Information regime and the relational notion for science communication

Abstract

Scientific activity and its products have assumed the role of mediating devices in the digital information and knowledge network, which requires new forms of mediation, new mediating agents, new skills, and new habits of producing, accessing, and disseminating research. The objective of this theoretical essay is the interpretative analysis of the information regime of contemporary scientific communication, through the Latourian approach, considering the challenges and opportunities of digital technologies in the contemporary context. Different perspectives on the process of knowledge construction are discussed, and above all, the role of the scientist in the face of the new configurations of the current context of the scientific revolution, based on the conceptual relationships and historical milestones of scientific communication, especially with regard to open access. The discussion points to multiple mediations when the research itself can also be a mediation device, an element that integrates a complex network in which humans and non-humans are, simultaneously, actors, mediators, and information intermediaries. It is concluded that the relational notion approach to the information regime of the digital information and knowledge network expands the scope of analysis beyond exclusively human interactions in science communication, contributing to a more holistic and precise view of the complex networks that influence and shape scientific and social practices.

Keywords:
information regime; knowledge network; digital network; scientific communication