I am excited to announce that our publishing platform for research modules is going to be named ResearchEquals, launching on ResearchEquals.com (February 1st, 2022).
Branding design by Pentagram
We already announced that we are sunsetting Hypergraph after our initial experimental phase for publishing research modules, from which we learned some important lessons.
As we evolve how to publish research modules based on these lessons, we are openly building a research module server. This is similar to a preprint server, but for research modules, where you publish building blocks of research and link them together in chronological order. All of this will be accessible straight through your browser, instead of having to install an application.
The name ResearchEquals
I want to share some of the reasons why the name ResearchEquals excites us.
We want to build a place where we can be research equals. As such, ResearchEquals is an aspirational name. The name helps us reaffirm the world we want to see, but also serves as a constant reminder: How we develop the platform should always strive for more equity rather than for less.
We also felt we had been too focused on building technology, not community. Hypergraph was a technological name and product. ResearchEquals implies a community of equals. As such, we will be focusing much more on the community of researchers publishing research modules than the technology to do so from here on out. We will also be introducing new efforts to do that both behind the curtains and in front of the curtains.
We love the wordplay of ResearchEquals — what happens on the platform equals research. This helps grow the idea that whatever research information is published is research. It helps expand our notion of what research is, introduces a flexibility that currently is lacking (and potential playfulness). This helps expand the scholarly record beyond the research paper.
Which is a nice seque to making diverse sets of research outputs equal. Journal publications are still regarded as first-class outputs, whereas other research outputs such as datasets are regarded as second-class outputs. Part of that has to do with the artificial separation between journals and repositories. ResearchEquals regards your writing, code, data, materials, presentations, and science podcasts as equal outputs. No more first-class outputs and second-class outputs — instead, all of these are research equals.
But it isn't just about what we think the name means and what excites us. We think it can mean many things to many people. What ideas does it spark in you?
