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A proof-of-concept set of scholarly lexicons for academic publishing - demonstrating how decentralised, content-addressed data structures could transform scholarly communication.
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README.md

AT Scholarly Lexicons#

What is this?#

A proof-of-concept set of AT Protocol lexicons for academic publishing - demonstrating how decentralised, content-addressed data structures can transform scholarly communication.

What is a Lexicon?

A lexicon in the AT Protocol is a schema definition that describes the structure of data records, similar to how a database schema defines tables and fields.

Lexicons specify what fields exist, their data types, validation rules, and relationships between different record types.

They enable interoperability by ensuring that different applications can read, write, and understand the same data structures in a standardised way.

Official documentation →

Why does this exist?#

Academic publishing's problems are frustratingly persistent: platform lock-in, proprietary formats that don't talk to each other, opaque processes that serve vendors more than researchers. I've watched these issues compound for years whilst the fundamental architecture remains unchanged.

I believe AT Protocol offers viable solutions—portable researcher identities, immutable provenance, genuine interoperability—that could reshape scholarly communication. Open standards should let scholarly communities define how they communicate, rather than adapting to closed systems that don't serve us.

These lexicons are my attempt to demonstrate how decentralised infrastructure might actually work for the entire scholarly lifecycle.

This is deliberately a proof-of-concept. I'm not claiming it's perfect or complete. My technical skills are limited, and I don't fully grasp the breadth of every problem or opportunity.

Getting Started#

I want these lexicons used as widely as possible. Fork them, adapt them, build on them. The more people experiment with these ideas, the clearer it becomes what works and what doesn't.

Early design decisions matter, and this space needs input from researchers, librarians, institutions, and funders—not just publishers and vendors.

Each lexicon directory contains:

  • {name}.json - The AT Protocol lexicon specification (self-documenting)
  • README.md - Practical implementation guide
IMPORTANT

For detailed documentation about the lexicons themselves, see lexicons/README.md.

Contributing#

Feedback and improvements are welcome through community discussion.

  • Fork & adapt - Use these lexicons as a starting point for your own project
  • Suggest improvements - Open issues or discussions about the data model
  • Build implementations - Create tools, platforms, or services using these lexicons
  • Propose additions - New lexicons or fields that would be useful

License#

AT Scholarly Lexicons © 2025 by Barry Prendergast is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International