” Journal of New Librarianship, accessed April 16, 2018, http://www.newlibs.org/about.
  2. “About the Journal.”
  3. “For Authors,” Journal of New Librarianship, accessed April 16, 2018, http://www.newlibs.org/for-authors.
  4. “Issues,” Journal of New Librarianship, accessed April 16, 2018, http://www.newlibs.org/issues.
  5. “About the Journal.”
  6. Stephen P. Weiter, “Editor’s Note: We Proudly Offer You the Third Issue of the Journal of New LibrarianshipJournal of New Librarianship 2, no. 2 (2017): 100, http://dx.doi.org/10.21173/newlibs/3/1.
  7. Weiter, “Editor’s Note: We Proudly Offer You the Third Issue,” 100.
  8. “For Authors.”
  9.  “Policies & FAQS,” Journal of New Librarianship Blog, December 29, 2016, http://www.newlibs.org/post/55.
  10. “For Authors.”
  11. “Policies & FAQS.”
  12. “For Authors.”
  13. Stephen P. Weiter, “Editor’s Note: Welcome to the Journal of New LibrarianshipJournal of New Librarianship 1, no. 1 (2016): 1, http://dx.doi.org/10.21173/newlibs/2016/1/weiter.1.
  14. “Policies & FAQS.”
  15. “Editorial Board,” Journal of New Librarianship, accessed April 16, 2018, http://www.newlibs.org/editorial-board.
  16. “For Authors.”
  17. “Policies & FAQs.”
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