Scientific information transfer: a conceptual model for scientific communication in IranDoc

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to design a conceptual model for the scholarly communication system in the Iranian Research Institute for Scientific Information and Documentation (IranDoc).Design/methodology/approachSome models have been developed to describe the scholarly communication process in different contexts but few considered this process from the organizational point of view. In the model, the organizational structure of scientific communication in IranDoc was considered. This model has four levels:, e.g. person‐to‐persons (P2P) scientific communication, person‐to‐organizations (P2O) scientific communication, organization‐to‐organizations (O2O) scientific communication, and organization‐to‐persons (O2P) scientific communication.FindingsA conceptual model for scholarly communication within IranDoc is designed. Scientific and research institutions can establish their scholarly communication system by customizing the model.Research limitations/implicationsThe model is fairly conceptual and does not refer to technological aspects of the system. The implementation implications of the model are also not considered, so it could not be used directly in action. As it has been developed specifically for IranDoc, it may need some revisions to be used in other contexts.Originality/valueCompared to the earlier models, the main differences and innovations in the model are: its organizational structure; detailed functions of the organizational scholarly‐communication; researcher based approach of the model; and different and new levels of the model analysis. This model can be applied in research institutions and generalized to those institutions in which information plays an important role.