We are proud and delighted to announce the launch of the new specialty section on Digital Scholarship within Frontiers in Digital Humanities. Regius Professor Eileen Scanlon of the Open University is leading the new section as Specialty Chief Editor.

In an age some call the fourth industrial revolution, society is witnessing a surge of technological innovation. It is transforming the way academics work and changing the way they communicate. This new section explores how technology is reinventing the academic landscape, allowing researchers to understand the field, from developments in communication between researchers to the emerging publishing practices and public engagement of the academic community.

As an academic herself, Prof. Scanlon has become aware of the profound impact of the information age and the changes that arise as a result. She tells us she is interested in how this happening, and what the possible consequences of these advancements are.

‘I think that the challenges offered by becoming an open researcher and committed to open science are very exciting.’

On her role as a Specialty Chief Editor, Prof. Scanlon explains her aim is to create a space for interdisciplinary conversations. The section is relevant to education, to human computer interaction and to digital humanities. It will consider the effects of technology at every stage of the academic’s work, from how data is analyzed to the collaborative applications used to communicate by ‘technology-enabled’ teams, through to generating publicity around their research using blogs, films and various social media avenues.

Prof. Scanlon summarized the importance of the link between Digital Scholarship and open access by quoting Martin Weller:

‘He describes a digital scholar as “someone who employs digital, networked and open approaches to demonstrate specialism in a field” (p. 4). It would be perverse to hide away the outcomes of such work by not adopting some form of open access’

Digital Scholarship is now ready to welcome high-quality submissions and Research Topic proposals.