Blind spots in scholarly infrastructure: rethinking the role of university journals

Presentation to PUBMET2025 - The 12th Conference on Scholarly Communication in the Context of Open Science. University journals are a distinct, yet often overlooked, category of scholarly publishing that is closely tied to the missions of higher education institutions. They operate under various organisational models, which are shaped by different historical contexts, national policies, legal frameworks, institutional cultures and available resources. Despite their potential to disseminate knowledge and support disciplinary communities, university journals are often overlooked in policy frameworks, indexing systems and scholarly communication research. This project aims to reframe and examine them conceptually and empirically in order to develop recommendations that will enhance their visibility, legitimacy and sustainability within the global scholarly communication system.