Professor
Stephen
Pinfield

MA (Cambridge), MA (London), PhD (Nottingham), PGCert (Sheffield), MCLIP, FHEA

School of Information, Journalism and Communication

Professor of Information Services Management

Senior Research Fellow at the Research on Research Institute (RoRI)

Professor Stephen Pinfield
Profile picture of Professor Stephen Pinfield
s.pinfield@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 2649
Room C231, The Wave

Full contact details

Professor Stephen Pinfield
School of Information, Journalism and Communication

Room C231
The Wave
2 Whitham Road

Sheffield

S10 2AH

Profile

I joined the School in 2012, having previously worked as a senior information practitioner in the UK Higher Education sector. Latterly, I was Chief Information Officer at the University of Nottingham with responsibility for a large converged IT and library service supporting Nottingham’s campuses in the UK, China and Malaysia. I have experience of leading a wide range of research-and-development projects and participating in national policy initiatives, and bring this experience to bear on my research and teaching. My main research and teaching interests focus on scholarly communication, research data management, open access and open science, digital scholarship, research policy, and managing information and technology services in organisations. I am Senior Research Fellow at the Research on Research Institute (RoRI), an international collaboration carrying out translational research on the research system. I am an Editor of MetaROR
(MetaResearch Open Review).

University Responsibilities

  • Senior Research Fellow at the Research on Research Institute (RoRI)
  • Module Lead:
    • Academic and Workplace Library, Information and Knowledge Services (IJC464 and IJC469)
  • Member of the University Open Research Advisory Group.
  • Member of the School Information and Organisations Research Cluster.
Research interests

My research interests focus on scholarly communication, open access and open science, research data management, digital scholarship, digital information resources management, research evaluation and policy, and managing information and technology services in organisations. Recently, this has included work on open-access publishing and dissemination, peer review, and higher education research policy. I work at the intersection between technology deployment, policy development, and cultural practices, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Much of this has to date concentrated on applied areas, stemming from my professional background as an information services manager before moving into an academic role. I have, however, combined this with working with a number of theoretical models in order to understand patterns of uptake of innovative approaches to scholarship and communication. I am interested in the relationship between theory and practice, and in how researchers interact with practitioners in information-related and knowledge-producing organisations.

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Books

Journal articles

Conference proceedings

  • Cui C, Pinfield S, Cox A & Hopfgartner F (2023) Participatory web archiving: multifaceted challenges. Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity: 18th International Conference, iConference 2023, Virtual Event, March 13–17, 2023, Proceedings, Part I, Vol. LNCS 13971 (pp 79-87). Virtual conference, 13 March 2023 - 13 March 2023. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download

Reports

Working papers

Preprints

All publications

Books

Journal articles

Book chapters

  • Pinfield S (2024) Scientific openness as a starting point, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 28-40). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2024) Critique of global open access, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 15-27). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2024) Epistemic openness and critical realism, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 78-92). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2024) Conclusion, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 112-117). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2024) Introduction, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 1-14). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2024) Participatory openness and enabling inclusion, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 93-111). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2024) Epistemic openness and knowledge-based oppression, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 54-69). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2024) Epistemic openness and the “ecologies of knowledges”, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 70-77). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2024) Epistemic openness and constructionism, Achieving Global Open Access (pp. 41-53). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2007) Libraries and open access: the implications of open-access publishing and dissemination for libraries in higher education institutions In Earnshaw RA & Vince JA (Ed.), Digital convergence – libraries of the future (pp. 119-134). New York: Springer. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2005) Self archiving publications In Gorman GE & Rowland F (Ed.), Scholarly publishing in an electronic era (pp. 118-145). London: Facet Publishing. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2004) eLib in retrospect: a national strategy for digital library development in the 1990s In Andrews J & Law D (Ed.), Digital libraries: policy, planning and practice (pp. 19-34). Aldershot: Ashgate. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pinfield S (2002) The relationship between national and institutional electronic library developments in the UK: an overview In Ershova TV & Hohlov YE (Ed.), Libraries in the information society (pp. 134-148). Munich: KG Saur. RIS download Bibtex download

