The structural cycle of scientific knowledge

Allegories of Knowledge

Aes Sedai (trans from the Old Tongue = Servants of All) were wielders of supernatural power (the One Power) in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time novels. These people also learned to master political power and the power that comes from knowledge. The most potent aes sedai were those who lived during the Age of Legends when wonders were made through the use of One Power.

I once had the pleasure of reading an essay in the theories section of the now-defunct WoTmania website on how aes sedai, whose residence happened to be the White Tower, was an allegory for academia. The White Tower is the proverbial Ivory Tower. Aes Sedai is classified into three ranks: the Novices who are expected to learn rotes; the Accepted who can choose whichever field of study to focus on; and the Aes Sedai themselves, who then choose a field where they can be members of a specialized group (ajah). A novice receives a ring upon being raised to the accepted rank; an accepted gains a shawl with the color of her chosen Ajah. 

In real life, students in basic education are expected to learn rotes, the basic skills and founding elements of a particular set of knowledge. Those in higher education, upon graduation, receive a colored hood representing the faculty or college where they gained their degree. They can also opt for a ring.

I was in college when a professor of mine defined a university as a community of scholars. I learned through the years that scholasticism is not simply learning from lessons or readings. Rather, it is also the act of discovering knowledge. A university is composed of people who strive to discover knowledge through research.

There's a dark story in The Wheel of Time when an aes sedai named Saine Tarasind applied to the board of one of the greatest universities in the Age of Legends, and the board evaluated her as unsuited for research. She was instead given the chance to teach. This grated at her as she found herself leading the discoveries of others instead of conducting her own discoveries. 

Who would have thought how research would become such a politically economic item at present in the actual world?

Academic Socio-Political Capital

It is fitting that universities are upgrading minimum hiring requirements to having at least a master's or a doctorate degree before accepting a new faculty. Now, there's also the element of research. Complimenting research is a person's quality of having publication in journals.

Journals are becoming the repositories of scientific knowledge. Their peer-reviewed character, aim, and scope imply a person's academic frame. Having more publications in a particular field means expertise.

Capitalist Cycles

The process of publishing requires resources and expenses.  Journals need to sell their issues. A journal can be subscribed to, or its articles can be brought piece by piece depending on a purchaser's budget. Schools make an institutional subscription to allow their scholars access to these valuable tomes. 

Competition within the academic profession led to the slogan "publish or perish." Some can have actual institutional implications of perish. Those who do not publish may kiss the path to tenure goodbye. Or, not publishing implies a lack of expertise as opposed to those who do publish and are then read and cited within the field. I support the hypothesis that this need gave birth to predatory journals and their latter cousins - predatory conferences. Certain groups establish online publications, offering easy chances to get published AT A FEE. Some conferences bait young academicians by adding "opportunity to publish" as part of the benefits of joining the conference. This needs clarification. Some conferences do create a publication pathway at a legitimate quality journal. However, the publications in predatory conferences are publishing your manuscript as part of the conference proceedings. Conference proceedings are not bad per se,; they are not scientific journals. It does not mean that one's written ideas have been screened and accepted by peers (through blind peer review) from the same field of study.

Accompanying the need to publish is citing the right materials for your manuscript. I attended a webinar on citing sources and getting published during the pandemic. The speaker directed the participants' attention to journal rankings, impact factors, and number of citations. One should use those who are well cited, those with high impact, to bolster the publication chances of one's manuscript. This is one of the capitalist economic cycles. Those with citations continually get cited by journals because of this campaign.  

A different slogan has also circulated; I encountered this as memes in social media. These questioned the capitalist block to the availability of scientific knowledge. Not all journals are subscribed to by universities. Not all researchers, whether students or professionals, can access every journal. The need to access information from books or journals led to the birth of websites where digital books and journals can be downloaded for free. Not all articles are, however, available even in these Robin Hood systems of websites that open up access to information. Articles and books that are well read have had the need to be cited, are in reputable and peer-reviewed journal publishers are those that can be accessed on these websites. Manuscripts in predatory journals are, of course, open access. The fee has been paid by the author, to begin with. This is the second, much more complex cycle. Less ranked journals, academic local journals, however peer-reviewed, are often open access. Those accessible for a fee may be unavailable on the Robin Hood sites. The currency is the popularity of the article. Authors and institutions strive to have publications in high-ranked journals. The higher the rank, the higher the possibility that this is a pay-to-access site. The higher the rank, the higher the opportunity that a copy will appear on Robin Hood sites. 

Externalities to note here are that more popular journals will have higher chances of institutional subscriptions. Hence, more students and professionals will have access to their manuscripts. The act of being downloaded from an official site is sometimes counted. This can diminish when students pass around a reading among them. Sometimes, a study group will have one tasked to get files. Sometimes, mentors and mentees pass down files from generation to generation. Authors accepted through blind peer review at reputable journals can also opt for Gold publication. The manuscript will be open access because the author has already paid the publication expense. This is possible, especially if the research ha been funded through a grant and thus has funds.