Changes in Scholars’ Ways of Knowledge Production Shaped by Systematic Measures

Year 2023, , 30 - 45, 27.01.2023

Ming-te Peng

https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.1209134

Abstract

This paper considers the role played by systematic measuring in academic conducts. The introduction of entrepreneurial culture into academia fosters competitive atmospheres through its emphasis on personal merit, which entails quantitative performance measurement. As knowledge production is one of scholars’ core missions, this study aims to articulate impacts on ways of knowledge production influenced by environmental factors, comprising measuring instruments, institutional management, funding bodies and state policy. By interviewing 41 scholars in Taiwan and exploring their accounts of academic practices, this paper empirically analyses how knowledge production has been shaped by policy environments. These modifying behaviour patterns include a selection of research topics, a design for research agenda, strategies for grant applications and publications, engendering delicate changes in the epistemic properties of research. From this, it characterizes power relations between researchers, scientific communities and the state in the neoliberal age.

Keywords

Bibliometrics, Journal Impact Factor, Research Evaluation, University Management, Knowledge Governance

Changes in Scholars’ Ways of Knowledge Production Shaped by Systematic Measures

Abstract

Bu makale, akademik davranışlarda sistematik ölçmenin oynadığı rolü ele almaktadır. Girişimcilik kültürünün akademide ortaya çıkışı, nicel performans ölçümünü gerektiren bireysel liyakat vurgusu yoluyla rekabetçi atmosferleri teşvik etmiştir. Bilgi üretimi akademisyenlerin temel misyonlarından biri olduğu için, bu çalışma, ölçüm araçları, kurumsal yönetim, finansman organları ve devlet politikasını içeren çevresel faktörlerden etkilenen bilgi üretimi biçimleri üzerindeki etkileri ifade etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Tayvan'daki 41 akademisyenle yapılan mülakatlar vasıtasıyla onların akademik uygulamalara ilişkin anlatılarını keşfe çıkan bu makale, bilgi üretiminin politik atmosfer tarafından nasıl şekillendiğini ampirik olarak analiz etmektedir. Bu değiştirici davranış kalıpları; araştırma konularının seçimini, araştırma gündemi tasarımını, hibe başvuruları ve yayınları için strateji oluşturmayı, araştırmanın epistemik özelliklerinde hassas değişiklikleri içerir. Çalışma buradan hareketle, neoliberal çağda araştırmacılar, bilimsel topluluklar ve devlet arasındaki güç ilişkilerini karakterize etmektedir.

Keywords

Bibliyometri, Dergi Etki Faktörü, Araştırma Değerlendirmesi, Üniversite Yönetimi, Bilgi Yönetişimi

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