TOOLS IN CONTEXTLaura Czerniewicz

@czernie19 March 2013

Beyond the PDF2, Amsterdam

Tools in research dissemination are only one aspect of a complex web of

scholarly communication & knowledge production

TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY

Neutral

Value-laden

Autonomous Human control

Substantivism

InstrumentalismTechnological determinism

Critical theory

Invention and development have their

own immanent laws Technology shapes

society

Technology has intrinsic valuesMeans & ends

linked in systems

Technology is simply a tool

The values embodied in technology are socially

specific. Choices of means-end systems

Feenberg, A 2003

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE

Whose interests are being served?Who participates?

Who is enabled? Who is constrained?

WHO PRODUCES KNOWLEDGE?

the opposite of open is “broken”

Books published

INTERNATIONAL PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS

o Of the articles published in international peer-reviewed journals• USA academics 30%• Developing countries 20%• of which half from China, India, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico• Sub Saharan Africa 1% of total

Hassan, M, 2008,, Science Vol. 322 – 24

WHAT SHAPES KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION & DISSEMINATION?

INFRASTRUCTURE

http://www.masterresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/earth_night.jpg

http://submarine-cable-map-2013.telegeography.com/

http://global-internet-map-2012.telegeography.com/

FUNDING

www.researchtrends.com/issue-32-march-2013/trends-in-arts-humanities-funding-2004-2012/

CULTURE

RESEARCH OUTPUT FROM AFRICA

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REWARD SYSTEMS

o The case of South Africa, where the government gives universities $13000 for every article published in• The Sciences Citation Index of the Institute of Scientific Information

(ISI)• The Social Sciences Citation Index of the ISI • The Arts and Humanities Citation Index of the ISI • The International Bibliography of Social Sciences (IBSS) • The Department of Education (DoE) List of Approved South African

Journals

o Of the 23 universities, 21 give a % directly to the authors

WHO PUBLISHES? WHAT ABOUT?

What does an “international” high impact journal look like?

EXAMPLE: 4 “HIGH IMPACT” JOURNALS

Authorship per country AMJ, AMR, ASQ and JIBS (2006-2010),

Empirical focus AMJ, AMR, ASQ and JIBS (2006-2010)

WHO DECIDES?

“We editors seek a global status for our journals, but we shut out the experiences and practices of those living in poverty by our (unconscious) neglect. One group is advantaged while the other is marginalised.”Richard Horton, The Lancet, Vol 361, 1 March 2003

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WHOSE INTERESTS ARE SERVED?

Whose interests do international journals serve?Are journals the best way to share research

outputs?

IN CONCLUSION: OA NOW

“An old tradition and a new technology have converged to

make possible an unprecedented public good”

Budapest Open Access Declaration 2002

Need active engagement by all in the innovation space to

avoid inadvertently deepening inequalities

Open access is not just about passive receipt from the north

Is a knowledge production & dissemination system that sidelines three quarters of the

world desirable?Is it good for science?

Ultimately, open access and open science stand or fall as workable ideals if the whole international community buys into are able to

participate in it(to rephrase Curry, S 2013)

REFERENCES

o Adams J; King, C; Hook, D, (2010), Global Research Report, Africa, Thomson Reuters

o Curry, S (2003) Insights – 26(1), March 2013o Hassan, M, (2008), Editorial, Science Vol. 322

– 24 October 2008. Page 3o Hamann, R (2012) Balancing the academic

terms of trade: The paradox of publishing in top-tier journals from the periphery (unpublished)

o Horton, R (2003) The Lancet, Vol 361, 1 March 2003