Unlike the other pages, this page is not meant to guide you through your assignment. It's meant to give you just a little information about the scholarly publishing cycle. You may find it useful to skim over these items before you begin your critical analysis of abstracts and publications.

As a user of academic databases, you have already engaged a little with a part of this cycle: the dissemination and access of published materials. 

Scholars sometimes challenge traditional ways of publishing, and the current systems are seen as controversial by many; so, if you are interested, you are encouraged to dig deeper and to read more about how your particular area handles publishing. 

Diagram showing the Scholarly Communications Cycle. ACRL Scholarly Communication Toolkit. Association of College & Research Libraries. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. 

Other libraries have compiled more in-depth guides on these topics for scholars. Explore them in the list below: 

Dr. Singh, a psychology professor, breaks down the difference between traditional journals and open access journals. In the process, he explains who pays for publication, the significance of citations for academics, and red flags for predatory journals. 

This video by the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library gives a great introduction into the scholarly publishing cycle. It is more geared towards scholars in the sciences and social sciences, but also refers to the humanities briefly.