The state of library publishing in the health sciences in the United States and Canada
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2026.2278Keywords:
library publishing, scholarly communicationAbstract
Objective: Publishing initiatives led by academic libraries have grown over the past decade. They are often involved in the development of innovative publishing models and open initiatives, and a number of library publishers have worked in the health sciences. This study aims to assess the current state of library publishing in the health sciences (HS).
Methods: The Library Publishing Directory survey and Library Publishing Coalition’s member directory were accessed to identify active library publishing programs in the U.S. and Canada. Survey responses on disciplinary specialties and top publications were assessed, and individual publisher websites were accessed to inventory HS titles. Journals were checked for whether they were actively publishing and indexed.
Results: One hundred eighteen survey respondents and 24 additional LPC members were assessed. Twenty-five percent of respondents named an HS subject as a disciplinary specialty, and 20% named an HS title as a top publication. Two hundred seventy-five individual HS titles from 81 different library publishers were identified. Fifty-three percent were journals, 39% open education resources, and 8% monographs. Medicine was the most common field for publications. Seventy-three percent of journals were actively publishing. Of those, 42% were indexed in DOAJ or a major HS database, and just over 10% appeared in PubMed or Scopus.
Conclusions: Library publishers have a track record of working with a wide variety of HS researchers. Indexing of library-published journals is an area for improvement. HS librarians may be able to collaborate with their institutions’ publishing programs to further develop these services and build relationships with researchers.
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