Precedented: Open Digital Research Practices in Latin America

Abstract

The broadly successful transnational scientific repositories of Latin America throw into high relief the shortcomings of “American-style” publishing and digital library models that continue to revere individual and organizational laurels over reputation and reach, and splashy features over durability. The perpetuation of the prestige economy ensures that journal subscriptions and article processing fees that cost thousands of dollars are somehow not seen as predatory in the Western world, compared to an open access publication in a trusted global repository. These priorities are still fundamentally rooted in neoliberal and imperialist thinking about scientific knowledge as a commodity produced by and for individuals, and so long as these attitudes and the policy apparatus that sustains them persist, true open access will never be attained in North America. This chapter will highlight the early history of open infrastructure and digital repositories in Latin America, their focus on regionally-produced scientific research rather than institutional or disciplinary efforts, the current state of these projects, and apply a critical lens to Western discourse about these projects and their impact. Using SciELO as a foundational example, the authors will summarize how the financial and operational sustainability of these platforms differs from the individualized and disconnected repository strategy common in the United States, which results in much stronger production and engagement with open science practices among Latin American scientists compared to their global north peers. By drawing from and reflecting upon the authors’ respective backgrounds as a Latin American bibliographer and digital librarian in elite U.S. research universities, trained in U.S. library science programs, this chapter proposes embracing an explicitly collectivist and anti-colonial approach to digital repositories. The authors will thoughtfully examine the social and political changes necessary to ignite a revolution within the heart of the prestige economy, and truly unshackle scientific knowledge from gatekeeping for-profit scholarly publishers.