数字时代学术戏仿的双重面相：中文互联网"底刊"现象的社会学考察

Abstract

This study examines the "bottom-tier journal" phenomenon (e.g., SHIT Journal, rubbbish) that emerged in Chinese cyberspace during 2025-2026, conceptualizing it as a complex cultural practice through which young scholars negotiate academic pressures. Through critical discourse analysis of publicly available digital texts and comparative analysis with the eLife reform initiative, this paper reveals the dual nature of this phenomenon: on one hand, it serves as emotional relief and collective identity formation—a "coping strategy" of the field's dominated group; on the other hand, it contains implicit critiques of academic capitalism and impact factor fetishism, representing an attempt to deconstruct academic "grand narratives" through "little narratives." Rejecting simplistic value judgments, this study adopts a dialectical perspective that neither romanticizes the phenomenon as revolutionary nor dismisses it as mere escapism. By introducing eLife's open science reform as a reference point, we explore pathways from "self-mockery" to "constructive engagement," calling for the academic community to listen to youth voices and promote diversified evaluation systems. The findings suggest that the bottom-tier journal phenomenon represents both a "smart response to helplessness" and potential seeds of change, with its transformative potential depending on whether cultural deconstruction can connect with institutional reconstruction.

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