Conference proceedings

Reports

Posters

  • Wakeling S, Pinfield S, David B & Lyn R (2019) The use of theory in research relating to open access: Practitioner perspectives. Association for Information Science and Technology conference. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ebenezer CM, Bath PA & Pinfield S (2015) “Access denied”? Managing access to the World Wide Web within the National Health Service (NHS) in England: technology, risk, culture, policy and practice. ISHIMR, York, UK. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download

Working papers

Datasets

Presentations

Other

  • Pinfield S & Brasil A (2025) MetaROR. RIS download Bibtex download

Preprints

Research group

Current PhD students

  • Cui Cui: Towards a framework for constructing an open digital library of web archives - Creating a small scale, topic-based digital library of web archives of Chinese studies.
  • Rosie Higman: Open access and the role of the national library.
  • Holly Limbert: Diamond open access and alternative publishing practices: A cross-national exploration of scholarly publishing in Latin America and Western Europe.

Completed PhD students

  • Wafaa Al-Motawah: The role of Kuwait University Libraries in supporting graduate students research.
  • Phoenix CS Andrews: Open Access, technology and researcher engagement in the United Kingdom
  • Meichengzi Du: Formulating a framework to support smart city change management.
  • Catherine Ebenezer: Access to e-resources within the English NHS: The role and impact of organisational cultures, information governance, and IT strategy.
  • Victoria Edwards: What are the key influences in the quality control of bibliographic metadata for e-books in UK academic libraries?
  • Halima Egberongbe: Quality Management Approaches in Academic Libraries: A Case Study of South-western Nigeria.
  • Emily Nunn: Open access and the non-academic reader: Investigating the potential impact outside the academic community of open access to medical and education research.
  • Catherine Robinson: Subject v. functional: a mixed methods study into the effectiveness of university library structures.
  • Preeyanuch Voravickositt: Understanding the relationship between users' reading attitudes, behaviours and e-books collection management in Thai academic libraries.
Grants

Research Projects

Research on Research on Research Institute (RoRI): Phase 2 extension

RoRI partners: Consortium of 20 fundersInvestigator £208,0351 September 202618 months

Continuation funding for RoRI research (ongoing since 2019), focusing during this phase on work on peer review and scholarly communication, involving collaborators at Leiden University and other partners. Part of the ongoing £multi-million international collaboration of the Research on Research Institute (RoRI), established in 2019 and now involving 20 funding partners globally, contributing to work researching the research system.

MORPHSS: Materialising Open Research Practices in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Research England, Wellcome Trust and Arts and Humanities Research CouncilInvestigator £207,3301 February 202524 Months

This project is designed to investigate open practices in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). The project is led by University of Cambridge and other partners are Coventry University and the University of Southampton with total funding of over £1m. The project will produce guidelines and frameworks to inform practice, as well as research outputs, aimed at identifying what a more HSS-led approach to openness might be and how it can be adopted throughout HSS disciplines more broadly.

Research on Research Institute (RoRI): Phase 2

RoRI partners: Consortium of 16 fundersInvestigator £264,1571 January 20235 Years

Continuation and expansion of this international initiative, funded by 16 international partners from Europe, North America, Australia and Africa, contributing over £7m over five years to the work of the consortium, which includes Sheffield. RoRI involves partnership working between funders, academics and technologists to carry out ‘research on research’ or ‘meta-research’. The work RoRI focuses on how research is funded, practised and evaluated, and in how research cultures and systems can be made more efficient, open, inclusive and impactful.

VOICES: The Value of Openness, Inclusion, Communication, and Engagement for Science in a post-pandemic world

Arts and Humanities Research CouncilPrincipal Investigator (UK)£247,0141 May 202230 months

This project was part of the international Trans-Atlantic Platform Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World initiative. The Sheffield team worked on the project with partners in Brazil, Canada and Germany, with the UK part of the project funded by AHRC. The international project team aimed to investigate and share new empirical evidence of the value of opening science, to other scholars and to the public, during and beyond the pandemic. Employing a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods from social and information sciences, the project explored the long-term value of openness, inclusion, and equity in the communication of science, while warning against any barriers and pernicious effects.

Research on Research Institute (RoRI): Phase 1 Extention

Wellcome Trust and Digital ScienceInvestigator£262,7001 January 20221 year

Continuation and expansion of the international initiative, led by the Wellcome Trust, Digital Science and the Universities of Sheffield and Leiden, who joined forces with an international consortium of funders, academics and technologists to carry out ‘research on research’ or ‘meta-research’. The work RoRI focused on how research is funded, practised and evaluated, and in how research cultures and systems can be made more efficient, open, inclusive and impactful.

