The dissemination of research and information through the scholarly journal has in recent years become prohibitively expensive. Ownership of many of these publications has come under the control of a few commercial conglomerates. The high costs of many scholarly journals (particularly in science, technology, and medicine, or the so-called STMs) and the recognition that scholarship should be widely circulated to enhance its social and educational value has led to the search for less expensive, alternative ways to publish and distribute it. These issues constitute the core of the scholarly communication crisis. This situation has been exacerbated by shrinking budgets at many colleges and universities, negatively impacting the ability of their libraries to acquire the scholarly resources necessary to fulfill their mandated educational mission. New opportunities and hazards for scholarly communication arose in the late 1990s with the development of the World Wide Web and protocols for digitizing and archiving electronic information.

This site is designed to promote and heighten awareness of significant issues associated with scholarly communication. The links below provide access to varying types of materials covering the issues involved with scholarly communication, open access, and journal pricing.