Work

Who Edits Reality? The Politics and Pragmatics of Scholarly Infrastructure

Year: 2025

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: (Watch the RECORDING.) This paper argues that digital scholarly infrastructures, such as bibliographic databases and text corpora, are not neutral representations of reality but constructed models shaped by pragmatic, methodological choices. This is particularly critical in the "closing world" of proprietary platforms like Scopus and Web of Science, which present biased commercial products as objective scholarly tools. Through a critical discussion, this paper unpacks how unexamined decisions regarding operationalisation, standardisation, representativeness, and balance can distort our understanding of a scholarly field. In contrast, the paper highlights collaborative, open data ecosystems that leverage standardisation and interoperability. Ultimately, we argue that fostering a multiplicity of open, auditable models is essential to challenge the monolithic power of commercial actors, democratize research, and achieve genuine data sovereignty.

Source: Septentrio Conference Series

DOI: 10.7557/5.8292

Author: Maciej Maryl

Institution: Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Digital Humanities and Scholarship

Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej

Award: G6351350796