The DOI for Scholarly Publishing recognized as the inaugural winner of the Rosenblum Award for Scholarly Publishing Impact
Monday, February 10, 2025 The Rosenblum Award for Scholarly Publishing Impact, a joint collaboration among the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), the Association of University Presses (AUPresses), the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP), and the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM), celebrates innovations that have transformed scholarly publishing, has announced the DOI for Scholarly Publishing as its inaugural winner.
The Rosenblum Award for Scholarly Publishing Impact celebrates and preserves the historical record of innovations that have had a major impact on scholarly communications, focusing on technologies, standards, or practices that have become an indispensable component of the scholarly publishing ecosystem. The award does not recognize individuals or organizations directly, nor does it carry a monetary prize. Instead, it honors elements of the ecosystem that enable the production, dissemination, and collaboration essential to scholarly communication.
The award was created in memory of industry trailblazer Bruce Rosenblum, renowned for his expertise in developing Document Type Definitions (DTDs), championing XML standards, and facilitating sophisticated editorial practices. This collaboration between the five main membership bodies in scholarly publishing is the first-ever such collaborative activity of these organizations.
Why the DOI for Scholarly Publishing was selected as the first recipient
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for Scholarly Publishing was the clear choice as the initial recipient of the Award. Over the past three decades, since its adoption by Crossref, the DOI has become a critical feature of the connective ecosystem for scholarly outputs of all types. DOIs ensure that research objects are always discoverable, even if web structures change or content moves. This is extremely important for researchers and the integrity of the scholarly ecosystem. The availability of DOI metadata facilitates many other back-end information management systems, such as holdings and appropriate-copy resolution via related standards such as OpenURL. Simplified reference management tools, assessment measurement, new forms of relational search, and other applications centered on DOI metadata were built upon this infrastructure. The DOI system soon extended into new domains, such as DataCite’s identification of data sets. By driving attention to the value of persistent linking and a robust resolution service, the DOI for Scholarly Publishing has vastly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of scholarly communications.
Showcasing industry innovations through collaborative partnerships
This initiative has taken 18 months of collaboration by its five sponsoring organizations within two committees. The Award Governance Committee is made up of the leaders of the five organizations: Caroline Sutton, CEO of STM; Melanie Dolechek, Executive Director of SSP; Peter Berkery, Executive Director of AUPresses; Todd Carpenter, Executive Director of NISO; and Wayne Sime, CEO of ALPSP. Each body has two representatives forming the Award Planning and Piloting Committee, which currently includes Annette Windhorn and Charles Watkinson (AUPresses), Eefke Smit and IJsbrand Jan Aalbersberg (STM), Lou Peck and Louise Russell (ALPSP), Mary Beth Barilla (replacing Nettie Lagace, no longer with NISO) and Todd Carpenter (NISO), and Simon Holt and Yael Fitzpatrick (SSP). Bill Kasdorf is the convenor and facilitator of both committees.
The Award Planning and Piloting Committee will develop an informative program about the DOI for Scholarly Publishing in 2025 and facilitate conversations about its history, impact, and potential. The Committee will go on to select and promote additional recipients each year.
Notes to Editors
For press and media inquiries, please contact Bill Kasdorf at kasdorf.bill@gmail.com.
Quotations can be taken directly from the Rosenblum Award for Scholarly Publishing Impact video, which features Caroline Sutton, CEO of STM; Melanie Dolechek, Executive Director of SSP; Peter Berkery, Executive Director of AUPresses; Todd Carpenter, Executive Director of NISO; and Wayne Sime, CEO of ALPSP.