Disseminating knowledge: the effects of digitalised academic discourse on language, genre and identity

In this introduction to the special issue Disseminating knowledge: The effects of digitalised academic discourse in language, genre and identity, the authors discuss the impact that digital technologies and the Web have had on academia. They show how this attests to interrelations between new digital platforms of knowledge creation and dissemination and their use within discourse communities as elements of innovation and change in the shaping and reshaping of existing academic practices. The introduction also discusses the various methodological approaches that have been adopted with a view to investigating digital academic discourse. Exploring some current academic discoursal practices and their specific textual manifestations in the form of digitally-mediated genres, the authors highlight the complexities of the study of digital academic communication.