ASI Ratings

Academic authority is traditionally based on the author's educational background, as evidenced by a degree from a university or institution of higher education. Such achievements can in fact reflect a certain level of competency and authority within a given field or subject area.

We also recognize that there are individuals who excel in fields without having done so through formal educational means. These individuals may be excluded from various publications because of their lack of institutional credentials. Yet history would show that some of our most innovative ideas did not come from within the structures of traditional educations environments; Thomas Edison famously said, "If I had known anything about metallurgy, I would have never invented the electric light bulb."

ASI takes into account not only the formal education of contributors, but other evidence of expertise that may be evident in the person's life and works. This will create a more egalitarian environment in which a broader circle of voices may be heard and published. With ASI's standards, the general public is armed with multiple metrics to  measure and determine the value of the information they are viewing, reading, or experiencing.

A movement has already begun in favor of an the open publications environment. Thus far, the qualification of news, academic papers, and other information has been done by the publisher and the publisher's reputation, and then further articulated by peer review. Yet as federated search capabilities enable multiple searches to be conducted in multiple languages across multiple fields of specialization, it become more and more important to have clearly defined standards by which we can measure the value of information.