The Firr Open Scholar Ecosystem (OSE): A Transparent Framework for Layered Academic Publishing

This paper introduces the Firr Open Scholar Ecosystem (OSE), a transparent framework designed to model openness, rhythm, and interconnection across academic publishing layers. The OSE integrates three tiers of dissemination: reflective writing on Medium, interpretive archiving on Zenodo, and formal preprint publication on EdArXiv (OSF). Supporting tools such as Bluesky, LinkedIn, NotebookLM, and Hypothes.is provide peripheral amplification and annotation, creating a continuous feedback system between public reflection and scholarly dissemination. The model positions metadata management (DOIs, related resources, and version control) as a form of epistemic labour, quiet but essential work sustaining visibility, traceability, and integrity in open scholarship. It proposes that reflective, interpretive, and formal outputs can coexist without hierarchy, redefining process itself as a legitimate mode of scholarship. Author’s Note:© Andrew Firr 2025. The Firr Open Scholar Ecosystem (OSE) framework is released under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Reuse and adaptation are permitted with attribution.Correspondence: [email protected]