content curation
nounPronunciation: /ˈkɒntɛnt kjʊəˈreɪʃən/
The editorial process of selecting, organizing, and presenting published material to create thematic collections or highlight significant research.
Full Definition
Content curation in academic journal management involves the systematic selection, evaluation, and organization of published articles and research to create meaningful collections that serve specific scholarly or educational purposes. This process goes beyond simple aggregation to include editorial judgment about relevance, quality, and thematic coherence. Curated content may be organized around specific research topics, methodological approaches, or emerging trends in the field. The practice helps readers navigate large volumes of published research and identifies connections between related works. Modern digital platforms enable sophisticated curation tools, including automated recommendation systems and expert-curated special collections.
Plain English
Choosing and organizing published articles into helpful collections so researchers can more easily find related work on topics they're interested in.
In Editorial Context
A value-added editorial function that leverages professional expertise to create coherent, purposeful assemblages of published content that enhance the journal's service to its scholarly community.
Etymology & History
Emerged with the digital information explosion and the need to manage overwhelming amounts of online content, adapted from museum and art gallery practices.
Evolved from traditional editorial selection practices but gained prominence with digital publishing platforms and the challenge of information overload.
Usage
"The journal's content curation initiative resulted in five thematic collections that significantly increased readership engagement with older articles."
Usage note: Distinguish from simple aggregation; implies editorial judgment and value-added organization.
Context: Digital publishing, editorial strategy, content management, scholarly communication
Region: international
Also known as
Contrasted with
Don't confuse with
Content aggregation simply gathers material, while curation involves editorial judgment and purposeful organization for specific scholarly objectives.