Format SCD:

The SCD format is an interactive version of texts rewritten by the authors themselves. It is developed by the publisher Editions Epistèmes.

It edits the logicist rewriting on four levels. Each level enables the reader a more or less detailed consultation of the scientific constructs. The first two levels allow for a consultation of the ensemble of propositions (initial, intermediate and final). The next two levels allow for a consultation of details and antecedent propositions as well as the data bases utilized.

Example of rewriting:

We propose an example of the logicist rewriting of an article, first published in 1985, which compares two ceramic assemblages made in the Hellenistic era, the first one in the eastern Mediterranean (Greece, the Aegean islands, Asia Minor), the second in a part of Asia colonised by the Greeks. This colonisation began after Alexander’s conquests (ca. 330 B.C.) and lasted until approximately 130 BC, when the colonists were supplanted by peoples arriving from inland Asia.

Collection Référentiels:

The collection « Référentiels » has been launched in 2002 by the Editions de la MSH and the Editions Epistèmes following the publication of the first SCD-formatted CD-ROM publication, Carnelian in India , as conceived by Valentine Roux and Philippe Blasco. Carnelian in India, edited by V. Roux and published in 2000, opened SCD publications. The collection « Référentiels » is the first collection of SCD monographs.

Partners:

The Editions Epistèmes and the Editions de la MSH support Arkeotek's publications since the beginning.

Human Sciences Publications

Printed scientific publications constantly have to face inherent problems linked to the restricted space available for research databases. Sometimes, in order to reduce costs and page numbers, only a few data deemed to be significant are published. Doing this, however, most often deprives the work of the documentation which is the basis for its interpretation, thereby preventing researchers from checking the author’s reasoning and - if need be – applying it to other corpuses.

The Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme have undertaken, in collaboration with the Editions Epistèmes, to test solutions to this problem with a first publication edited under the scientific direction of Valentine Roux in 2000: Cornaline de l'Inde. Des pratiques techniques de Cambay aux techno-systèmes de l'Indus (Carnelian in India). This publication includes a CD-ROM conceived as a database connected to scientific constructs presented according to logicism rewriting principles, developed a few decades ago by J.-C. Gardin and adapted to electronic supports - CD-ROM, internet sites – thanks to a specific recording format, called SCD (Scientific Constructs and Data) format.

Following this first experiment, a monograph collection was born in 2002 - the “Référentiels” collection - and, in early 2007, an on-line journal - The Arkeotek Journal – both co-produced by Editions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme and the Editions Epistèmes. This type of publishing has given itself two priorities: to make scientific writing more understandable by unveiling its underlying logico-discursive operations, and to support the theses’ demonstrations – especially by publishing the supporting data. To achieve this these publishing models take advantage of the opportunities offered by electronic publishing. They present several advantages:

- methodological advantages: the type of rewriting inspired by the work of J.-C. Gardin guarantees rigorously argued constructs;

- publishing advantages: Publishing in SCD format enables contents to be read rapidly - hyper abstract function – and easier translation – about a hundred propositions being much easier to translate than a traditional monograph;

- epistemological advantages: by promoting the combined publication of “facts” (data) and “rules” (logico-semantic operations), for the first time in human sciences the constitution of knowledge bases - or logicist corpuses - can be envisaged.