Changing styles of informal academic communication in the age of the web: Orthodox, moderate and heterodox responses. Issue 5 (24th July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shehata, Ahmed; Ellis, David; Foster, Allen Edward
• Is Part Of: Journal of documentation. Volume 73:Issue 5(2017)
• Page Start: 825
• Page End: 842
• Publication Date: 2017-07-24
• Subjects: Scholarly communication -- Scholarly publishing -- Social web -- Information seeking -- Informal communication -- Scholarly collaboration; Documentation -- Periodicals; Library science -- Periodicals; 025
• DOI: 10.1108/JD-06-2016-0083
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-0418

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study to investigate the changes in scholarly communication practices among a group of scholars in the UK and build upon the results that were published in a previous paper. Design/methodology/approach: The study deployed a naturalistic inquiry approach using semi-structured interviews as a qualitative research tool. A sample of 40 participants from four UK universities was interviewed to explore the changes in informal scholarly communication behaviour. Findings: The analysis of the interviews revealed that there are three ideal types of behaviour: the "orthodox" uses formal and traditional scholarly communication approaches; the "moderate" prioritises formal communication approaches, but at the same time is trying to get benefits from informal channels; and, the "Heterodox" uses all channels available in the scholarly communication. Originality/value: The value of the current study lies in using a naturalistic inquiry approach to investigate the changes in scholarly communication practices, and to explore the different scholarly communication styles. In the context of this study, the use of a naturalistic approach and grounded theory principles in connection with coding provided a stance that allows for the gathering of rich information to enable understanding and explanation of scholarly communication activities in addition to uncovering themes that related to scholarly behaviour.