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Scholars & Scholarship


Our priority is to align library strategy, staffing, and spending to advance the principles and practices of open scholarship. Through collective action with partners in research and learning communities, we increase the amount of high-quality scholarship that is openly available, support our members to promote “open science by design” within their own institutions, and provide leadership on high-impact collective collections initiatives.

Research libraries partner in the creation of new research and scholarship while they also manage vast collections in print, special collections, media, and other formats. A new openness in scholarly and research environments is transforming how knowledge is created, shared, and sustained. We contribute to this transformation by deeply engaging with scholarly communities and acting collectively to reduce friction between users and the information they seek and create.

Contact Cynthia Hudson Vitale (cvitale@arl.org) or Judy Ruttenberg (judy@arl.org) to find out how you can get involved.


Research Data

The proliferation, management, and preservation of research data is one of the most pressing challenges facing research libraries. ARL works with members, funders, and partners to advance FAIR (findable, accessible,...

Community Engagement

Research libraries are community facing partners within organizations and institutions. Programs Accelerating the Social Impact of Research The social impact of research, whether it is examining educational and economic disparities,...

Information Integrity

Research libraries play a critical role in advocating for laws, policies, and regulations that advance information integrity. This includes ensuring that research security requirements do not inhibit fundamental research; strengthening...

Public Access to Federally Funded Research and Government Information

Numerous federal statutes, executive orders, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars provide agencies with guidance concerning the creation, collection, maintenance, dissemination, and preservation of government information. Ensuring effective...

  • Accelerating Standards for 3D Data to Improve Long-Term Usability

    Accelerating Standards for 3D Data to Improve Long-Term Usability

    Have you ever virtually walked on Mars or ridden a buggy on the moon? Perhaps you’ve viewed 3D images of mastodons or dinosaurs online? If you’ve done any of these...

  • Accelerating the Social Impact of Research (ASIR)

    The social impact of research, whether it is examining educational and economic disparities, developing new medications, or understanding environmental challenges, is a key component of higher education and research institutions...

  • Archives and Special Collections

    Archives, special collections, and libraries share professional responsibility for the unique items in our collections—including records of the institution, the full research materials of its faculty, and rare books and...

  • ARL Positions on Open Access Principles and Practices

    A new openness in scholarly and research environments is transforming how knowledge is created, shared, and sustained. Open practices accelerate the dissemination of scholars’ work and improve its quality, impact,...

  • ARL/CARL Joint Task Force on Research Data Services

    The Association of Research Libraries (ARL)/Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) Joint Task Force on Research Data Services was formed in early 2020 with a two-fold purpose: (1) to demonstrate...

  • Building a Scalable Data-Management Infrastructure for Strategic Institutional Coordination

    In January 2023, 12 of the largest US federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy, joined with the White House...

  • Data Curation Network Makes More Research Data Available to All

    Data Curation Network Makes More Research Data Available to All

    Research data has the most impact when other researchers and the public can find it and use it to build upon the original researcher’s findings. Researchers struggle with sharing their...

  • Digital Scholarship

    ARL member libraries and their institutions’ faculty and students create research in all forms, including digital and data-intensive scholarship, digital humanities, and digital publishing. We offer professional development opportunities for member libraries’...

  • HuMetricsHSS Develops Values-based Scholarly Measures

    HuMetricsHSS Develops Values-based Scholarly Measures

    What would it look like if measures for assessing scholarship embodied humane values like equity, openness, collegiality, quality, and community? Across disciplines, incentives and reward structures in academia are widely...

  • Implementing Effective Data Practices Toolkit

    Implementing Effective Data Practices Toolkit

    This communication toolkit draws upon the outcomes of a 2019 conference, “Implementing Effective Data Practices: A Conference on Collaborative Research Support,” convened by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), California...


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