Research on Research Institute (RoRI)

Wellcome Trust and Digital ScienceInvestigator£324,3931 September 20192 years

A major international initiative, led by the Wellcome Trust, Digital Science and the Universities of Sheffield and Leiden, who joined forces with an international consortium of funders, academics and technologists to carry out ‘research on research’ or ‘meta-research’. The work RoRI focused on how research is funded, practised and evaluated, and in how research cultures and systems can be made more efficient, open, inclusive and impactful.

Open Access and the Role of the National Library (PhD studentship award)

Arts and Humanities Research CouncilSupervisor£70,7171 October 20183 years

This collaborative doctoral award was made for a joint project to be carried out with the British Library. It carried out mixed-methods research in the current and potential futures roles of national libraries in the development of open access publishing and dissemination research outputs.

Open Access in Theory and Practice

Arts and Humanities Research CouncilPrincipal Investigator£161,9971 January 201818 months

Open access in theory and practice investigated the ways in which theory and practice have interacted in the development of open-access approaches to publishing and dissemination of research outputs, and considered what this reveals about the nature of the open-access phenomenon and the relationship between theory and practice. The project was a collaboration with City, University of London.

Monitoring the transition to Open Access in the UK 2

Universities UKInvestigator£10,1001 April 20178 months

Monitoring the transition to open access in the UK was a project sponsored by Universities UK analysing the various strands of evidence of the take-up of open-access publishing and dissemination by UK researchers, updating and enlarging upon a study undertaken in 2015. The project investigated the availability of different open-access options, evidence of their take-up, usage of open-access materials, and the financial sustainability of open-access approaches. Partners in the project were Jubb Consulting, University of Sheffield, Research Consulting and Elsevier.

SCONUL Transformation Group: Mapping the Future of Academic Libraries

The Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL)Principal Investigator£9,6001 April 20176 months

A study of the future academic library for the next 10 to 15 years, in the context of the decline in importance of the printed book and its repercussions for use of library space, development of services, and deployment of staff.​

Open-Access Mega Journals and the Future of Scholarly Communication

Arts and Humanities Research CouncilPrincipal Investigator£421,4652 November 201526 months

Open-access 'mega-journals' are an emerging publishing trend which has the potential to reshape the way researchers share their findings, remoulding the academic publishing market and radically changing the nature and reach of scholarship. This project investigated the influence of mega-journals in the academic community and beyond. This project was a collaboration with Loughborough University.

Using Big Data to Safeguard Employee Health

Economic and Social Research CouncilInvestigator£28,0041 October 201524 months

The seminar series aimed to critically explore the possibilities of Big Data in assessing health and wellbeing risks within organisations and for advancing knowledge on health and wellbeing prediction.

Monitoring the transition to Open Access in the UK

Universities UKInvestigator£10,8002 January 20155 months

Monitoring the transition to open access in the UK was a project sponsored by Universities UK analysing the various strands of evidence of the take-up of open-access publishing and dissemination by UK researchers. The project investigated the availability of different open-access options, evidence of their take-up, usage of open-access materials, and the financial sustainability of open-access approaches. Partners in the project were the Research Information Network, University of Sheffield, Research Consulting and Elsevier.

  Investigating Interlending

TCR (The Combined Regions)Investigator£31,0701 January 20156 months

A project which investigated current usage and potential future development of inter-lending and document delivery services provided by public libraries.

Teaching interests

In all my teaching, I am keen to incorporate my professional experience as an information practitioner, and combine it with the knowledge of the latest theory and best practice in the field, based on my ongoing research. I am actively involved in various teaching and learning approaches including face-to-face classes, blended learning and distance learning.

I have experience of teaching on a number of programmes including Librarianship, Library and Information Services Management, Management, Information Systems, Digital Library Management and Health Informatics. My teaching focuses on leadership and management of information and library services in organisations, information resources management, and the roles and skills of information professionals. I lead Masters-level modules on management and leadership for information professionals; and library, information, and knowledge services in academic and workplace settings.

