Not So Fast: Perspectives on the Role of Hospital Librarians in Writing Peer Reviewed Publications and Supporting Scholarly Communications

Articles in the Specialty of the House column do not have abstracts. From the Introduction: The professional practice of hospital librarianship continues to evolve, and looks much different than a generation ago. The publishing world has also changed significantly in recent years, particularly in the area of scholarly communications. Open Access mandates on the national and local levels and the explosion of online Open Access journals have created confusion for authors and librarians at all levels of the scholarly communication process. Solicitations for manuscripts arrive by email and appear in social media and Web sites, preying on the unsuspecting author. The Hospital Librarian can help navigate the primordial soup of legitimate publications and low quality journals, and provide resources to help meet the needs of library users who are developing writing projects. This article will explore a model for developing and supporting a community of scholarly writers in the hospital setting, and present a theoretical framework for the hospital librarian to bring order to this fast changing, unfamiliar world of scholarly communications. Also, perspectives and reflections regarding the Hospital Librarian as author of journal articles in peer-reviewed journals will be explored