Librarians at the University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries have created a visual model depicting the cycle of research at an institutional level while embedding scholarly services into the flow. The Research Lifecycle is used as a basis to build a framework for the faculty research process and gain both support and funding for new infrastructure and services.

The UCF Research Lifecycle includes four sub-cycles: a planning cycle, a project cycle, a publication cycle and the 21st century digital scholarship cycle. In each cycle, supporting services are added to the research flow. Amid the existing services provided by different university units, potential services are added to bridge the missing links in the lifecycle. Some of these missing services include data hosting, research computing and an institutional repository. The center of each cycle shows corresponding activities related to sponsored or grant-funded research, which form an important part of the institution’s scholarly research activities.

This project was initiated by the university library’s Scholarly Communication Task force. During its development, librarians collaborated with other campus departments, including the Office of Research and Commercialization, the Institute for Simulation and Training, and the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning. The lifecycle graphic and its related services are available at: http://library.ucf.edu/scholarlycommunication. Taskforce members also solicited feedback from teaching faculty, which yielded a wide variety of constructive comments and were incorporated into the model. The lifecycle at its current state has received widespread campus attention and generated interest from University administrators.