With digital technologies profoundly changing how researchers produce and share scholarship, universities must take a “much more active role” in disseminating that work. That is the central message of a “call to action” issued jointly today by the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of American Universities, the Coalition for Networked Information, and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.

The paper, “The University’s Role in the Dissemination of Research and Scholarship — A Call to Action,” grew out of a round-table discussion the four groups held last August with provosts, chief research and information officers, library and university-press directors, and senior faculty members from about 20 institutions. The paper lays out “principles and practices” to help universities get more actively involved in the fast-changing world of scholarly communication.

Institutions must recognize that sharing knowledge is central to a university’s mission, the paper states. It strikes some balance between tradition and innovation. Some core values of “traditional publishing,” particularly the emphasis on identifying and rewarding high-quality scholarship, should be retained. At the same time, universities must develop “fresh criteria” by which to judge the many kinds of scholarly work now being done, much of it outside the standard templates of journal articles and monographs.

The paper argues that universities must not let “publishing, tenure, and promotion policies based on historic practices” prevent them from being part of the revolution in how scholarly work is created and shared. Academe must figure out how to better manage its “intellectual capital” and not let forces outside universities determine what gets shared and with whom.

“This is the moment to take action,” the paper urges. —Jennifer Howard