Digital scholarly practices in scientific communication: Paths and goals in research dissemination

Abstract

This chapter has been conceived as a general introduction to the volume Digital Scientific Communication: Identity and Visibility in Research Dissemination. It draws attention to the coexisting models, approaches and practices that are gaining relevance in research dissemination. Many of the key concepts that permeate the analyses presented in the volume are first introduced or revisited here. The final section adds an overview of the contributions, recapitulating the main insights offered for a better understanding of scientific communication. The plurality of approaches presented in the analysis of scientific digital discourse has been grouped into five parts which articulate the structure of the volume. Thus, after the first introductory section (Part I), Part II reflects upon the notion of stance and the processes of construction of identity and expertise through an analysis of professional practices in the digital context. Part III focuses on the dissemination of scientific knowledge and delves into some of the challenges inherent in this process, such as the existing 'knowledge asymmetries', or those external challenges brought about by emerging 'predatory' practices. Part IV includes complementary visions of the popular genre of the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) presentations which analyse how the combination of certain multimodal resources and a restriction in the allocated time are used as key elements to engage the audience. The concluding chapter in Part V sets out to identify those positive and negative aspects of the current academic digital practices shown in previous chapters and finally puts forward desirable future directions in this varying context.