Research and Scholarship Defined for portal: Libraries and the Academy

This essay serves to explain in some detail the definition of scholarship that the editorial board of portal: Libraries and the Academy applies when evaluating articles and assessing whether they are worthy of publication in our pages. It should be read in the larger context of the mission and purpose of portal that is defined in our front matter. I want to thank the board for its comments and formal adoption of this statement at our meeting during the 2004 annual conference of the American Library Association. At the same time, any failings of this essay are my own. The main categories of scholarship that are the framework for our definition are the scholarships of discovery, integration, application, and teaching. This issue of portal contains a strong thematic core of articles about the utilization of problem-based learning for teaching information literacy. Thus, it focuses on the fourth type of scholarship— one that is often not taken as seriously as it should be. This thematic focus is also a departure for portal that we intend to formalize. It is the editorial board’s intention that we take the opportunity that theme issues offer, from time to time, to have deeper, more extended, and critical discussions of important issues that are derived from research. In contrast, our editorial features will continue to emphasize opinion and commentary.