Please check out the following recent publication from OOW members Robert Perrucci, Carolyn Cummings Perrucci, and Mangala Subramaniam: “Publication in Four Sociology Journals, 1960-2010: The Role of Discipline Demographics and Journal Mission,” Sociological Focus, Vol. 52, Issue 3 (2019): 171-185.

ABSTRACT:

In this paper, we focus on the stratification system impinging on scholarly publications, but we move beyond viewing gatekeeping as a product of professional idiosyncrasies or preferences for certain methodologies to give greater attention to the institutional forces shaping relations among universities, academic departments, academic journals, and individual scholars. To illustrate the operation of institutional factors, we examine data on the affiliations (elite and non-elite departments) of editors and authors over a 50-year period in four sociology journals, and our findings indicate clear evidence of over-representation by faculty from elite departments of sociology. We interpret these data through the theoretical lens of social closure, which may be shaped by discipline demographics and the “missions” of the academic journals.