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Nordic Impact: Article Productivity and Citation Patterns in Sixteen Nordic Sociology Departments

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The sociology departments in the Nordic countries provide the institutional platform for Nordic Sociology and for the Nordic national sociological associations that form the Scandinavian Sociological Association. This paper focuses on journal articles produced by current (as of 1 January 2001) faculty of 16 of these Nordic Sociology departments in the period 1981-2000. First, we provide a brief overview of article productivity and citations to articles produced in this period by country and department. Second, we estimate a multilevel model of citation patterns by articles published, the academic position and productivity of each author, and the structure and productivity of each department as a whole. Third, we test the extent to which the effects of such factors differ between departments and individuals. In all departments, publications in high-impact journals increase the number of citations to any given article, to other work of the same author, and to the work of other faculty in the department. The effect of publishing in high-impact journals differs significantly between individual authors, and work in certain types of journals yields more citations than the journal impact factor would predict. We argue that departmental affiliations with outside faculty and departmental productivity can be seen as a form of social capital that benefits both individuals and departments as a whole. These findings strongly suggest that diversity is a defining characteristic of this sociological community, precluding monolithic definitions of Nordic sociology.
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Acta Sociologica
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DOI: 10.1177/000169930204500401
2002 45: 253Acta Sociologica
Thoroddur Bjarnason and Inga Dora Sigfusdottir
Departments
Nordic Impact: Article Productivity and Citation Patterns in Sixteen Nordic Sociology
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Nordic Impact: Article Productivity and Citation
Patterns
in
Sixteen Nordic Sociology
Departments
Thoroddiir 12jnrnnson"2
and
Inga Dora Sigfi~sdottir~~~
'University at Albany,
SUNY,
USA,
'Icelandic Centre for Social Research and
Analysis. Iceland. and 3Pennsylvania State University,
USA
ABSTRACT
The sociology departments in the Nordic countries provide the institutional platform for
Nordir
Sociology
and for the Nordic national sociological associations that form the Scandinavian
Sociological Association. This paper focuses on journal articles produced by current
(as
of
1
January
2001)
faculty
of
16
of
these Nordic Sociology departments in the period
1981-2000.
First,
xve
proride a brief overview
of
article productivity and citations to articles produced in this
period by country and department. Second.
we
estimate a multilevel model
of
citation patterns
by articles published. the academic position and productivity of each author, and the structure
and protluctirity of each tlepartment as a
whole.
Third. we test the extent
to
which the effects of
such factors differ between departments and individuals. In all departments. publications in high-
impact journals increase the number of citations to any given article, to other
work
of thc same
author, and to the
work
of other faculty in the department.
The
effect
of
publishing in high-
impact journals differs significantly between individual authors. and
work
in certain types of
journals yields more citations than the journal impact factor
~vould
predict. \\'e argue that
departmental affiliations with outside faculty and departmental productivity can be seen as a
form of social capital that benefits both individuals and departments as
a
whole. These findings
strongly suggest that diversity is a defining characteristic of this sociological community,
precluding monolithic definitions of Nordic sociology.
1.
Introduction
Nordic sociology
is
a
complex concept
with
various cultural, geographical, political and
academic connotations. From an individual
perspective, Nordic sociology could for instance
be alternatirely defined in terms of the ethnicity,
residence, research sites or theoretical orienta-
tion
of
its practitioners. From
an
organizational
perspective, Nordic sociology could similarly be
defined in terms
of
the
departments of sociology
in
the Nordic countries, or the national socio-
logical associations that form the Scandinavian
Sociological Association. These alternative defi-
nitions are not necessarily mutually exclusive,
but they draw the boundaries of Nordic
sociology somewhat differently and emphasize
different qualities of this diwrse sociological
entity.
The archetypal Nordic sociologist might be
seen to be drawn from a Nordic pool of culture
and genes, educated and employed
at
a
Nordic
sociology department. and studying Nordic
societies from
a
uniquely Nordic theoretical
perspective. Howerer, numerous sociologists in
the Nordic countries are not Nordic by origin.
and many sociologists of Nordic origin are
educated or employed abroad. Furthermore.
several sociologists at Nordic departments
of
sociology have chosen foreign countries as their
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254
AaA
SOCIOLOGICA
2002
VOLUME
4
j
primary topic of investigation. Conversely, the
study of Nordic countries is actirely pursued at
various foreign institutions by researchers who
are not Nordic by origin. Finally, several
important sociological contributions hare been
made by Nordic scholars
who
are neither
sociologists by training nor by occupation.
As an academic field, Nordic sociology can
be viewed as centered on certain theoretical or
empirical core themes. For instance. Bertilsson
and Therborn (2000) argue that the sociology
of Nordic countries is based on a distinctive
moral philosophy, developed in a dynamic
relationship with the growth of the welfare
st ate.
Lilt
erna
t
ively, Allard
t
(
19
8
9,
19
9
5)
argues that the pursuit of sociology in the
Nordic countries can be defined by broad topical
interests, including welfare research, stratifica-
tion research, women’s studies and cultural
studies, where neighboring and kindred cases
provide a strong basis for comparison. These
definitions of the core
of
Nordic sociology raise
important issues regarding the role of national
and geographical communities and the nature
of sociology as an international enterprise.
These various definitional difficulties may in
part account for the paucity of sociological
studies of similarities and differences in the
‘Nordic’ pursuit of sociology.
As \Vallerstein (1998) points out, the
‘internationalization’ of sociology has been a
slow
and uneven process. It has long ‘been
acknowledged that the growth of sociology has
been shaped by national ideals. social and
political values, and accepted patterns of social
organization (hlazur 1963; Uourdieu
&
Pas-
seron 1967; Szczepanski 1969; Thorlindsson
1982). The discipline has from the outset been
divided along national lines (Levine 1995). and
the development of ‘national sociologies’ was an
integral part of nation building in many
countries throughout the
20th
century.
Furthermore, the establishment of multina-
tional sociological associations has been closely
related to the restructuring of political and
economic boundaries. Thus, the foundation of
the Scandinavian Sociological Association in
the early 1950s coincided with the establish-
ment of the Nordic Council, aimed at promoting
political, cultural and economic collaboration
among the Nordic countries. Similarly. the
European Sociological Association was founded
with the twin aims of facilitating specifically
European sociological research and giving
sociology a voice in European affairs (ESA
2001).
In such endeavours. the spectre of iimeri-
can sociology’ is occasionally summoned to
galvanize European sociologists around supra-
national academic identities. Historically,
how-
ever. the sociological communities on both sides
of the Atlantic have dei~eloped similar nietho-
dological and theoretical fault lines, which have
proven a significantly greater barrier to aca-
dcmic discourse than the continental divide. For
instance. a review of
Le
Suicide
appeared in the
Aiiiericaii
Joi~i~nJ
of
Sociology
within months of
the book‘s publication (Tosti
1898).
drawing an
immediate response from Professor Durkheim
(1898) in
a
following issue of the journal. In
sharp contrast, the French Emile Durkheim and
the German hlax IVeber new- cited eacfi
another, and irere apparently niutually un-
aware of each other’s work. Four decades later,
the golden age of functionalism, putatively the
epitome of iimerican sociology’, was ushered in
by Talcott Parsons’ (1937)
Stnrctirrc
of
Social
Action,
subtitled
A
Study
iiz
Social Tlieory
with
Spccirrl
Re~crcrice
to
n
Grolrp
of
Rereiil
Ezrro~icarl
IVriters.
In contemporary sociology. the affinity
of Americans and Europeans sharing a common
theoretical or empirical orientation in general
far surpasses the
level
of integration of their
respective geographical sociological commu-
nities.
