About Pivotal Players: Academic reflections of major works that have shaped research across the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Pivotal Players: Academic reflections of major works that have shaped research across the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
About this Collection
The well-known concept of “standing on the shoulders of giants” nicely describes that current research regularly builds on previous research. Some academic publications, however, have a bigger impact for people and their research than others. This article collection allows for articles that reflect on publications from before 2000. Authors are invited to consider what impact these publications have on current research.
Regardless of the research topic, there may be publications that are either influential in the general sense (e.g., having many citations), but some publications may also be influential on a personal level in the sense that such publications have influenced a researcher’s way of thinking or research direction.
Even though researchers regularly stand on the shoulders of giants, researchers do not regularly reflect on exactly whose shoulders they stand on. This article collection encourages exactly this reflection. It provides insight, not only in influential articles from last century, but also in how researchers may be influenced by previous research. This reflexive practice is particularly important at this juncture, where knowledge production has been dramatically increased. In the Digital Humanities, this reflexive collection speaks to the continuing commitment to critically engage with the ways that technology influences our social lives and how we can gain deeper understandings of our social lives through the use of digital methods.
The process of reflecting on influential publications and their impact on current research is relevant across all fields of inquiry. The field of Digital Humanities, however, is still a relatively young field and, as such, does not yet have many established influential publications. This allows researchers to think more freely about articles that are influential to them and their research specifically. As a transdisciplinary field this collection will also invite contributions from various fields, thereby allowing authors to draw novel connections between different bodies of knowledge, showing how the knowledge ecosystem is interconnected.
Submission Deadline: 31 March 2027
Keywords
1. Digital Humanities
2. Reflective analysis
3. Academic reflection
4. Meta-analysis of practice
5. Archival re-examination
Regardless of the research topic, there may be publications that are either influential in the general sense (e.g., having many citations), but some publications may also be influential on a personal level in the sense that such publications have influenced a researcher’s way of thinking or research direction.
Even though researchers regularly stand on the shoulders of giants, researchers do not regularly reflect on exactly whose shoulders they stand on. This article collection encourages exactly this reflection. It provides insight, not only in influential articles from last century, but also in how researchers may be influenced by previous research. This reflexive practice is particularly important at this juncture, where knowledge production has been dramatically increased. In the Digital Humanities, this reflexive collection speaks to the continuing commitment to critically engage with the ways that technology influences our social lives and how we can gain deeper understandings of our social lives through the use of digital methods.
The process of reflecting on influential publications and their impact on current research is relevant across all fields of inquiry. The field of Digital Humanities, however, is still a relatively young field and, as such, does not yet have many established influential publications. This allows researchers to think more freely about articles that are influential to them and their research specifically. As a transdisciplinary field this collection will also invite contributions from various fields, thereby allowing authors to draw novel connections between different bodies of knowledge, showing how the knowledge ecosystem is interconnected.
Submission Deadline: 31 March 2027
Keywords
1. Digital Humanities
2. Reflective analysis
3. Academic reflection
4. Meta-analysis of practice
5. Archival re-examination
Collection Advisors
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Menno van Zaanen
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Janelize Morelli