Explaining Gender in the Journals: How Submission Practices Affect Publication Patterns in Political Science
15 Pages Posted: 12 Jun 2018
Date Written: May 26, 2018
Abstract
In a recent study, Teele and Thelen (2017) carefully document what amounts to the substantial underrepresentation of female-authored scholarship in a broad selection of political science journals. To better understand what might be driving their reported patterns, we present the results of an original, individual-level survey of political scientists conducted in the spring of 2017. Confirming Teele and Thelen’s speculation concerning what might underlie the gender gap in publication, our evidence points to differences in submission rates – a pattern that appears to be particularly pronounced for the “Top Three” journals in the discipline. Leveraging original survey items, we pursue additional explanations for this submission dynamic, finding that both methodological specialization and risk aversion may play roles. Importantly, we also conclude that men and women get differential returns on their investments in co-authorship: while male and female respondents report identical propensities to coauthor, co-authorship appears to boost submission and publication rates much more strongly for men than women. We discuss the implications of our findings for ongoing conversations about inequality in political science.
Keywords: professionalization; publication; gender; political science
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