Scientific Communication: Sociology Journals and Publication Practices

The rise of scientific specializations and disciplines depends on the formation of specialized scientific communities. The establishment of specialized scholarly journals facilitates the formation of such communities or networks. Publications, especially articles in specialized journals, have become institutionalized as the ‘ultimate’ form of scientific communication. Specialized journals fulfil a key role in the scientific disciplines. They both secure the shared values of a scientific community and endorse what that community takes to be certified knowledge. This article first elaborates on the evolution of communication within scientific disciplines. Afterwards, it presents an analysis of publication practices in the main generalist sociology journals in the Low Countries. Because of the close relationship between journals and discipline, this sociological analysis addresses the evolution of sociology itself.

[1]  Lutz Bornmann,et al.  The potential and problems of peer evaluation in higher education and research , 2007 .

[2]  Alan Gordon Rae Smith.  Science and Society in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries , 1972 .

[3]  Néstor Miranda Canal.  El oficio de científico. Bourdieu, Pierre (2003), Ciencia de la Ciencia y Reflexividad Berce1ona: Anagrama, 213 pp. Traducción de Joaquín Jordá. [Primera edición en francés: (2001) Science de la Science et Réflexivité, Paris: Raisons d'agir]. , 2004 .

[4]  R. Dingwall.  Essays on Professions , 2008 .

[5]  Jennifer Platt.  Women's and men's careers in British sociology. , 2004, The British journal of sociology.

[6]  R. Vanderstraeten.  The Historical Triangulation of Education, Politics and Economy , 2006 .

[7]  J. De Haan,et al.  Authorship patterns in Dutch sociology , 1997, Scientometrics.

[8]  R. Vanderstraeten.  Soziale Beobachtungsraster: Eine wissenssoziologische Analyse statistischer Klassifikationsschemata / Patterns of Observation: A Social Epistemology of Statistical Classification Schemes , 2006 .

[9]  Stefan Hirschauer.  Peer Review Verfahren auf dem Prüfstand / Peer Review Research – Reviewed , 2004 .

[10]  J. Heilbron.  Particularités et particularismes de la sociologie aux Pays-Bas , 1988 .

[11]  Rudolf Stichweh,et al.  Science in the system of world society , 1996 .

[12]  Henk F. Moed,et al.  Citation Analysis in Research Evaluation , 1899 .

[13]  Jennifer Platt.  A brief history of the ISA : 1948-1997 , 1998 .

[14]  F. Leeuw,et al.  Sociology in the Netherlands , 1995 .

[15]  Roger L. Geiger,et al.  To Advance Knowledge: The Growth of American Research Universities, 1900–1940 by Roger L. Geiger (review) , 1986, Technology and Culture.

[16]  K. Knorr-Cetina,et al.  Epistemic cultures : how the sciences make knowledge , 1999 .

[17]  T. Kuhn,et al.  The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. , 1964 .

[18]  Jennifer Platt.  The Women's Movement and British Journal Articles, 1950—2004 , 2007 .

[19]  A. Antikainen.  Review Essay: Finnish Academic Publishing in Sociology , 2008 .

[20]  W. Heilbron.  A Regime of Disciplines: Toward a Historical Sociology of Disciplinary Knowledge , 2004 .

[21]  R. Clark.  Diversity in sociology: Problem or solution? , 1999 .

[22]  Loet Leydesdorff,et al.  Theories of citation? , 1998, Scientometrics.

[23]  Charles Bazerman,et al.  Handbook of research on writing : history, society, school, individual, text , 2007 .

[24]  P. Kivisto.  Chaos of disciplines , 2002 .

[25]  C. Donovan.  Citation and content analysis , 2004 .

[26]  Niklas Luhmann,et al.  Die Wissenschaft Der Gesellschaft , 1992 .

[27]  D. Smith.  Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature , 1981 .

[28]  B. Wittrock,et al.  ANALYZING SOCIAL SCIENCE: ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A SOCIOLOGY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES , 1990 .

[29]  C. Bazerman,et al.  Writing and Secular Knowledge Outside Modern European Institutions , 2007 .

[30]  Richard Münch.  Stratifikation durch Evaluation: Mechanismen der Konstruktion von Statushierarchien in der Forschung / Stratification by Evaluation: Mechanisms of Constructing Status Hierarchies in Research , 2008 .

[31]  C. Bazerman.  Writing and Secular Knowledge Within Modern European Institutions , 2006 .

[32]  B. Edelman.  Qu'est-ce qu'un auteur ? , 2008 .

[33]  A. Halsey.  A History Of Sociology In Britain , 2004 .

[34]  G. Evans,et al.  A history of scientific and technical periodicals: The origins and development of the scientific and technical press 1665–1790: David A. Kronick. Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, N.J., 1976, 2nd Edn 336 pp. $13.50. LC 75-41487 ISBN 0-8108-0844-7 , 1976 .

[35]  Jennifer Platt.  The British Sociological Association: a sociological history , 2003 .

[36]  Andrew Abbott.  Department and Discipline: Chicago Sociology at One Hundred , 1999 .