A research team from VCU Libraries is the recipient of the Library Publishing Coalition’s 2025 Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Library Publishing. 

The award, given every two years, acknowledges contributions to a growing body of scholarship that informs best practices and demonstrates the impact of library publishing efforts. These efforts include functions such as university repositories like VCU’s Scholars Compass, supporting open educational resources and reducing textbook costs, addressing changes in the scholarly publishing environment and more. 

The award recipients are VCU faculty Jessica Kirschner, Hillary Miller, Sergio Chaparro, and Nina Exner and students Preeti Kamat and Jose Alcaine, for their article, “To Open or Not to Open: An Exploration of Faculty Decisions to Publish Open-Access Articles” (Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication). This research was funded by a VCU Quest grant.

The article explores the factors influencing faculty decisions to publish in closed- or open-access formats, ultimately demonstrating the significance of the tenure and promotion process in their decision-making. It also explores how tenure motivations interact with faculty trust in publications and researchers’ altruistic desire to share or “open” research to more readers. Their survey and interview data provide compelling evidence that library publishers throughout the community can use in advocating for policy changes to promote open access at their institutions. 

“This well-deserved national recognition is indicative of the quality and rigor of the scholarship and research of the VCU Libraries' faculty,” said Associate Dean for Scholarly Communications and Publishing Jimmy Ghaphery. “The findings from this study are important across the academy, and will further shape our own engagement with the VCU community to advance open access and open education initiatives.”

The authors will receive a cash award of $500 and free registration to the 2025 and 2026 Library Publishing Forums. 

The Coalition also acknowledged two additional outstanding contributions to scholarship on library publishing with honorable mentions.  

• Emma Molls and Kate McCready’s “The Open Monograph Distribution and Acquisitions Gap: A Look at TOME Titles” (Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication) examines the discoverability of and access to monographs published through the TOME initiative to make informed recommendations to libraries for developing and refining management strategies. 
• Jessica Lange and Sarah Severson’s “Organizational Structures and Relationships in Canadian, Noncommercial Journals: Supporting Scholar-Led Publishing” (College & Research Libraries) draws on the examples of 15 Canadian non-profit journals to examine how organizational structures and relationships with external partners bear on daily operations and long-term sustainability.