Quality and influence in literary work: evaluating the 'educated imagination'

We examine literary work as a product of the scholar's 'educated imagination' and review features of this performance culture (i.e. quality, quantity, impact, influence, and importance), which lend themselves to evaluation. Insights are drawn from the research and commentaries of specialists, including scholars of literature and bibliometricians. Peer review, as it is seen in book reviews, plays a critical role in how literary quality is perceived, while citations, from books and journal articles may be used to trace patterns of influence. To evaluate literary work as a whole, we suggest distinguishing between different types of production, vocational and epistemic, and orchestrating data systems that allow for combined measures of quality, scholarly influence, and cultural influence. Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.