Authorship and e-Science: Balancing Epistemological Trust and Skepticism in the Digital Environment

• Published in: Social epistemology Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 1 - 24
• Main Author: Pila, Justine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.01.2009; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Authorship; e-Science; Epistemological Trust; Epistemology; Epistemology. Philosophy of science. Theory of knowledge; Morality; Philosophy; Physicians; Pragmatism; Rights; Trust
• ISSN: 0269-1728; 1464-5297
• DOI: 10.1080/02691720902741381

In this article I consider the role of authorship in balancing epistemological trust and skepticism in e-science. Drawing on studies of the diagnostic practices of doctors in British breast care units and the gate-keeping practices of a Californian publisher of (professional and amateur) horticultural works, I suggest that conventions of authorial designation have an important role to play in nurturing the skepticism essential for scientific rigor within the framework of epistemological trust that pragmatism and morality require. In so doing I question the assumption of contemporary scholars that scientific works are determinate in fact, while nonetheless supporting the idea of semi-indeterminate authorship as a goal. I then consider the theoretical and practical consequences of that view with an analysis of the Anglo-Australian legal constraints on attributions of authorship, and the complex of other relevant (authorial and public) interests and rights that may require different models of attribution-oriented not around authors themselves, but rather their employer, their manager or supervisor, or some (other) pseudonym deemed to be an appropriate organizing mechanism for the works in question.