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About This Journal

Contents

Aims and Scope

Communications in Information Literacy (CIL) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the advancement of information literacy research, practice, theory, and opinion. The journal’s primary focus is information literacy in higher education. We will also consider manuscripts about information literacy in related settings if there is a clear connection to the postsecondary environment. We welcome manuscripts on teaching and learning, innovations, theory and application, assessment, history, or any other relevant aspects of information literacy. CIL is intended for librarians, educators, and scholars from all disciplines who teach or research aspects of information literacy. It is recommended that prospective authors query the CIL editors before submitting their works, but that is not a requirement.

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Publication Schedule and Submission Deadlines

CIL is a semi-annual publication, and its volumes are based on a calendar year. Issue number 1 for each volume (spring issue) is published during the month of June, and issue number 2 (fall issue) is released in December.

CIL accepts manuscripts on an ongoing basis. To be considered for the spring issue of any volume, manuscripts must be submitted by the first Friday of February for that publication year. To be considered for the fall issue, manuscripts must be submitted by the first Friday of August for that publication year. The editors reserve the right to modify this schedule to accommodate workflow needs, themed issues, or other matters affecting the publication cycle.

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Section Policies

Research Articles

This section of CIL includes peer-reviewed feature articles, which may be research-based or theoretical in nature. Research papers published in this section are those that include standard elements of an academic study: introduction, literature review, methods, results, findings, etc. Theoretical works published in this section are those that interrogate existing literature to advance, debunk, or revise a particular theory. Manuscripts that use theory as an application or to give context to what is being presented or argued are more fitting in other sections of the journal. Literature review papers are generally discouraged, but those including rigorous, in-depth investigation and noteworthy conclusions will be considered. The primary audiences for articles in this section are academic librarians and library educators, but we encourage contributions from all academic disciplines and from institutional administrators. Please send queries to the editors at editors@comminfolit.org.

[Research articles are peer-reviewed and indexed. Submissions are always welcomed.]

Innovative Practices

This section of CIL presents peer-reviewed case studies that report on innovative information literacy instruction practices that are relevant to higher education contexts. The primary audiences for this section are academic librarians and other library personnel and educators who are engaged in information literacy instruction. Submissions for this section should therefore foreground information literacy innovations and their actual or potential contributions to professional practice and to teaching and learning.

Innovations that are explored in this section may occur in a wide range of higher education contexts, including but also extending beyond in-person, classroom-based information literacy instruction. When articulating innovative practices, authors are encouraged to consider librarians’ evolving instructional roles. The section editors are particularly interested in innovation approaches that reflect the authors’ sensitivity and responsiveness to local contexts. Authors are invited to be critically reflective about the impact, the possibilities, and the challenges that they experience with their innovative projects at the local level, as well as how their experiences might help to inform reflective and innovative practices in other environments.

Manuscripts should be no more than 5,000 words and will ideally include the following:

  • Explanation of what makes the reported project/practice innovative
  • Reflection on practice and on lessons learned
  • Description of the context of the innovative practice (e.g., instructional environment or institution, target population, project purpose, collaborators)
  • Significance that the innovation may have to academic librarians and other library personnel and educators
  • Reference to related practices or discussions that help to situate the relevance of the innovative approach (e.g., publications, online discussions, conferences)
  • Considerations for readers who might adapt the project to other contexts
  • Assessment of the project and/or possible approaches to future assessment. (While submissions will ideally include clear evidence of the impact of the project, articles that discuss less formal assessment modes or plans for future assessment are also welcome.)
  • If appropriate, indication that an Institutional/Ethical Review Board has reviewed and approved the publication of data or findings

Please send queries to the editors at innovativepractices@comminfolit.org.

[Innovative Practices papers are peer-reviewed and indexed. Submissions are always welcomed.]

Perspectives

This section of CIL consists of provocative and thoughtful essays on various aspects of information literacy in academic libraries. These pieces are not peer-reviewed, but may be further developed or revised in conversation with our section editor.

Perspectives articles typically have a central idea or argument that focuses and drives them. A compelling Perspectives article is thoughtfully developed and clearly connected to library teaching practice. While these articles may have a less formal tone than Research and Innovative Practices articles, they are supported by evidence and analysis, which may be developed through different ways of knowing, including personal or collective experiences, reflective practice, empirical research, theory, or public discourse.

Please see the recent editorial "Perspective-Taking and Perspectival Expansions" to read more of the section editor’s thoughts about and hopes for Perspectives.

Inquiries are welcome. If you are considering such a piece, please contact the section editor, Andrea Baer, at baera@rowan.edu.

