Publishing Journal ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (4): 14-22.

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Epistemic Injustice in Academic Publishing

  

  1. Service Center of China Association for Science and Technology

    School of Philosophy, Zhejiang University

  • Received:2025-03-13 Revised:2025-06-16 Online:2025-07-29 Published:2025-07-29

Abstract:

Fricker’ s theory of epistemic injustice examines the epistemic oppression arising from identity prejudice and the lack of interpretative resources within knowledge transmission. Academic publishing, as a fundamental institution of global knowledge production and dissemination, exhibits deep-seated epistemic injustice due to structural imbalances in knowledge circulation. This manifests primarily as linguistic injustice (where English hegemony systematically undermines the credibility and interpretive frameworks of non-native Englishspeaking scholars) and citation injustice (involving the systemic neglect of cognitive contributions from scholars based on gender, geographic location, and disciplinary affiliation). These injustices are rooted in the legacy of epistemic colonialism, the institutionalized hegemony of Western academic centrism, and the resultant evaluation systems. Consequently, they not only hinder participation by marginalized scholars, distort judgments of knowledge credibility, and suppress pluralistic interpretive frameworks, but also lead to the homogenization of humanity’ s public knowledge systems, the marginalization of indigenous knowledge, and ultimately exacerbate inequities in knowledge distribution. To advance towards epistemic justice, academic publishingrequires the following structural reforms: constructing academic evaluation system, empowering knowledge democratization through artificial intelligence, and cultivating an inclusive academic community culture. These measures are essential for constructing a more well-ordered global knowledge ecosystem.

Key words:

CLC Number: