Academic Social Closure: Publication Patterns in Two Sociology Flagship Journals, 1960-2010

• In Event: 226 - Regular Session. Elites

Abstract

We examine patterns of publication in two leading flagship sociology journals, ASR and AJS for the years 1960-2010. We draw from the work of Derek J. de Solla Price on ‘big science’ and ‘little science’ as well as from Parkin’s early work on social closure to develop the academic closure model. This model is driven by three different social forces: Demographic Social Closure, Competitive Social Closure, and Knowledge Social Closure. This paper focuses on the second and third forces of academic social closure as being central to maintaining the highly competitive and stratified system of universities. We consider universities as elite or non-elite based on the Cartter (1996) ranking of top 20 sociology departments, and the National Research Council (1995) ranking of the top 23 departments for 2005 and 2010. The elite-non-elite stratification is central to the model of academic closure that we propose. Our analysis of trends support the predictions made by de Solla Price over 50 years ago. Indicators of big science practices are found in published articles in the form of research funding, multiple authorship, expansion of article length and references, and expanded use of secondary data over primary data. More important, however, is the evidence for great competitive and knowledge social closure in the publication process in terms of representation of journal editors and authors from top ranked departments being over-represented in the flagship journal.

Authors

• Mangala Subramaniam, Purdue University

• Robert Perrucci, Purdue University