Six sideways reflections on academic publishing

URN:NBN: i: s -oa67833 DOI: 10.11143/ ennia.67833 Six sideways e lec ions on academic publishing To examine he wo ld is o e eal di e gences, a ange o po en ial poli ies, socie ies, and spaces, o he o he con en ional de ined space o he esea ch pape on he page. Ye i is possible o push a he edges o a esea ch pape , and kick back agains he s anda diza ion o schola ship. Fo a ie y and a b ead h o schola ship is a symbolic and impo an cha ac e is ic o geog aphy as a discipline. A p esen agedy o publishing in he academic wo ld is ha , as in e na ional schola s, we a e all inc easingly p essu ed o p oduce esea ch pape s ha mee ce ain ex e nally imposed s anda ds. This moni o ing o academia h ough co po a e/capi alis amewo ks, can lead o he publishing o ‘sa e pieces’, in place o ex s ha mo e disciplina y deba es adically o wa d. The Re lec ions sec ion o his jou nal was se up wi h his exac issue in mind. In o de o p oduce li ely, c i ical, in en i e in e jec ions on cu en socie al issues, and o open-ou wha is conside ed geog aphical endea o h ough c ea i e p ac ice, and in essence, o sub e he esea ch pape i sel . I is dedica ed o publishing Re lec ions on issues ele an o, and in, con empo a y geog aphies, o e ing a space o empi ically g ounded as well as heo e ically in o med esea ch. Pushing a he ma gins o he discipline is i s aim, and i s e olu iona y agenda is o a gue ha he adi ional c a o essay w i ing pe haps needs o be e u ned o he o e on o academia; essays ha ake a walk beyond he no m, o he o he s anda dized esea ch pape o ma o p esen (Fo sdick 2005). I seems ha nowadays mo e egula ly, a he han w i ing wha we wan o w i e as schola s we a e ins ead – h ough an inc easingly c ude quan i a i e measu emen – w i ing wha we hink we ha e o w i e. Ye , we sugges he e, ha esea ch pape s which sub e he adi ional way-o -doing- hings, ha e p ecisely he po en ial o become polemic, discipline changing, impac ul pieces. One o he agedies ela ed o pee e iewed esea ch pape s is ha , a e publica ion, we may be le wi h a sense ha ou wo k has in some way been highjacked and ampe ed wi h, and he inished a icle does no accu a ely e lec wha we wan ed o say. Re ision ounds, se ing mul iple pu poses, can lead o a dilu ed e sion o he issue wi h which we sough o engage. Fu he mo e, as we look a ound he publishing landscape – as au ho s, edi o s, and e iewe s – uneasy eelings a ise, abou enabling a na owing, a cleansing, a s eamlining o ou esea ch in p in o i he cu en co po a e/capi alis agenda. In ou iew, his de alues much o he labo ha goes in o he esea ch pape i sel , be o e and beyond i s p ocessing in a jou nal, he ime ha goes in o he ga he ing o da a and analysis, and he placing o each wo d, each sen ence, and each pa ag aph on he page. These con adic ions loom la ge , and can be con ex ualized wi h e e ence o a longs anding and e e g owing body o li e a u e on neo-libe aliza ion wi hin academia, and as such, academic publishing (Cas ee & Spa ke 2000; Dowling 2008; Moun z e al. 2015). E e mo e assessmen s and c i e ia, models and o mula a e c ea ing a widening disconnec ion be ween uni e si y managemen and academic s a , and a e indeed educing he quali y o academic esea ch, p e en ing c i ical in e oga ions, c i ical hough and pedagogy, o ea o no i ing in o his na ow model (G ay 2003). A esea ch pape will no ha e impac , we wo y, i i does no i nea ly in o o is no sui able o amewo k assessmen s. These assessmen s, as such, seek o dema ca e wha geog aphy is, wha is geog aphical, wha is co ec o sui able geog aphy. Thus, i is i al o c i ically in e oga e hem and o igh back agains hei neo-libe aliza ion o he academy, o hese assessmen s a e in ac dec easing he b ead h o geog aphy, and in so doing, a e educing i s quali y, i s excellence. This ailu e o an excellence amewo k, as such, o li e up o i s billing as a measu e o excellence – a he ins ead p esc ibing a capi alis /co po a e e sion o excellence – e eals ha he model i sel is essen ially lawed. Un o una ely, we, as academics, a e becoming o e in es ed in he idea o publish o pe ish, publish in his jou nal and no ha jou nal, publish esea ch pape s and no book chap e s, as a ounda ion s one o p esen -day schola ship. Consequen ly, ou capaci ies o mo e beyond his neo-libe al o mula ion o academic publishing comple ely, a e g adually diminishing. In he edi o ial se ing up he p e ious issue o Fennia, we sough o e-engage academics wi h ano he possibili y, o sugges i does no ha e o be his way al oge he , and o lesh-ou an al e na i e publishing model, o he e a e sub le adical mo es ha can be made ( o con inua ion, see he © 2017 by he au ho . This open access a icle is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons A ibu ion 4.0 In e na ional License. 