We’re thankful for all the comments the draft report received. We will publish a final revised version in October.

A robust and nimble infrastructure is imperative to support the vital work of scholarly communication and effectively and efficiently meet the emerging service needs of different stakeholders. Publishers and other scholarly communication services and providers rely on this shared infrastructure in many key parts of their work, and it forms a foundational part of their technology stack and service framework. 

At a high level, shared infrastructure for scholarly communication is extensive and impressive. At the same time, many publishing organizations find that substantial components of the shared infrastructure are either no longer fit for purpose or do not yet exist to support emergent needs. 

This year, Ithaka S+R has been at work on a project to examine the shared infrastructure for scholarly communication and ultimately make recommendations for its future. STM Solutions provided sponsorship support that made this project possible, for which we express our gratitude. The research and analysis is solely the work of the project team members, and we accept all responsibility for it. 

In April, we published a landscape review of the shared scholarly communication infrastructure. 

Our next step is to analyze the strategic context, existing forms of shared infrastructure, and some key opportunity spaces. We are issuing this analysis in draft form, hoping to draw on the collective wisdom of stakeholders and experts. Comments, suggestions, and other feedback can be shared with our project team directly at sr-infrastructure@ithaka.org through August 31, 2023.

At this time, we are working to complete the report, and we thank everyone who provided comments focused on this set of questions:

  • Do you see the strategic context any differently than we do? Are there any other issues you see that shape the strategic context?
  • Have we captured enough detail and nuance in explaining the current state of the shared infrastructure, including its strengths and limitations? 
  • Are there any other new opportunities for the shared infrastructure that you believe we should examine?

Looking ahead, we will publish a final version of this report, including recommendations, in October 2023.