This article explores the role of unrecognised labour in corporate innovation systems via an analysis of researcher coding and discursive contributions to R, one of the largest statistical software ecosystems. Studies of online platforms typically focus on how platform affordances constrain participants' actions, and profit from their labour. We innovate by connecting the labour performed inside digital platforms to the professional employment of participants. Our case study analyses 8,924 R package repositories on GitHub, examining commits and communications. Our quantitative findings show that researchers, alongside non-affiliated contributors, are the most frequent owners of R package repositories and their most active contributors. Researchers are more likely to hold official roles compared to the average, and to engage in collaborative problem-solving and support work during package development. This means there is, underneath the 'recognised' category of star researchers who transition between academia and industry and secure generous funding, an 'unrecognised' category of researchers who not only create and maintain key statistical infrastructure, but also provide support to industry employees, for no remuneration. Our qualitative findings show how this unrecognised labour affects practitioners. Finally, our analysis of the ideology and practice of free, libre and open source software (FLOSS) shows how this ideology and practice legitimate the use of 'university rents' by Big Tech.

翻译：本文通过分析研究者对R语言（最大的统计软件生态系统之一）的编码与话语贡献，探讨了未被承认的劳动在企业创新系统中的作用。现有线上平台研究通常聚焦于平台可供性如何约束参与者行为并从中牟利。本研究创新性地将数字平台内的劳动与参与者的职业就业联系起来。案例研究分析了GitHub上8,924个R软件包仓库，考察提交记录与交流数据。定量研究表明：研究者与非隶属贡献者共同构成R软件包仓库最频繁的所有者及最活跃的贡献者。相较于平均水平，研究者更可能担任官方角色，并在软件包开发过程中参与协作问题解决与支持工作。这表明在"受认可"的明星研究者（游走于学界与产业界并获取丰厚资助）之外，还存在"未被承认"的研究者群体——他们不仅创建维护关键统计基础设施，还无偿为产业雇员提供技术支持。质性研究揭示了这类未被承认的劳动如何影响从业者实践。最后，通过对自由开源软件意识形态与实践的分析，本文阐释了该理念如何使科技巨头对"大学租金"的利用正当化。