Excellence or quality? Impact of the current competition regime on science and scientific publishing in Latin America and its implications for development

Vessuri, Hebe and Guédon, Jean-Claude and Cetto, Ana María Excellence or quality? Impact of the current competition regime on science and scientific publishing in Latin America and its implications for development. Current Sociology, 2013. [Journal article (Paginated)]

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English abstract

The current competition regime that characterizes international science is often presented as a quest for excellence. It diversely affects research in Latin America and research in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This article asks how this competition regime may orient the direction of research in Latin America, and to whose advantage. It is argued that, by relating excellence to quality differently, a research policy that seeks to improve the level of science in Latin America while preserving the possibility of solving problems relevant to the region can be designed. Competition, it is also argued, certainly has its place in science, but not as a general management tool, especially if the goal is to improve overall quality of science in Latin America. Scientific competition is largely managed through journals and their reputation. Therefore, designing a science policy for Latin America (and for any ‘peripheral’ region of the world) requires paying special attention to the mechanisms underpinning the production, circulation and consumption of scientific journals. So-called ‘international’ or ‘core’ journals are of particular interest as local, national, or even regional journals must struggle to find their place in this peculiar publishing eco-system.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Excellence, Latin America, open access journals, quality and research evaluation, research policy, scientific competition, scientific recognition
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BA. Use and impact of information.
B. Information use and sociology of information > BE. Information economics.
B. Information use and sociology of information > BG. Information dissemination and diffusion.
H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HR. Portals.
H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HS. Repositories.
Depositing user: Jean-Claude Guédon
Date deposited: 01 Sep 2014 03:50
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:32
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/23682

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