User interfaces of digital scholarly editions: a proposal for an evaluative framework

Abstract In this study, a methodological framework aimed at assessing the quality of the user interfaces of digital scholarly editions (DSEs) is proposed. On the basis of a review of international academic guidelines on the publication and presentation of DSEs, we have established a set of evaluative criteria, which have been divided into three dimensions of analysis: presentation of the edition, infrastructure and standards, and usability and visualization. The proposed methodology has been applied to four DSEs that were published using different publishing tools and that explore texts from different literary genres. The proposed evaluative framework has enabled us to systematically evaluate these editions’ characteristics, functionalities, display options, and suitability to the user/reader and to compare the results with those from other user studies on DSEs. The evaluative proposal contributes to the debate surrounding the need for a consensus in the academic community working in digital publishing, calling for prescriptive initiatives in this area when it comes to both measuring the quality of DSEs and academic recognition for researchers.