Who owns our knowledge? A data feminist perspective on closed research infrastructure

Who owns our knowledge? A data feminist perspective on closed research infrastructure Stefanie Haustein uOttawa School of Information Studies (ÉSIS) & ScholCommLab @stefhaustein.scholcommlab.ca | ORCID: 0000-0003-0157-1430 Open Access Week 2025, uOttawa Library Who we are ScholCommLab 3 Overview →A brief history of research assessment infrastructure →A century of bibliometric methods from library to research management →Science Citation Index from World Brain to counting house →Scopus and Elsevier from publisher to data analytics company →Research assessment through a data feminist lens →Examine power matrix of domination →Challenge power who is doing the counting →Elevate emotion and embodiment valuing multiple forms of knowledge →Rethink binaries and hierarchies what gets counted counts →Embrace pluralism bibliometric unicorns, wizards and janitors →Consider context the numbers don’t speak for themselves →Make labor visible recognize and value the work of many hands Who owns our knowledge? Bibliometric methods from library collection management to research assessment Bibliometric methods 5 Gross, P.L.K. & Gross, E.M. (1927). College libraries and chemical education. Science, 66(1713), 385-389. Library management “In casting around for a better method of arriving at the answer, the writers decided to seek an arbitrary standard of some kind by which to measure the desirability of purchasing a particular journal. […] With this purpose in mind, it was decided to tabulate the references in a single volume of The Journal of the American Chemical Society. […] It is believed that the results of such a tabulation can be considered statistically and used with certain reservations to predict the future needs for a period, let us say, of ten years.” Gross & Gross (1927, p. 386) Bibliometric methods 6 Moed, H.F., Burger, W.J.M., Frankfort, J.G, van Raan, A.F.J. (1985). The use of bibliometric data for the measurement of university research performance. Research Policy, 14(3), 131-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-7333(85)90012-5 Research management “When used properly, bibliometric indicators can provide a ‘monitoring device’ for university research-management and science policy. They enable research policy-makers to ask relevant questions of researchers on their scientific performance, in order to find explanations of the bibliometric results in terms of factors relevant to policy.” Moed et al. (1985, p. 386) Bibliometric methods 7 Bibliometrics today →Science of science (metascience) →Research assessment Science Citation Index from world brain to counting house Science Citation Index 9 Garfield, E. (1955). Citation indexes for science. A new dimension in documentation through association of ideas. Science, 122, 108-111. “World Brain” of scientific information →Database for scientific information to tackle information overload “It would not be excessive to demand that the thorough scholar check all papers that have cited or criticized such papers, if they could be located quickly. The citation index makes this check practicable.” Garfield (1955, p. 108) Data feminism Reflections on bibliometric infrastructure D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press. 17 Definition Data feminism “a way of thinking about data, both their uses and their limits, that is informed by direct experience, by a commitment to action, and by intersectional feminist thought. The starting point for data feminism is something that goes mostly unacknowledged in data science: power is not distributed equally in the world.” D’Ignazio & Klein (2020, p. 8) D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press. 18 Principles →Examine power. Analyzing how power operates in the world. →Challenge power. Challenging unequal power structures and working toward justice. →Elevate emotion and embodiment. Valuing multiple forms of knowledge, including the knowledge that comes from people as living, feeling bodies in the world. →Rethink binaries and hierarchies. Challenging the gender binary, along with other systems of counting and classification that perpetuate oppression. →Embrace pluralism. Insisting that the most complete knowledge comes from synthesizing multiple perspectives. →Consider context. Asserting that data are not neutral or objective but products of unequal social relations; this context is essential for conducting accurate, ethical analysis. →Make labor visible. Making data science labor visible so that it can be recognized and valued. Data feminism D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press. 19 Principles →Examine power. Analyzing how power operates in the world. →Challenge power. Challenging unequal power structures and working toward justice. →Elevate emotion and embodiment. Valuing multiple forms of knowledge, including the knowledge that comes from people as living, feeling bodies in the world. →Rethink binaries and hierarchies. Challenging the gender binary, along with other systems of counting and classification that perpetuate oppression. →Embrace pluralism. Insisting that the most complete knowledge comes from synthesizing multiple perspectives. →Consider context. Asserting that data are not neutral or objective but products of unequal social relations; this context is essential for conducting accurate, ethical analysis. →Make labor visible. Making data science labor visible so that it can be recognized and valued. Data feminism Hill Collins, P. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 1990) D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press. 20 Examine power Matrix of domination →introduced by Patricia Hill Collins in Black Feminist Thought (1990) →explains how systems of power are configured and experienced Data feminism Structural domain Disciplinary domain Organizes oppression: laws and policies Administers and manages oppression. Implements and enforces laws and policies . Hegemonic domain Interpersonal domain Circulates oppressive ideas: culture and media Individual experiences of oppression. Hill Collins, P. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 1990) D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press. 21 Examine power Matrix of domination Data feminism Structural domain Disciplinary domain Organizes oppression: laws and policies Web of Science indexing policies focusing on English -language STEMM journals Administers and manages oppression. Implements and enforces laws and policies . Hegemonic domain Interpersonal domain Circulates oppressive ideas: culture and media Individual experiences of oppression. Hill Collins, P. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 1990) D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press. 22 Examine power Matrix of domination Data feminism Structural domain Disciplinary domain Organizes oppression: laws and policies Web of Science indexing policies focusing on English -language STEMM journals Administers and manages oppression. Implements and enforces laws and policies . Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Hegemonic domain Interpersonal domain Circulates oppressive ideas: culture and media Individual experiences of oppression. Hill Collins, P. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 1990) D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press. 23 Examine power Matrix of domination Data feminism Structural domain Disciplinary domain Organizes oppression: laws and policies Web of Science indexing policies focusing on English -language STEMM journals Administers and manages oppression. Implements and enforces laws and policies . Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Hegemonic domain Interpersonal domain Circulates oppressive ideas: culture and media Journal impact factor University rankings h -index Individual experiences of oppression. Hill Collins, P. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 1990) D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press. 24 Examine power Matrix of domination Data feminism Structural domain Disciplinary domain Organizes oppression: laws and policies Web of Science indexing policies focusing on English -language STEMM journals Administers and manages oppression. Implements and enforces laws and policies . Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Hegemonic domain Interpersonal domain Circulates oppressive ideas: culture and media Journal impact factor University rankings h -index Individual experiences of oppression. Being denied funding, jobs, tenure, promotion https://clarivate.com/news/clarivate-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2022-results/ https://www.relx.com/~/media/Files/R/RELX-Group/documents/reports/annual-reports/relx-2022-annual-report.pdf 25 Challenge power Who is doing the counting and whose interests are served? Data feminism Thank you. Merci. scholcommlab.ca [email protected]