Call for Papers: Special Issue on Electronic Resources in Transition: Emerging Trends and New Directions

2026-10-20

Call for Papers: Electronic Resources in Transition: Emerging Trends and New Directions

 

Overview

The International Journal of Librarianship (IJoL)—published by the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA)—invites researchers, scholars, and library practitioners to submit original manuscripts exploring the evolving ecosystem of electronic resources in libraries worldwide. As digital environments become increasingly complex, libraries across academic, public, school, and special sectors face new challenges in acquisition, licensing, discovery, equity, and access.

We invite research studies, case studies, projects and reports, and accounts of successful initiatives as well as challenges encountered from libraries of all types and sizes. Submissions offering practical lessons, transferable strategies, and international or comparative perspectives are especially encouraged.

Suggested Topics & Scope

We welcome global and cross-institutional perspectives on topics including, but not limited to:

  • Electronic resource management, acquisition, and collection development
  • Licensing, vendor relations, pricing, and negotiation strategies
  • Usage statistics, assessment, analytics, and collection value
  • AI-powered databases, discovery, and research tools
  • Accessibility, equity, and inclusive access
  • Discovery systems, authentication, and user experience
  • Open access and emerging scholarly communication models
  • E-books, databases, streaming media, and emerging digital formats
  • Privacy, ethics, and data governance
  • Automation, workflow innovation, and emerging technologies
  • International and comparative perspectives on electronic resources
  • The future of electronic resource management and scholarly discovery

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • Manuscript Submission Deadline: January 31, 2027
  • Peer Review Decisions: March 31, 2027
  • Target Publication Date: June 2027

 Submission Guidelines

All Papers Must Include:

  1. Title: Concise and descriptive.
  2. Abstract: 50 - 200 words.
  3. Keywords: 4 - 6 terms.
  4. Format: Follow APA 7th edition style in general, and Author Guideline from the journal website in particular.
  5. Generative AI Policy: Authors must disclose if and how generative AI tools were used in the preparation of the manuscript. AI tools may be used only for language improvement and grammar correction prior to submission. AI cannot be listed as a co-author.
  6. Note: When submitting your paper, please leave a note in the comment area specifying that the submission is for the ER special issue.

 

Submit your paper to: https://journal.calaijol.org/index.php/ijol/about/submissions

Inquiries: Jia Mi - jmi@tcnj.edu (Guest Editor); or Yongming Wang - wangyo@tcnj.edu (IJoL Editor-in-Chief)