The foundation of the Scandinavian Socio-
logical Association in the 1950s provided the
institutional basis for the fledgling field of Nordic
sociology. At the time, there was only a handful
of sociologists working within each country, and
none of the countries had established their own
national journals
of
sociology. The decision
to
launch
Actrr
Sociologicn
in 1955 as
an
English-
language sociology journal was motivated by a
strategy of pooling the sociological resources of
each country and launching Nordic sociology
into the international arena (Agersnap
6r
Widerberg 1995; Allardt 1995).
Almost half
11
century later, the socio-
logical landscapc has been profoundly trans-
formed. On the national level, each of the
Nordic countries boasts of a thriving socio-
logical community, capable of sustaining
a
vibrant local discourse. and in most cases
publishing
a
journaI in its own language. On
the international level. several general socio-
logical and specialized academic societies pro-
vide forums for Nordic sociologists to interact
with colleagues from around the globe, and the
associated proliferation of specialty journals
has provided important outlets for disseniinat-
ing Nordic research to the international com-
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Productivity
and
Impact
255
niunity. In this rapidly changing intellectual
landscape, it is important to assess the current
status and the future prospects of the project of
'Nordic sociology'.
The pursuit
of
sociology
is
fundamentally a
global enterprise. and as Allardt (1995) has
pointed out, the impact of Nordic sociologists in
international sociology
is
integral to the mean-
ingful pursuit of Nordic sociology. We believe
that 'Nordic sociology' should not be seen as a
rigidly defined institution, but rather as a loose
global network of scholars, concentrated
around the Nordic countries. The sociology
departments at the different Nordic universities
do, hoiwrer. form the backbone
of
this sonie-
what amorphous entity. Each department tends
to
have
a distinct intellectual identity, contribut-
ing to both the national sociological communi-
ties and the Nordic community of sociologists.
Engaging sociologists in non-Nordic countries
in dialogue should be seen
as
vital to the fruitful
developinent of Nordic sociology. International
influences in Nordic sociology
should
therefore
be vieived positively, insofar as they contribute
to the Nor<ic sociological discourse. The extent
to
which Nordic sociologists yield
a
reciprocal
impact on international sociology is an equally
important issue. and national and departmental
patterns of such impact are central to the future
prospects of Nordic sociology.
Piiblirntioii
pnttcrns
ia
roiiteiiiyornrg
sociologg
The dissemination of facts and ideas forms the
basis
of
any academic endeavor, and the
publication process is integral to such commu-
nication (Cleniens et
al.
1995: Persson et
al.
1897).
The format of publications has, however,
traditionally differed across academic disciplines
(Persson 19S5). Scientists in the natural
sciences have priniarily published their research
findings in peer-reviewed journals, while books
and monographs have been much more pre-
valent in the humanities.
In sociology, by design straddling the divide
between the natural sciences and the huniani-
ties, scholars have been somewhat divided
between these two forms
of
publication (Clem-
ens et al. 1995). Both formats have been
important to the global pursuit of sociology
from the inception of the discipline, each
having
its
distinct set of advantages and dis-
advantages. The book format alloivs
ii
broader
scope of theoretical and empirical investigation.
and can appeal to a broader audience. In
contrast, the academic journal provides
a
forum for a more focused exchange of ideas
and research findings. and tends to serve a more
specialized audience.
