Purpose: Science is subject to a normative structure that includes how thecontributions and interactions between scientists are rewarded. Authorship andcitations have been the key elements within the reward system of science,whereas acknowledgements, despite being a well-established element in scholarlycommunication, have not received the same attention. This paper aims to putforward the bearing of acknowledgements in the humanities to bring to theforeground contributions and interactions that, otherwise, would remaininvisible through traditional indicators of research performance. Design/methodology/approach: The study provides a comprehensive framework tounderstanding acknowledgements as part of the reward system with a specialfocus on its value in the humanities as a reflection of intellectualindebtedness. The distinctive features of research in the humanities areoutlined and the role of acknowledgements as a source of contributorshipinformation is reviewed to support these assumptions. Findings: Peer interactive communication is the prevailing support thanked inthe acknowledgements of humanities, so the notion of acknowledgements assuper-citations can make special sense in this area. Since single-authoredpapers still predominate as publishing pattern in this domain, the study ofacknowledgements might help to understand social interactions and intellectualinfluences that lie behind a piece of research and are not visible throughauthorship. Originality/value: Previous works have proposed and explored the prevailingacknowledgement types by domain. This paper focuses on the humanities to showthe role of acknowledgements within the reward system and highlight publicationpatterns and inherent research features which make acknowledgementsparticularly interesting in the area as reflection of the socio-cognitivestructure of research.
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