Teaching activities

IJC483 - Management for Library and Information Services

IJC464 - Academic and Workplace Library, Information and Knowledge Services DL

IJC469 - Academic and Workplace Library, Information and Knowledge Services 

Professional activities and memberships

Membership of professional bodies

  • FHEA: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • MCLIP: Member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

Editorial board membership

  • Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Research on Research (J-ROR) (2025- ).
  • Member of the Editorial Board of MetaROR (2024- ).
  • Member of the F1000Research Advisory Board (2014- ).
  • Member of the New Review of Academic Librarianship Editorial Board (2013- ).
  • Member of the Program journal Editorial Board Member (2000-2002).
  • Member of the Facet Publishing Advisory Committee (2002-2005).

Committee and advisory group membership

  • Consultancy for various public-sector and commercial organisations on scholarly communication and data management (2013- ).
  • Member of the Publish, Review, Curate (PRC) Alliance Members’ Group (2026- ).
  • External Adviser to the Centre for Research Communications, University of Nottingham (2012-18); Director (2007-2012).
  • Member of the European University Association Expert Group on Open Science (2015-2018).
  • Member of the Kudos company Advisory Board (2013-2017).
  • Member of the Russell Group Open Data Roadmap Group (2013-2015).
  • Member of the SCONUL (Society of College, National and University Libraries) Academic Content and Communications Advisory Panel (2013-14).
  • Member of the Think Tank of the European Network for co-ordination of Policies and Programmes on e-Infrastructures (e-Infranet) (2012-2013).
  • Company Director of EMMAN (East Midlands Metropolitan Area Network) Ltd (2007-2012); Chair of the Board (2011-2012).
  • Member of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills Working Group on Expanding Access (‘Finch Review’) subgroup for open-access publishing (2012).
  • Chair of the Advisory Board for the Centre for International ePortfolio Development, University of Nottingham (2011-2012).
  • Member of the JANET6 next-generation academic network Development Advisory Board (2011-2012).
  • University of Nottingham representative for Russell Group IT Directors (RUGIT) Group, Research Libraries UK (RLUK), Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) (2007-2012).
  • Director of the UK Repositories Support Project (2007-2012).
  • Director of SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) and SHERPA services (2002-2012).
  • Member of the JISC Advisory Group reviewing the UK National Data Centres (2010-2011).
  • Member of the JISC Infrastructure and Resources Committee (2009-2011).
  • Member of the Steering Group and Project Management Board of the UK Research Data Service feasibility study project (2007-2010).
  • Deputy Chair and Member JISC Scholarly Communications Group (2006-2010).
  • Chair of the Member of the MERIT Project (disseminating RAE outputs) Steering Group (2008-2009).
  • Member of the HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) REF (Research Excellence Framework) Advisory Group on Bibliometrics (2008-2009).
  • Member of the Joint RLUK/SCONUL Scholarly Communications Group (2002-2009); Chair (2004-2008).
  • Member of the RCUK Expert Panel for the study of RCUK policy on open access to research outputs (2007-2008).
  • Member and UK representative on the European University Association Working Group on Open Access (2007-2008).
  • Member of the DRIVER project (EU-funded project developing a European repository infrastructure) Steering Group (2006-2008).
  • Director of Intute: Health and Life Sciences web service (2002-2007).
  • Member of the Lincoln Cathedral Library Council (2002-2006).
  • Director of SHERPA DP (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and access – digital preservation) project (2003-2005).
  • Member of the CC Interop project (JISC-funded national R&D project on search and retrieval) Steering Committee (2001-2003).
  • Consultant for JISC and part-time eLib Programme Manager (2000-2001).

Journal and conference reviewing

  • Reviewer for journals including: Australian Academic and Research Libraries, Government Information Quarterly, Health Information and Libraries Journal (HILJ), Journal of Documentation (JDoc), Journal of Research on Research (J-ROR), Liber Quarterly, Program, Journal of Electronic Publishing (JEP), Journal of Information Science (JIS), Journal of Informetrics, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (JOLIS), Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), Learned Publishing, Library and Information Science Research, Publications, SAGE Open, Scientometrics and other academic journals (2000-present)
  • Reviewer for grant proposals for the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Austrian Austrian Science Foundation (FWF), Jisc and Joint Canadian Research Councils Initiative on Research on Research (Health Research BC, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada), Dutch Research Council (NWO), Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)(2003-present).

