In the second in their series, ‘Cite or Site?’, Pat Lockley and Mark Carrigan analyse the dominance of academic journals in publishing despite a drastic change in cultural context, arguing that moving social science research online should be second nature

Carrigan, Mark

Lockley, Pat

English

LSE Research Online

by Blog Admin September 19, 2011In the second in their series, ‘Cite or Site?’, Pat Lockley(http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactof socialsciences/blog-contributors/#Patrick_Lockley) and MarkCarrigan (http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/blog-contributors/# Mark_Carrigan) analyse the dominance of academic journals in publishingdespite a drastic change in cultural context, arguing that moving social science research onlineshould be second nature.The journal article has become, over t ime, the sine qua non of  a successf ul academicprof ile. Such dominance has meant f ew have had any motivation to either challenge this orto explore alternative models. Narrow understandings of  what the communication ofacademic ideas entails may have been compounded by the f act that, until recently,alternative modes of  dissemination were f ew and f ar between.As a channel f or communication (as a wider term than dissemination), the journal paperpresents two distinct problems. The language of  journals has tended to f ind expressionthrough a dialect which radically reduces the potential readership. Once the linguistic dif f icult ies have beenovercome, the average reader f aces the problem of  deciding which journal to f avour f rom an ever-expanding range (how would you explain why one journal is better than another?) and probable commercialpay walls bef ore they can actually get to the paper.Furthermore if  they are f ortunate enough to access open journals, is the sof tware they use comparable inease of  use and user experience to most common websites? Many of  the f actors which impede thecommunicative impulsive that has tradit ionally motivated academic publishing are mundane and/orcontingent. But this doesn’t mean they’re not important.How inherent in the practice of  research is the moral imperative to communicate; to ensure that its resultsare communicated as widely as possibly to as many as we can? Organisations such as Openbookpublishers (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.openbookpublishers.com%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHMiPnwD7kuZs5PTS-5btf 61movnQ) argue working “openly” is the f uture f or scholars. An approach f ocused on journals can nolonger be said to f ulf il this goal, and is most certainly “one size” which is in no way “one size f its all” – byits very nature it has become the epitome of  Fordism.We also seem to accept that the pref erred f orm of  academic to academic communication is the journal. TheREF and academic publishers stand as comparable to an intellectual monopoly come bottleneck like arevisionist Worshipf ul Company of  Stationers and Newspaper Makers (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FWorshipf ul_Company_of _Stationers_and_Newspaper_Makers&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHmsESE_LRbD-T7a8vCjBcf cpbo-Q), blessed by government powers tocontrol communication. A google search f or “Sociology” returns as the f irst result -  The Coming Crisis ofEmpirical Sociology (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fsoc.sagepub.com%2Fcontent%2F41%2F5%2F885.f ull.pdf %2Bhtml&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGyZDmKHd_zWM-No1IgcEPYOIe2dg) – which has the f ollowing structure in its ref erences:Book (eds) (4)Whole book (35)Journal (8)Government report (1)The most recent article in American Sociological Review -  Unions, Norms, and the Rise in U.S. WageInequality (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fasr.sagepub.com%2Fcontent%2F76%2F4%2F513.f ull.pdf %2Bhtml&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNH9SN_heLQ1dwvBf duHuO-OjGsqPw)Journal (40)Book (22)Book (eds) (4)Government report (2)and the most recent Sociology article -Families, Secrets and Memories (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fsoc.sagepub.com%2Fcontent%2F45%2F4%2F539.f ull.pdf %2Bhtml&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFNCK5Kh9f kj4I_RJx1f HHXGVgYdg)Journal (12)Book (19)Book (eds) (2)Government report (0)So it is in no way apparent that the journal is the de f acto unit of  communication, even amongst academics.Even this channel and f orm of  communication is perhaps open to discussion. Then we f ace the issue, assuggested by John Ioannidis in “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False(http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1371%252Fjournal.pmed.0020124&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGVTU3j9d2M5QsnVIOJmvFNcGMyZA)”, which argues journal papers aren’t working f or communicative purposes.These issues stand in a rapidly evolving cultural context. There is a seemingly growing demand f orintellectually challenging content, across a range of  audiences, which the physical sciences have thus f artended to f ill. But surely the social sciences are innately better suited to the predominantly text-based orinf o-graphic communication channels which have prolif erated on the internet?These are channels in which we are likely to be already in some way engaged, and the action of  taking ourresearch into this domain should be second nature. Yet f or the most part it is not. This raises retrospectivequestions about why this isn’t the case but also proactive ones about how it could become so. A cursoryglance at the f igures shows that there is an