EDITORIAL Hypothesis Vol. 32 No.1 Fall/Winter 2020 Erin D. Foster, MSLS Co-Editor Service Lead, Research Data Management Program University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA Margaret Hoogland, MLS, AHIP Co-Editor Assistant Professor, Clinical Medical Librarian Mulford Health Science Library University of Toledo Toledo, OH Carol L. Perryman, MLIS, PhD Co-Editor Associate Professor School of Library and Information Studies Texas Woman’s University Denton, TX We at Hypothesis want to start by saying that we hope you and your families, friends, colleagues, and all loved ones are doing well (or as well as can be expected) during this time. As co-editors, we acknowledge that this has been a time of great challenge for those in our community and beyond. In June, Research Caucus Chair Alexander Carroll released a message of solidarity in support of our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) library community members. The statement charged Research Caucus members to recognize “how [our] systems and services reflect and reinforce systemic inequality, and [ask] what can we do to reform those systems to create more equitable libraries, institutions, and communities?” We strongly encourage you to read this statement (published in this issue as an Invited Commentary) if you have not had the opportunity. Hypothesis welcomes submissions (across any of our submission types) that actively engage with these questions and contribute to efforts to dismantle systems of oppression within the (medical) library community and our society at large. In addition to the ongoing fight for social justice, many within our community have been, and continue to be, affected by the global pandemic. Library budgets across http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/submissions EDITORIAL Hypothesis Vol. 32 No.1 Fall/Winter 2020 institutions have been cut and many of us know colleagues/friends who have lost their jobs. In such a time of uncertainty and stress, Hypothesis wants to publish research or perspectives (i.e., Voices of Experience) that highlight the work and value of information professionals - now more than ever. Finally, cheers to our second issue published on the OJS platform! We continue to improve our processes - from submission to publication - to best highlight the work of our authors and showcase the amazing research of health sciences librarians/information professionals. We are grateful for those that submit manuscripts and, as always, for our readership. Read on to learn more about recent (exciting) journal developments and to get brief overviews of this issue’s content. Welcoming Our New Co-Editor, Margaret Hoogland We’re delighted to welcome Co-Editor, Margaret Hoogland! Employed at the University of Toledo Libraries as the Clinical Medical Librarian, Margaret formerly served as the MLA Research Section Community Manager (with a job description that starts with ‘other duties as assigned’ and goes on from there), Margaret’s deep knowledge of MLA as an organization brings great value to this publication, and her involvement in the efforts of getting Hypothesis indexed and uploading back issues continues to be invaluable to us. Research Caucus 2020 Research Awards As always, we are excited to showcase those that received Research Awards for excellent research papers or posters presented at the annual MLA meeting. This year the Research Caucus also awarded its biannual award for JMLA Best Research Paper for a paper published in JMLA between 2017-2019. Congratulations to these awardees and all the great research conducted! New Column - Methods Moment Also new to Hypothesis is Methods Moment, an edited column focused on research methods. The column is the brain child of Nina Exner, Virginia Commonwealth University Research Data Librarian, who contributed a piece for the inaugural column on case studies, providing the benefit of her considerable research experience. Feel free to contact Nina with suggestions if there’s a research methodology you’d like to see explored - or if you, yourself would like to write a focused piece on a methodology to help others benefit from your own experience. Learn about submission criteria here. Methods Moment - Case Studies Since librarians often earn their MLS with little or no exposure to actually performing research, it’s no surprise that our most frequently used method is the survey. http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/submissions http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/submissions https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/submissions EDITORIAL Hypothesis Vol. 32 No.1 Fall/Winter 2020 Learn with column editor Nina Exner about other methods to enhance your practice and publication record. And if you’re not aware of it, MLA has a number of research mentors to help get your own research accomplished, whether you’re new to librarianship - or just new to a method of research. Voices of Experience - Sharing Research Data to Comply with a Journal Policy Marianne D. Burke enumerates lessons learned for the benefit of others (either novices to the process or current data librarians) entering the territory of open data policy compliance, particularly for LIS research during an era where it’s all still being developed. Hypothesis: Failure - Challenges of the Two-Year Manuscript The honesty of author Jolene M. Miller in reflecting on the writing process encourages our own thoughts with a well-written overview of reflective methods, enhancing this tale of a journey toward publication. Research - Expanding a Single-Institution Survey to Multiple Institutions Erin R.B. Eldermire, et al, discuss the challenges of getting not only Institutional Review Board approval to do a study but also how research approval policies and permissions for distributing studies vary by location. Despite these challenges, the team feels that multi-institutional studies are worthwhile endeavors. Research - Factors Affecting Clinical Referrals to the Medical Library Liz Kellermeyer, who writes about the results of her 2018 Medical Library Association - Research Training Institute project, and Matthew Strand collaborated to investigate barriers preventing health providers from referring patients to the library. Of the population surveyed, the primary barrier was lack of knowledge about the library services and ways to refer patients to the library. Kellermeyer and Strand acknowledge that these are identified barriers for a single hospital, but future studies could investigate barriers at standalone hospitals or hospital systems. Additionally, hospital libraries could explore the capability of making library referrals an option within the Electronic Health Record system. Introducing Our New Hypothesis Team Members We’ve been growing! The Hypothesis team now consists of our Editorial team, but also a Peer Review Team headed by Kimberly Powell, a Social Media team led by Danielle Aloia and Amy Reyes, a Copyediting team led by Andrea Ball and Heather Healey, and a number of contributing team members - see the full list of team members on our journal site (link). http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/editorialTeam EDITORIAL Hypothesis Vol. 32 No.1 Fall/Winter 2020 Back Issue Import and Call for Tech Team Members Hypothesis now has the first two published issues from 1987 and 1988 on the journal website! We hope to make more issues available, and even individual articles, where appropriate. We plan to consider ways for streamlining our indexing processes. Another goal is to get Hypothesis listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals. To be consistent and to achieve these goals, we are forming a Tech Team, which will work directly with Margaret Hoogland. If anything in the above description calls your name, please email mlarshypothesis@gmail.com to schedule a brief meeting (15-30 minutes) with the Co-Editors. In summary As co-editors, we hope you enjoy Vol. 32, No. 1 of Hypothesis: Journal of the Research Caucus! Join us on this journey: submit, read, and share what you find in our pages. mailto:mlarshypothesis@gmail.com Welcoming Our New Co-Editor, Margaret Hoogland Research Caucus 2020 Research Awards New Column - Methods Moment Methods Moment - Case Studies Voices of Experience - Sharing Research Data to Comply with a Journal Policy Hypothesis: Failure - Challenges of the Two-Year Manuscript Research - Expanding a Single-Institution Survey to Multiple Institutions Research - Factors Affecting Clinical Referrals to the Medical Library Introducing Our New Hypothesis Team Members Back Issue Import and Call for Tech Team Members