Rendering Research

To render is to give something “cause to be” or “hand over” (from the Latin reddere “give back”) and enter into an obligation to do or make something like a decision. More familiar perhaps in computing, to render is to take an image or file and convert it into another format or apply a modification of some kind, or in the case of 3D animation or scanning. To render is to animate it or give it volume. In this issue, we ask, what it means to render research? How does the rendering of research typically reinforce certain limitations of thought and action? We ask these questions in the context of more and more demands on researchers to produce academic outputs in standardised forms, in peer-reviewed journals and such like that are legitimised by normative values. So, then, how to render research otherwise?