Scientific publications and the quest to build an alternative form of academic globalization

Scientific publications are constitutive of the Homo academicus (Bourdieu, 2008) /Femina Academicus. They are conceived as the privileged means of spreading partial or concluding findings of investigations. Mercedes Patalano (2005) notes that the dissemination of results was part of the scientific model devised by Francis Bacon in the 16th century. Bacon considered that it was possible to know the progress "obtained and recorded" by colleagues, avoiding "duplication of work" (Patalano, 2005, p. 218) and incorporating previous experiences into their own studies. As Juliasz (2021, p. 1) argues, this commitment has been restated in these challenging times, as we see human sciences "struggling against the circulation of fake news, and it is becoming increasingly complex to elucidate the profound relationship between inequality and processes of dehumanization".

Journals can also be an expression of the struggles within scientific fields to hold the monopoly of scientific authority, representing both conservation and subversion strategies (Bourdieu, 2003). It is worth recalling the role of Boletim Paulista de Geografia as an expression of Brazilian critical geography and in questioning classical regional geography's standpoint in the 1970s (Coraggio, 1979; Silva, 1976; Oliveira, 1977, 1978; Porto-Gonçalves, 1978; Santos, 1977a, 1977b).

The concern in promoting specific lines of work has also given rise to some other publications. In Brazil, journals such as Espaço e Cultura (aimed at promoting cultural geography in the 1990s), Hygeia (aimed at encouraging geography of health since 2005), Revista Latinoamericana de Geografia e Gênero (aimed at consolidating geography of gender and LGBTIQ diversity since 2010) are important examples. The organization of journals has accompanied the consolidation of postgraduate programs in different corners of Brazil (Geousp at the University of São Paulo, Geografares at the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Ateliê Geográfico in the Federal University of Goiás, Caminhos de Geografia, associated with the graduate degree program in Geography of the University of Uberlândia, among others).

In neoliberal globalization, the criteria of competitiveness and efficiency have been incorporated into the academic realm through different means. Evaluation policies, promoted by both national science and technology systems and universities, are representative of this model. In this context, academic journals have taken a privileged role. They measure research productivity, on the one hand, and define researchers' place, through the impact factor, on the scientific community. Geographical publications with the greatest impact in the international arena are those controlled by transnational companies such as Sage, Elsevier or Taylor & Francis, with paid access and with full texts in English.

This situation had already fostered criticism and debate at the dawn of the 21st century, just when the international character of these publications was called into question. Some have emphasized that they expressed only theoretical proposals and concerns of the Anglo-Saxon world and scarcely gave place to other voices coming from different places of enunciation. Furthermore, some authors pointed out that the language in which science is communicated could not be separated from the investigation itself (Gutiérrez; López-Nieva, 2001; García-Ramón, 2003; Desbiens; Ruddick, 2006).

Journals from the Ibero-American academic world have sought to build alternatives. By bringing open access publishing solutions (following approved rules for public access to information in each country) it is guaranteed that universities, professional associations, or even researchers themselves, are able to manage the process and ensure the quality of both the journal and published texts. In addition, there are regional initiatives to establish databases and quality measures of scientific journals (Scielo, Redalyc, Latindex) (Zusman, 2021).

In the last two years, editorials of some Ibero-American Geographical journals have expressed criticism of these standardization policies in the process of evaluation, which give priority to journal ranking at the expense of the contents of research (Benach; Max, 2021; Rubiales Pérez, 2021; Costa et al., 2022), and that define upper and lower circuits among scientific publications (Dorfman, 2022).

Some new initiatives, but not implemented so far, suggest establishing types of evaluation that focus on the researchers themselves, their trajectories, and on the impact of their work on the scientific and social world. The formation of a network of meetings and collaboration between Ibero-American journals could also be promoted, in which cooperative lines of action are defined to strengthen the presence of these groups in the global scientific realm, thus consolidating the commitment with open access to scientific knowledge, and ensuring the professionalization and recognition of editorial work (Dorfman, 2022). From Geousp's editorial policies and other publications alike, the way ahead is open for reflection and action towards a sincere effort to build another sort of academic globalization from the South.

References

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Edited by

Section editor:

Ricardo Mendes Antas Jr.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  05 Sept 2022
• Date of issue
  2022

History

• Received
  28 June 2022
• Accepted
  28 July 2022