The Indexing Experiment: How Retrieval Systems Became the Architecture of Visibility reframes indexing systems—Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus—not as neutral cataloging tools but as visibility infrastructures that actively construct what becomes discoverable, citable, and institutionally real. Built on the fragile assumptions of peer review, academic publishing, and disciplinary silos, indexing systems inherit and amplify upstream failures: epistemic drift, category lock‑in, prestige bias, and fragmentation. Evidence from retraction patterns, compromised peer‑review processes, and the economics of publishing demonstrates that indexing does not evaluate truth but metadata, granting legitimacy to flawed or incoherent work at scale. By analyzing indexing as an experiment in visibility governance, the essay reveals how retrieval algorithms shape the boundaries of knowledge, harden outdated ontologies, and reproduce prestige‑driven distortions. Exposing this layer reveals the structural fragility of citation economies, evidence‑based policy, and institutional legitimacy in the post‑web environment.
Signal Rupture (Fri,) studied this question.