The Many Facets of Scholarly Publication: Let’s Find More Ways to Shine

BY ANA-PAULA CORREIA

When we hear about scholarly publication, our mind immediately goes to peer-reviewed articles (printed or in digital formats). This is understandable. Peer-reviewed articles are often the standard for success in academia, because these articles are reviewed by our peers, they are perceived as high-quality.

Scholarly work

It is written by a scholar(s), meaning an individual or group of individuals who are highly educated in a particular field of study, and results from research conducted in that field of study.

Scholarly work is written by a scholar(s), meaning an individual or group of individuals who are highly educated in a particular field of study, and results from research conducted in that field of study. Because of advances in digital technologies, scholarly work has been published in different formats. Scholars, like us, are relying on digital portals to disseminate our work, hence the emergence of public scholarship. Public scholarship encompasses various modalities of creating and sharing knowledge for and with the general public and different communities. Public scholarship influences the field of educational technology and drives the scholarly work of researchers. As an example, George Veletsianos, Professor in the School of Education and Technology at Royal Roads University, offers several examples of publishing for broader audiences in outlets like Educa se Re view, The Conversation, and Inside Higher Ed.

Blogs are another example of publishing scholarly work in a new way. Many scholars create blogs to communicate research findings and reflections on relevant research topics of their interest and to help advance knowledge in an accelerated way. The Educationalist, a newsletter offering a diverse perspective on issues of technology in Higher Education is written by Alexandra Mihai, Assistant Professor of Innovation in Higher Education at Maastricht University. Mihai’s top postings address and provide resources on feedback and active learning issues for online learning.

Podcasts are another useful mechanism for disseminating knowledge and considerations. Consisting of a series of digital audio files that can be downloaded by all for easy listening, podcasts allow for quick information exchanges, discussions on any imaginable topic, and entertainment. The fact that podcasts are readily available, and people can listen to them whenever they like is an important reason for their success. In 2016, Sophie Bailey, educational technology consultant, launched The EdTech Podcast with the purpose of increasing communication between “ed” and “tech,” which is now downloaded between 2,000 and 3,000 each week across 145 different counties. Podcasts series such as the future of technology for education and what matters in educational technology have proven big successes.

Podcasts are also being used in Higher Education to communicate scholarly work with audiences outside academia. Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology Inspire Podcast aims precisely to do that. On their latest episode and anticipating the International Students’ Day (November 17), the stories of international students in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic are explored: International students: “the worst year but the best year.” In January of 2021, the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) at the same university released the CETE Works Podcast, focusing on ever-evolving situations that frame the nature of education and the future of work. The episodes’ themes range from translating workforce problems into training solutions to equity and inclusion in education.

Podcasts

Podcasts are also being used in Higher Education to communicate scholarly work with audiences outside academia.

Op-eds and editorials also serve as meaningful vehicles to provide voices to discuss pertinent and timely issues. These tend to be brief, written pieces published in outlets like Educase Review, The Conversation, and Inside Higher Ed with the intent to reach larger audiences. Patricia Young, Professor of Literacy, Culture, Instructional Design & Technology at the University of Maryland, recently published a piece on The Conversation that discusses the future of college teaching. This article represents a perfect marriage of journalist flair and academic rigor.

The increasing influence of social media in academia is another way to widely disseminate scholarly work. According to a survey from the Babson Survey Research Group and Pearson* (2011), college faculty are twice as likely as other workers to be using social media as part of their job, and more than 80 percent of faculty are using some form of social media in their teaching.

Many scholars are becoming influencers in the Twittersphere by their own merit, persistence, and courage. As they increase their number of followers and intensify engagement, they become voices that shape educational technology as a field and across the globe. These influencers include Maha Bali, Sharla Berry, Vanessa Dennen, Lucy Santos Green, Na nd ita Gurjar, Stephani e Moore, Natalie Milman, Nadia Naffi, Nicola Pallitt, Enilda Romero-Hall, Torrey Trust, just to name a few.

As we consider venues to publish our scholarly work, it is critical to consider the many facets of scholarly work and explore outside the peer-reviewed academia box. Work produced as a result of our research efforts and accumulated expertise needs to transcend the traditional journal publications. Sharing our findings, considerations for future work, and posing new questions through these new portals allows us to reach a far more diverse and extended audiences. Isn’t that what science is designed to do? Digital technologies have allowed us to diversify venues for publication. Let us take advantage of that and translate our scholarly work into formats that people worldwide can read, cite and talk about.

*Moran, M, Seaman, J., & Tinti-Kane, H. (2011). Teaching, learning, and sharing: How today’s higher education faculty use social media. Pearson Learning Solutions and Babson Survey Research Group. https://files.eric.e d.gov/fulltext/ED535 130.pdf