Shaughnessy (in Milne, 1999) defines scholarly communication simply as "the social phenomenon whereby intellectual and creative activity is passed from one scholar to another". There are many ways that this can happen, both formal and informal. Formal communication is usually writing articles for inclusion in a journal. Informal methods can include visiting conferences, using discussion groups and general networking to find out what is happening in a particular discipline.
Getz (1997) identifies three main roles of scholarship as teaching, making formal knowledge available to the public, and developing new knowledge and feels that "digital communication ought ultimately to be judged by how well it serves these three activities".
The usual method of communicating findings between academics is through the scholarly journal.
Rowland (1997) sees the functions of the journal as:
- dissemination of information
- quality control
- a canonical archive
- recognition of authors
Hitchcock et al. (1998) agree saying that they provide:
- high quality through peer review
- author recognition through strong journal identities
- archival sources
Brown (1997) states that journals are "a means of authenticating research through peer review, providing validation through the system of refereeing" and Valauskas (1997) feels that journals are "about validation and acceptance, so that a given idea expressed in a paper is legitimized by its publication", rather than communication.
References
Brown, S.A. (1997). Scholarly publishing using electronic means : a short guide. Newcastle : University of Northumbria at Newcastle.
Getz, M. (May 1997). Electronic publishing in academia : an economic perspective [http://www.arl.org/scomm/scat/getz.html]. Site visited at 16.4.99
Hitchcock, S., Carr, L. & Hall, W. (December 1998). Making the most of electronic journals. [http://xxx.lanl.gov/html/cs.DL/9812016]. Site visited at 16.4.99
Milne, P. (January 1999). Electronic access to information and its impact on scholarly communication. [http://www.csu.edu.au/special/online99/proceedings99/305b.htm]. Site visited at 16.4.99
Rowland, F. (January 1997). "Print journals : Fit for the future?", Ariadne, 7. [http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue7/fytton]. Site visited at 16.4.99
Valauskas, E.J. (September 1997). "First Monday and the evolution of electronic journals", Journal of Electronic Publishing, 3(1). [http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/03-01/FirstMonday.html] Site visited at 16.4.99