The Moral Economy of Nursing Research: Commodification, Metricisation and Scholarly Integrity.

Abstract

This paper offers a philosophical critique of the moral economy of nursing research under conditions of commodification and metricisation. Using the concept of the junkification of research as an analytic lens, it examines tensions that may arise when institutional criteria such as publication volume, journal prestige, citation visibility, grant capture and speed of dissemination operate alongside criteria concerned with methodological rigour, conceptual contribution, ethical seriousness and practical significance. The paper does not claim that nursing research as a whole has become junkified or that particular areas of nursing knowledge have been empirically demonstrated to be marginalised. Rather, it asks how contemporary evaluative conditions may shape what forms of scholarship are feasible, recognised and circulated. It argues that this question is especially important in nursing because nursing knowledge is simultaneously empirical, explanatory, interpretive, relational, situated and practice-accountable. The paper further examines how marketised access and prestige structures can affect participation and epistemic recognition, and concludes by framing doctoral education, academic leadership, publishing, institutional assessment and professional governance as sites of disciplinary stewardship.