Book Reviews

This section contains reviews of books related to theory, research, and practice in the area of information literacy. The book titles reviewed in this section may be theoretical, research based, or offer pragmatic support of practice. Both the books and their reviews should speak to librarians and other professionals (student support staff, administrators, course instructors, or others) in higher education, who are concerned with teaching and learning. The section editor position is currently vacant.

[Book reviews are indexed, but not peer-reviewed. Book review submissions are by invitation only.]

Editorials

This section of CIL includes essays written by the editors as they pertain to the state of the journal or current events in the discipline. This section also includes invited works and regularly contributed columns.

[Editorials are indexed, but not peer-reviewed. Editorial submissions are by invitation only]

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Journal Policies

Artificial intelligence (AI): Please refer to Authorship and AI Tools section of the CIL's Author Guidelines page.

Conference proceedings: CIL does not publish special issues devoted to conference proceedings. Thematic issues are developed exclusively at the discretion of the Editorial Team. CIL readers who wish to propose thematic issues may query the editors with their ideas: editors@comminfolit.org.

Conflicts of interest: CIL does not accept manuscripts submitted with commercial intent. Authors must reveal to the editors any potential conflicts of interest that may influence a manuscript's content or may be affected by publication. Authors must disclose any commercial associations, contractual relations, proprietary considerations, or personal relationships that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the manuscript.

Conflicts of values: CIL is a values-based scholarly journal. Manuscript submissions which include aspects that run counter to any of the principles articulated in the journal’s Statement of Values will be declined.

Name changes: The editors of CIL are committed to respecting the rights and identities of authors. Name changes are available to authors upon request. Upon receiving a name change request, the editors will update all metadata, published content, and associated records under their control. The editors will not request reasons for the name change; however, they may require other relevant information (e.g., clarification of an article citation) to make the necessary changes. To submit a name change request, please email the editors: editors@comminfolit.org.

Peer Reviews: In the spirit of openness that guides CIL’s operations, manuscript reviewers are copied on the editorial decisions sent to authors, and they will have access to the blinded versions of all the reviews associated with those submissions. The editors retain the right to exclude or redact manuscript reviews deemed to be unhelpful or inappropriate.

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Editorial Review

Manuscript submissions undergo an initial editorial review to determine whether they are in scope, if they meet CIL's standards of quality, and whether they have sufficient potential as additions to the literature. Those that meet these criteria are forwarded for peer review. Those that do not are declined. Authors are notified either way.

The CIL team places a premium on the human aspects of editorial work. Accordingly, artificial intelligence tools are not used in any part of the editorial process.

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Peer Review

CIL's peer review process is double blind. Reviews generally take six to eight weeks to be completed. Authors are notified promptly when an editorial decision is made. Manuscripts are not returned unless they have been accepted for publication and revisions are required. Accepted manuscripts are published according to the journal's publication schedule.

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Open Access

CIL is an open access journal in the truest sense; there are no article processing charges or other regressive fees associated with authorship or publication.

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CIL authors retain ownership of their published works. Authors extend to CIL the right to redistribute published works by way of indices, archives, bibliographic databases, and other relevant sources. This extension allows the authors' copyrighted content to be included in some sources maintained by for-profit profit companies. All other rights of redistribution are licensed by CIL under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

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Indexing and Availability

CIL's published content is openly available on the free web. Published works are also indexed in the following sources:

  • Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics)
  • ERIC: Educational Resources Information Center
  • Google Scholar
  • Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (EBSCO)
  • Library Literature and Information Science Full Text (EBSCO)
  • LISA: Library and Information Science Abstracts (ProQuest)
  • SCOPUS (Elsevier)
  • Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics)

CIL is listed or cataloged in the following sources:

  • Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Technology and Library Science
  • Public Knowledge Project
  • Sherpa Romeo
  • Ulrichsweb: Global Serials Directory
  • WorldCat (OCLC)

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Archiving

CIL is archived in the following places:

  • Library of Congress
  • PDXScholar

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Journal Management and Principal Contacts

CIL is an independently published scholarly journal; it is managed by the Editors-in-Chief listed below:

  • Christopher Hollister, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, United States
  • Allison Hosier, University at Albany, State University of New York, United States
  • April Schweikhard, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, United States
  • Jacqulyn Ann Williams, Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar and United States

Manuscript and submission-related queries should be directed to the appropriate editor(s), which are listed in CIL’s Section Policies. General queries may be submitted to editors@comminfolit.org or sent to the journal’s administrative mailing address:

Communications in Information Literacy
c/o Christopher Hollister
324 Lockwood Memorial Library
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260

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