Scholarly reading as professional practice: A reappraisal

Other text in scientific journal, 2016

In the present university governance model, emphasizing calculative practices based on e.g., bibliographic publication data, scholarly reading is easily downplayed as an inherited privilege not of necessity being conducive to either academic success, nor scholarly recognition. In contrast, by advocating scholarly reading as a centrally located professional practice in scholarly communities, this article emphasizes that scholarly reading is the primus motor of academic knowledge production. To discredit scholarly reading as what e.g., directs attention away from more pressing academic concerns within the extant governance model thus undermines the long-term commitment to scholarly know-how and expertise. Therefore, a more detailed and nuanced debate regarding the practices of academic knowledge production, including the role of scholarly reading, is needed.