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KnowledgeGAP

About KnowledgeGAP


The Knowledge G.A.P is a collective of student and early-career researchers investigating the geopolitics of academic knowledge production. The overall goal is to better understand the various mechanisms and power dimensions through which structures of inequality and exclusion are actively produced, reproduced and embedded in the global academic publishing system.

Our inquiry into the geopolitics of knowledge production arises from broader questions concerning representation and marginalization within processes of global knowledge production. We are interested in understanding whether there is an unequal and under representation of academic content produced in and by “Global South” researchers and if so, we are interested in understanding the various mechanisms and power dimensions through which such structures of inequality and exclusion are actively produced, reproduced and embedded in the global publishing system. In this case, we would also like to examine the implications of such inequalities in regards to diversity of knowledge, cognitive justice, equitable collaboration and sustainable development at large.

Research

Mapping the Geography of Knowledge Production in Development Studies

This project examines content and geographic diversity in development studies journals. It has two main goals: (1) to determine the patterns of contributions of Northern and Southern researchers in development journals published in the global North and (2), to identify the ways their involvement or lack thereof shape knowledge production.

Rent Seeking and Financialization of the Academic Publishing Industry 

This project is looking to examine various dimensions of the economic/business behavior of the academic publishing industry through a closer look at its top five players. The project hypothesis that concentration in the industry has occurred alongside increasing role of financial players, instruments, and behaviors. As a result, the main goal is to examine patterns of rent seeking, financialization and monopolistic behavior within the industry in order to understand their implications in the production of inequalities and vulnerabilities in knowledge production

Knowledge, Power and Inequality in Open Science Policies 

This is a joint research project led by G.A.P. in collaboration with OCSDNet, the Open and Collaborative Science in Development Network. The project seeks to investigate the structures of power and inequality in knowledge production and policymaking, using the construction of the Open Science discourse as a case study. By tracing the key players behind the formation and dissemination of Open Science policies and documents, we want to question the ideological foundations at the core of this discourse, and the impact this may have on reinforcing global knowledge inequality in the scientific and development fields.

Conference Presentations

Over the years, our team had the opportunity to publish and present at conferences like the International Development Conference, OpenCon, the International Conference on Electronic Publishing (ELPUB), and the Radical Open Access!

Members of KnowledgeGAP attending OpenCon2018
KnowledgeGAP members Daniela and Tasneem presenting at the International Development Conference
KnowledgeGAP members George and Alejandro presenting at ELPUB
KnowledgeGAP members Marie and Maggie presenting at ELPUB
KnowledgeGAP members Tasneem, Maggie, and George with ELPUB organizer Dora