International Journal of Digital Curation

International Journal of Digital Curation
Title	International Journal of Digital Curation
Discipline	Digital curation, archival science, information science
Abbreviation	Int. J. Digit. Curation
Publisher	University of Edinburgh / UK Data Service
Country	United Kingdom
Frequency	Biannual
History	2006–present
Issn	1746-8256

International Journal of Digital Curation The International Journal of Digital Curation is a peer-reviewed open-access periodical focusing on the preservation, management, and stewardship of digital materials in research, cultural heritage, and scientific contexts. It serves as a forum for scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers from archival institutions, libraries, research institutes, and funding agencies to publish empirical studies, methodological advances, and case studies. The journal connects communities across repositories, museums, and data infrastructures to advance standards, tools, and training in long-term digital preservation.

History

The journal was established in 2006 amid initiatives led by the Digital Curation Centre, the Joint Information Systems Committee, and collaborators at the University of Edinburgh and the UK Data Archive. Early contributors included staff from the British Library, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress, reflecting links to projects funded by the European Commission, the Wellcome Trust, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Over successive editorial terms the journal has documented intersections with initiatives such as the OAIS Reference Model, the Research Data Alliance, the Digital Preservation Coalition, and national efforts like the Netherlands Coalition for Digital Preservation and the Australian National Data Service.

Scope and Content

The journal covers topics spanning data lifecycle management, metadata standards, digital repositories, and preservation policy, engaging audiences from the archival community at the Smithsonian Institution, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the National Diet Library to research infrastructures including CERN, the European Space Agency, and the Human Genome Project. Contributions address technical systems like LOCKSS, DSpace, Fedora Commons, and Archivematica, standards such as PREMIS, METS, Dublin Core, and ISO 14721, and policy frameworks linked to funders like the Wellcome Trust, the National Science Foundation, and the European Research Council. Interdisciplinary work connects with scholars and institutions associated with UNESCO, IFLA, the British Museum, the Getty Research Institute, and the International Council on Archives.

Editorial and Publication Details

The editorial board has historically comprised researchers and practitioners affiliated with universities and institutions such as the University of Edinburgh, University College London, the University of Michigan, Stanford University, Harvard University, and the University of Toronto, as well as representation from the UK Data Service, DataCite, JISC, and the Digital Preservation Coalition. The journal employs peer review practices aligned with guidelines from COPE and the Committee on Publication Ethics, and publishes articles, technical notes, tutorials, and special issues coordinated by guest editors from organizations like the Open Data Institute, the Internet Archive, and the Library of Congress.

Abstracting and Indexing

Articles from the journal are indexed and discoverable via scholarly and professional services associated with ProQuest, Scopus, the Directory of Open Access Journals, EBSCOhost, and Google Scholar, and are catalogued in systems used by national libraries such as the British Library, the Library of Congress, and the National Library of Australia. Citations appear in bibliographies and databases supporting cross-disciplinary discovery with ties to Web of Science, RePEc, and disciplinary repositories such as arXiv and PubMed Central when interdisciplinary topics overlap with biomedical data stewardship.

Impact and Reception

The journal has been cited by policy reports and guidance produced by the Research Data Alliance, the Digital Preservation Coalition, the European Commission, the National Archives (UK), and the State Library of New South Wales, influencing practice at institutions including the British Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Getty Conservation Institute. Academic reception spans literature in information science journals published by Elsevier and Taylor & Francis, monographs from Routledge and MIT Press, and conference proceedings from events such as iPres, PIDapalooza, and the International Council on Archives Congress.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Special issues have addressed themes organized with collaborators such as DataCite, the Research Data Alliance, the Digital Preservation Coalition, and the Open Data Institute, bringing together case studies from CERN, the Human Genome Project, the Smithsonian Institution, the British Library, and the Australian National Data Service. Notable articles have explored implementations of PREMIS and METS at institutions like the National Archives (UK) and the Library of Congress, evaluations of repository software at universities such as Stanford and Cambridge, and policy analyses informed by funders including the Wellcome Trust and the National Science Foundation.

Access and Licensing

The journal is published as open access under liberal licensing terms compatible with widespread reuse by researchers, librarians, and cultural heritage professionals from institutions including the University of Edinburgh, the UK Data Service, the Open Knowledge Foundation, and the Creative Commons community. Content supports pedagogical use in workshops and courses offered by organizations such as the Digital Preservation Coalition, the Open Data Institute, the Software Sustainability Institute, and university programs at University College London and the University of Michigan.

Category:Academic journals Category:Open access journals Category:Library and information science journals