Invited and peer-reviewed presentations (since 2020)

  • Effective and Equitable Global Open Access. Academic Libraries North conference, keynote online, 24 June 2026.
  • Future of Peer Review. Launch of ‘The Future of Peer Review’ report, online webinar, 19 June 2026 (with Ludo Waltman).
  • MetaROR. Publish-Review-Curate conference, Cambridge, December 2025.
  • Preprinting and Scholarly Communication. TWIN4MERIT/SINNOPSIS conference, Nicosia, Cyprus, 10 September 2025
  • Distributed Peer Review Experiment. Bureaucracy Review Reform and Implementation Network (BRRIN) Apps and Assessment Learning Group
    meeting, London, 29 January 2025.
  • Achieving global open access: The need for scientific, epistemic and participatory openness. The University of Sheffield Annual Open Research Lecture, 5 December 2024.
  • Achieving global open access: The need for scientific, epistemic and participatory openness. Society of Cultural Anthropologists international seminar, online, 20 September 2024.
  • Deconstructing the journal: MetaROR. ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers) conference, Manchester, 12 September 2024.
  • The impact of COVID-19 on the debate on open science. OpenFest conference, online, 11 September, 2024.
  • The impact of COVID-19 on the debate on open science. Simon Fraser University, ScholComm Lab webiner, online, 24 January 2024.
  • Library services: From automation to transformation. Associação Portuguesa de Bibliotecários, Arquivistas, Profissionais da Informação e Documentaçã conference, Faro, Portugal, 5 May 2023.
  • What does the future hold? Panel member, ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers) conference, Manchester, 16 September 2022.
  • Connecting the dots: The role of peer review? ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers) conference, Manchester, 15 September 2022.
  • Beyond excellence. Experiment, translate and transform: Priorities for research on research. RoRI conference, Bern, Switzerland, 20 June 2022.
  • Excellence and paper review. Equity in peer review in mathematical sciences conference, Edinburgh, 25 May 2022.
  • Innovations in peer review. Open Science seminar, University of Reading, online, 18 May 2022.
  • Scholarly communication in times of crisis. Researcher to Reader conference, online, 22 February 2022.
  • Scholarly communication in times of crisis. Presentation to the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation Open Science Group, online, 1 February 2022 (with Ludo Waltman)
  • Scholarly communication in times of crisis. OASPA webinar: So can publishing respond to a crisis? An evidence-informed approach, online, 13 January 2022 (with Ludo Waltman)
  • Librarian leadership in the virtual age. Panel member. Frankfurt Book Fair live event, online, 22 October 2021
  • Peer review innovations. MetaScience conference, online, 17 September 2021 (with Wolfgang Kaltenbrunner, Johanna Brumberg, Helen Buckley Woods and Ludo Waltman)
  • Transforming excellence. Leiden University research seminar, online, 24 June 2021 (with Lisette Jong and Thomas Franssen)
  • Does AI-based peer review support bake in existing biases? LIS-Bibliometrics conference, panel member, online, 5 May 2021.
  • RoRI progress, projects and future plans. EViR (Ensuring Value in Research) international group webinar, online, 22 April 2021 (with James Wilsdon).
  • Transforming ‘excellence’: Definitions, applications and alternatives in the evaluation, management and measurement of research. Canadian Science Policy Conference, presentation and panel discussion, online, 18 November, 2020 (with Lisette Jong and Thomas Franssen).
  • Research on research: Work in progress: The work of RoRI, 2020-21. Conference of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, online, 24 September, 2020.
  • Digital shifts, datafied scholarship and the role of libraries. IGeLU 2020 Digital Conference and Developers’ Day keynote, online, 14 September, 2020.
  • Open access in theory and practice. Workshop, iConference (international virtual conference), 23 March 2020 (with Simon Wakeling, David Bawden, and Lyn Robinson).
  • Digital shifts, datafied scholarship and the role of libraries: A provocation. LSE Library staff discussion, 5 February 2020.

Other roles

  • Visiting Scholar, Lincoln College Oxford and the Bodleian Library, Oxford (2023)
  • Visiting Professor, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2019-20)
  • Visiting Scholar, Sun Yat-Sen University, Gangzhou, China (January, 2019)
  • Visiting Scholar at the University of Barcelona (June 2018)
  • Visiting Scholar, Downing College Cambridge (2017).