"They Used Us as a Database”: Metric Alchemy and Epistemic Extraction in Times of Crisis

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Soycan N., Ataoğlu A. İ., Şanlı S., Şener H. S., Taşkın Z.

30th Annual International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators , Antwerp, Belçika, 9 - 11 Eylül 2026, ss.920-935, (Tam Metin Bildiri)

Özet

This study examines how crisis conditions reshape academic knowledge production
under metric-driven research evaluation systems. While prior research documents accelerated
publishing during crises, less is known about how these dynamics interact with evaluation regimes
and structural inequalities in peripheral contexts. Drawing on a qualitative case study of the
Turkish academic system, the study analyzes in-depth interviews with academics across ranks and
institutions. Using a Bourdieusian framework, it conceptualizes crises as critical junctures that
transform academic doxa and reconfigure capital conversion strategies. The findings show that
crises intensify topic clustering and rapid publication practices, facilitate the conversion of
multiple forms of capital into symbolic capital, and generate forms of epistemic extraction in which
peripheral contexts are reduced to data sources. The study introduces the concept of metric
alchemy to explain how crisis conditions are translated into opportunities for symbolic capital
accumulation within metricized evaluation regimes.