enormous hunger, across a diverse populace, suddenlymanif esting itself  through a variety of  online channels.Apple’s iTunes U, as of  this t ime last year (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2010%2F08%2F24%2Fapple-shares- itunes-u-stats-350000-f iles-available-300-million-downloads%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNE_af URIX1Sw2_ACIRx7SVGziQcPg), had300 million downloads f rom 350,000 available f iles. Over 3 and a half  million people downloaded LSEpodcasts in July alone. The RSA (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thersa.org%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF5rYdFi4rXlQ-7GyAiCuo6lFoe0g),with its recent catchphrase, “21st century enlightenment”, has been an innovator in this area, particularlywith its innovative RSA Animate videos, condensing academic talks on Youtube and combining them withf ast moving animation, which have proved enormously successf ul:Sir Ken Robinson’s video about changing education paradigms (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U) has been viewed over 5 million timesJeremy Rif kin’s talk on the Empathic Civilization(http://www.youtube.com/user/theRSAorg#p/u/9/l7AWnf FRc7g) has been viewed over 1.3 million timesDavid Harvey’s talk on the Crises of  Capitalism (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0) hasbeen viewed over 1 million times.Slavoj Z izek’s talk about his second to last book (http://www.youtube.com/user/theRSAorg?blend=1&ob=5#p/u/12/hpAMbpQ8J7g) has been viewed over 600,000 times.Coupled with these platf orm-based approaches – of ten which require overheads that perhaps would invitecrit icism of  suggesting they too are “one size f its all” – how many academics actively take steps tomaximise the exposure of  their research? Even working on something as simple as edit ing a wikipediaarticle (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fukwebf ocus.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F09%2F09%2Fmicroattributions-wikipedia-and-dissemination%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGej3Ha41aUK3MsyNA5w7T6iukc3w) may maximiseexposure.The utility of  these channels extends beyond public engagement. As the Vice-Chancellor of  WarwickUniversity, Nigel Thrif t, recently observed (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fchronicle.com%2Fblogs%2Fworldwise%2Fthe-power-of -blogs- in-f orming-new-f ields-of - international-study%2F28638&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGJA_2hmaw306-pI0UUAnhlXBNHf w) (in hiseminently readable blog) entire f ields of  inquiry are beginning to be f ermented online, as instantaneous lowcost communication has provided a potent environment within which graduate students and early-careerresearchers, in particular, are able to articulate new directions of  thought outside the temporal and editorialconstraints of  tradit ional academic structures such as peer-review, which, as Steve Fuller recently argued(http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fsociologicalimagination.org%2Farchives%2F6317&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHsur10ewZdaE5DcWoP_7XJMqU2NA), is an important though ult imately backward- looking exercise sometimesinimical to risk-taking and innovation.As we stated in the f irst part of  this series (http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactof socialsciences/2011/09/01/cite-or-site-academic-publishing/), we are not advocating that academic journals be abandoned in f avour ofcommunicating through social media. Even were this desirable, it would not be f easible f or all manner ofreasons, not least of  all because of  the REF. Instead we are suggesting that this unparalleled expansion ofcommunicative opportunit ies available to researchers demands a creative and on-going re-appraisal of  thepurpose and practice of  academic publishing.In the final section of this series, Pat Lockley and Mark Carrigan will take a practical look at the new toolsavailable to researchers seeking to connect and communicate online, as well as their congruence with existingprofessional practices within academia.Related posts:1. Don’t swap the “Ivory Tower” f or a cyber one: public engagement and the internet(http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactof socialsciences/2011/07/29/dont-swap-ivory-tower-cyber-one-public-engagement/)2. Cite or Site? The current view of  what constitutes ‘academic publishing’ is too limited. Our publishedwork must become truly public. (http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactof socialsciences/2011/09/01/cite-or-site-academic-publishing/)3. A beginner ’s guide to the dif f erent types of  impact: why the tradit ional ‘bean-counting’ approach is nolonger usef ul in the digital era (http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactof socialsciences/2011/05/24/a-beginner%e2%80%99s-guide-to-the-dif f erent- types-of - impact/)4. Share your Twitter top tips f or a new ‘how-to’ guide f or academics on the merits of  academictweeting (http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactof socialsciences/2011/06/22/are-you-an-academic-who-loves-to-tweet-share-your- top-tips-f or-a-blog-post-on-the-merits-of -academic-tweeting/)5. Impact zones and the role of  publishers: changing the way academic research makes wider impact(http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactof socialsciences/2011/07/14/publishers-measuring- impact/)

The search for the academic arctic monkey: why we must maximise the exposure of research through a blend of traditional and new methods of publication

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