Academic Librarianship and Information Research (ALIR) is a peer-reviewed, open-access quarterly journal published by the Central Library and Documentation Center of the University of Tehran. The journal is dedicated to advancing theoretical knowledge, empirical research, and professional practice in Library and Information Science, with a particular emphasis on academic librarianship and the evolving role of academic libraries in higher education and research ecosystems.
Recognizing academic libraries as essential components of contemporary research and higher education infrastructures, the journal provides a scholarly platform for examining their contributions to knowledge creation, research development, scholarly communication, information access, and the advancement of teaching and learning. It seeks to connect the intellectual foundations of Library and Information Science with emerging institutional, technological, social, and policy developments affecting academic information environments. The journal's specific aims are to:
Advance scholarship in academic librarianship: Promote theoretical, empirical, methodological, and applied research on the evolving roles, responsibilities, functions, and services of academic libraries and university information centers.
Strengthen the relationship between research and practice: Disseminate rigorous, evidence-based findings that inform professional practice, institutional policies, library management, and strategic decision-making in academic and research institutions.
Support research and scholarly communication: Examine the contributions of academic libraries to research support, research information management, open science, scholarly publishing, research visibility, and the dissemination and preservation of knowledge.
Investigate information processes and systems: Advance research on information creation, organization, representation, retrieval, evaluation, access, dissemination, and use within higher education and research contexts.
Explore technological transformation: Examine the implications of artificial intelligence, digital technologies, data-intensive research, and emerging information infrastructures for academic libraries, information professionals, and research communities.
Promote interdisciplinary and international scholarship: Encourage dialogue across Library and Information Science, higher education, research policy, information technology, knowledge management, and related disciplines, with particular emphasis on comparative, cross-cultural, and internationally relevant research.
Contribute to professional and institutional development: Provide a forum for critical reflection, innovative approaches, and scholarly debate that support the development of academic librarians, information specialists, researchers, and university information services.
The journal welcomes original research articles, theoretical and conceptual papers, systematic and scoping reviews, methodological contributions, comparative studies, case studies, and critical commentaries addressing the theoretical, empirical, and practical dimensions of Library and Information Science, particularly in academic and research environments. Its scope encompasses, but is not limited to, the following research areas:
Missions, roles, functions, and strategic development of academic and research libraries
Academic library management, leadership, governance, organizational structures, and institutional policies
Collection development, resource management, acquisitions, and access to scholarly resources
Library assessment, performance measurement, quality assurance, impact evaluation, and evidence-based librarianship
Academic library marketing, economics, entrepreneurship, and resource allocation
Library spaces, learning environments, user engagement, and the transformation of physical and virtual library services
Professional roles, competencies, education, and continuing development of academic librarians
Research librarianship, subject librarianship, and liaison services
Professional identity, leadership, ethics, and changing responsibilities of information professionals
Academic library staff development, organizational learning, and knowledge management
Collaboration between librarians, faculty members, researchers, and university administrators
Research support services and research information management
Scholarly communication, academic publishing, and open-access models
Open science, open research infrastructures, and institutional open-access policies
Research data management, data curation, sharing, and preservation
Institutional repositories, research information systems, and scholarly profiles
Research visibility, scholarly impact, and the dissemination of research outputs
Research evaluation, bibliometrics, scientometrics, informetrics, altmetrics, and citation analysis
Information needs, seeking, retrieval, use, and sharing behaviors of students, faculty, and researchers
Information literacy, research literacy, digital literacy, and data literacy
User studies, user experience, information practices, and user-centered service design
Reference services, research consultations, and personalized information services
Information engagement, scholarly collaboration, and knowledge-sharing practices
Cognitive, social, cultural, and organizational dimensions of information behavior
Cataloguing, classification, indexing, abstracting, and subject analysis
Metadata standards, bibliographic control, and resource description
Knowledge organization systems, controlled vocabularies, taxonomies, thesauri, and ontologies
Semantic representation, linked data, knowledge graphs, and semantic interoperability
Information retrieval models, search systems, algorithms, and evaluation
Information architecture, digital content organization, and resource discovery
Artificial intelligence, generative AI, large language models, and machine learning in academic libraries
Intelligent information systems, automation, and robotic applications in library services
Digital libraries, electronic resource management, and digital repositories
Cloud computing, linked data, semantic technologies, and interoperable information systems
Research infrastructures, digital scholarship, and computational approaches to research
Digital preservation, information security, privacy, and technological governance
The ethical, social, organizational, and professional implications of emerging technologies
Information policies and governance in higher education and research institutions
Intellectual freedom, copyright, intellectual property, and licensing
Information ethics, privacy, confidentiality, and responsible information use
Information access, equity, inclusion, and the digital divide
Social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions of information
The role of information institutions in knowledge societies and sustainable development
Academic Management Information Systems (AMIS) and university information infrastructures
Library management systems, integrated library systems, and discovery platforms
Research analytics, learning analytics, and data-driven decision-making
Information economics, information marketing, and the management of digital resources
Evaluation of information systems, services, technologies, and institutional performance
Historical development of academic libraries, librarianship, and university information services
Comparative studies of academic libraries and research institutions across countries and regions
International developments, policies, and trends in academic librarianship
Interdisciplinary research connecting Library and Information Science with higher education, research policy, communication studies, information technology, and knowledge management
Future-oriented studies on academic libraries, research environments, and the transformation of scholarly knowledge infrastructures
Although grounded in the intellectual traditions of Library and Information Science, ALIR encourages research that addresses challenges and developments extending beyond particular national, institutional, or geographical contexts. The journal particularly welcomes comparative and cross-national studies, international collaborations, and interdisciplinary investigations that generate transferable theoretical, methodological, or practical insights for the global academic and research community.
The journal values contributions that connect local and regional experiences with broader international debates and demonstrate the relevance of their findings to academic libraries, research institutions, and higher education systems in different contexts.
ALIR considers original research articles, theoretical and conceptual papers, systematic and scoping reviews, methodological studies, comparative investigations, case studies, and critical commentaries. Submissions should demonstrate methodological rigor, originality, a clear contribution to existing scholarship, and relevance to the journal's aims and scope. All manuscripts are subject to double-blind peer review to ensure scholarly quality, academic integrity, and relevance.