162 FENNIA 195: 2 (2017)Edi o ial: Re lec ions edi o ial o his issue, Kallio & Hy ä inen 2017). Fennia has a speci ic and adical publica ion policy. I is non-p o i , open access, in a o o open e iewing, and espec ing o he igh s o au ho s (unde C ea i e Commons, wi h COPE, indexed in DOAJ and ESCI). I s aims and scope a e b oad, encompassing all ields o geog aphy, wi h an a en i eness o no he n dimensions, while opical and poli icized issues a ising om any pa o he wo ld and in any empi ical con ex a e pa icula ly welcomed. The six sideways Re lec ions on publishing in his issue o Fennia, seek o build upon his ini ial edi o ial in he p e ious issue, on sub le adical mo es in academic publishing. They o e an al e na i e o he s aid mode o pape w i ing and he ho ny issue o wan ing o publish you wo k in academic jou nals, ye no wan ing o ep oduce he neo-libe aliza ion o academia in p in ed o m. Timely Re lec ions, hey aise he p oblem wi h dissemina ing academic wo k h ough he s aigh jacke ed esea ch pape as a c ea i e and c i ical o m, and app oach he p oblema ic o he con en ional publishing model in di e en ways. We begin wi h a subs an i e piece on he measu ing o esea ch quali y, quan i a i ely, om Michael Jones, based on his expe ience o edi ing he No sk Geog a isk Tidssk i –No wegian Jou nal o Geog aphy (NGT–NJG), o e a pe iod o six een yea s. This is ollowed by a e lec ion on socially jus publishing, om Simon Ba e bu y, which a gues geog aphe s can also be publishe s, and o e s a di e en expe ience o edi ing a ee online jou nal, he Jou nal o Poli ical Ecology. Following on om his e lec ion, he edi o s o he adical geog aphy jou nal Human Geog aphy seek o eclaim alue om academic labo , o e ing ou es a ound co po a e/capi alis academic publishing. Weighing in on he na u e o he p oblem, hey e eal wha hey a e doing in esponse as a jou nal, wha successes hey ha e had, and wha challenges emain. Simila ly, in eac ion o he e e -inc easing p essu e placed on academics o publish wi hin he neolibe al uni e si y, he edi o s o ACME: An In e na ional Jou nal o C i ical Geog aphies s a e ha schola s a e inc easingly declining o pa icipa e in pee e iew, and ha his is he bigges obs acle hey ace as a jou nal. They a gue pe suasi ely ha pee e iew should be conside ed as a o m o mu ual aid, which is oo ed in an e hics o coope a ion, pe haps o he o he neolibe al uni e si y wi hin which we ope a e as schola s. The inal wo Re lec ions which ollow in his li ely and imely deba e, ocus on he dominance o English language publishing in in e na ional academic wo k, and he b oade geopoli ics o knowledge p oduc ion. De ek Ruez a gues ha con ex s, app oaches, and modes o knowledge a e egula ly de alued, placing concu en ly c i ique on he Finnish and No dic anking sys ems, in line wi h he i s e lec ion om Michael Jones. While Sa a F egonese o e s a c i ical ake on English as lingua anca, s a ing mo e e lec ion is needed in o de o academic English no o become once again pa o a disen anchising p ocess. I is pe haps his disen anchising ha we mus gi e mo e hough o in a u u e issue o Re lec ions in Fennia, a Finnish geog aphical jou nal published in English, ensu ing academic English does no become an excluding ba ie , bo h in he w i ing and pee e iew s ages o publishing. A c i ical e iew essay b ings his issue o Re lec ions o a close, in which Elisa Pascucci e lec s upon and ci es a a mo e complex eali y han he one p esen ed in he book, Re uge: ans o ming a b oken e ugee sys em (Be s & Collie 2017). Pascucci s a es ha undamen al esea ch on e ugees is missing om he con o e sial book, which asks he ques ion: Can capi alism help e ugees? A lack o engagemen wi h his o ical and empi ical p eceden s should no be o e looked he e o Pascucci, o i is p ecisely his lack o engagemen , which allows he au ho s o exp ess an op imism abou e ugee- iendly capi alism. Re u ning o he six Re lec ions on academic publishing ha ollow, o end, we would like o s a e p ecisely wha i is ha we a e aiming a wi h his discussion. We aim he e, o con ibu e o a c i ical discussion on he neo-libe al di ec ion in which academia is a elling, among geog aphe s and o he schola s, be ween academics and poli ical ac o s, globally and na ionally, in ins i u ional se ings and scien i ic communi ies, in o de o hal a co po a e/capi alis c eep in o he academy. We welcome esponses o he six Re lec ions published he e, in u u e issues, whe he ha is h ough he a icula ion o al e na i e pe spec i es, o , in a o m ha builds upon he a gumen s and adical agenda p esen ed. Sugges ions o simila discussions on ocal opics a e encou aged and will be gi en a c i ical space wi hin he Re lec ions sec ion o Fennia in upcoming issues. We would like now, o you o c i ically engage wi h he i al e lec ions ha ollow, ci cula e hem widely, and o epel he neo-libe aliza ion o academia! FENNIA 195: 2 (2017) 163James Riding & Ki si Pauliina Kallio JAMES RIDING FENNIA REFLECTIONS EDITOR KIRSI PAULIINA KALLIO FENNIA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF REFERENCES Be s, A. & Collie , P. (2017) Re uge: ans o ming a b oken e ugee sys em. Penguin Random House, London. Cas ee, N. & Spa ke, M. (2000) P o essional geog aphy and he co po a iza ion o he uni e si y: expe iences, e alua ions, and engagemen s. An ipode 32(3) 222–229. h ps://doi.o g/10.1111/1467-8330.00131 Dowling, R. (2008) Geog aphies o iden i y: labo ing in he ‘neolibe al’ uni e si y. P og ess in Human Geog aphy 32(6) 812–820. h ps://doi.o g/10.1177/0309132507088032 Fo sdick, C. (2005) De la plume comme des pieds: he essay as a pe ipa e ic gen e. In Fo sdick, C. & S a o d, A. (eds.) The mode n essay in F ench: mo emen , ins abili y, pe o mance, 45–60. Pe e Lang, Be n. G ay, A. (2003) Cul u al s udies in Bi mingham: he impossibili y o c i ical pedagogy? 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