The academic publication process
is
in the
midst of profound technological and organiza-
tional transformation that has affected the
review process of books and journal articles in
different ways. The vast opportunities for
loiv-
cost desktop and electronic publications have
led
to
an exponential growth in the number of
book titles and journals published. The formid-
able international publishing houses hare
increasingly taken over the publication and
marketing of both academic books and aca-
demic journals from university presses and
professional associations. IVhile the interna-
tional mass marketing of certain book titles may
in some cases shift the review process from
academic concerns to market research, desktop
book publishing evades the review process
altogether. In contrast, the recent proliferation
of specialty journals and diminishing restric-
tions on frequency and volume of journals hare
increased rather than decreased the importance
of the academic review process. IVith the
market
for
journal subscriptions largely limited
to university libraries and a professional audi-
ence, the academic reputation of journals has
become a market premium. with a particular
journal having a known rate of acceptance and
a
measurable impact in the academic comniu-
nity. In recent years, studies have revealed a
dramatic change in publication practices in all
academic fields. In particular, in fields that
traditionally have emphasized book publica-
tions, an increasing ratio
of
scholars is now
publishing journal articles (Olsen 1998). Aca-
demic journals carry out the two most impor-
tant aspects of the scientific endeavor: the
distribution of knowledge and the assessment
of the knowledge being distributed. The journal
review process subjects manuscripts to, the
critical evaluation of other members of the
academic communitp, and the academic journal
thus assumes particular responsibility in guar-
anteeing the quality of methods and the
contribution of results to the discipline. The
rejection rate
of
manuscripts submitted to the
most prestigious sociology journals is over
80
per cent, but each manuscript published in such
journals can be expected
to
draw multiple
citations (Persson
1985).
In contrast. struggling
journals may need to accept much of the
material submitted, and the chance of citations
in other work may be minimal.
'
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25G
ACTA
SOCIOLOGICA
2002
I'OLUSIE
45
Cifnfioiis
ns
n
iitcnsiire
of
scholnrlg itripact
The heated debate over the validity of counts of
article publications and citations as measures of
productivity and quality of scholarly work rages
on among sociologists on both sides of the
Atlantic (e.g. Cronin et al. 1997; Baldi 1998;
Braun 1999; Anderssen 2000; IIargens 2000;
Heine 2000; IllcGarthy 2000). For instance,
Brante and Sunesson (1990) argue that citation
indexes are useless, since they exclude books
and only selectively cover academic journals.
Furthermore. they claim that citations do not
accurately reflect the importance of specific
journal articles. since citation practices differ
widely across substantive areas: the importance
of work may only be realized after the death of
its author; and substandard work may draw
many negative citations.
Sonic of these objections apply to socio-
logical reputations in general. \Vhatever post-
humous fame the future may bring, currently
neglectcd work not only remains uncited, but by
definition has no impact in contemporary
sociology. Similarly, infaniy may be a sure
route to academic hme, regardless of citation
counts. However, work drawing
a
large number
of negative citations is most likely
to
be
controversial rather than simply substandard,
since poor quality alone may not draw much
attention in contemporary sociology Finally.
like other indicators of academic prestige,
citation patterns may reflect the fact that
academic careers are grounded in networks of
scholars (Baldi 1998; Hargens 2000).
The selective coverage of citation indexes
may represent
11
more serious problem. The
most commonly used
Social
Scieiice
Citritioii
Irides
(SSCI; IS1 2002a) does include citations
to both books and non-indescd journals.
How-
ever, such citations are only counted
if
they
have appeared in an indexed journal.
For
instance, while,
Sociologisk
I:orskaing
and
Ti&
skriftfor-
Srirr~iririsfor-skrii~Ig
are included in SSCI.
the Finnish journal
Sosiologia
and the Icelandic
journal
Islerisk
7:elagsr-it
are not. This is in a
sense a reflection of the challenges facing
national sociology journals in smaller linguistic
areas. Articles publishcd in such journals will
only ciiter global sociology when cited in an
international forum.
Tlrc
rrrrrcnt
starly
As discussed above, sociological importance is a
niultifnceted construct with many different
indicators. Nevertheless, the contribution of
sociologists to the discipline can in part be
gauged from the attention their work receives in
international journals. Article citations are
influenced by a variety of factors, including
the area and impact of the journals, the
reputation and productivity of authors, and
structure and culture of academic communities.
Specialty journals have become increas-
ingly important in sociology in the past few
decades, and their impact in many cases exceeds
that of the top-tier general sociology journals
(IS1
199s). Hoivever, the number of citations to
articles published in such outlets will depend in
part upon the volume, structure and activity of
the sociological communities that they serve.
Furthermore, the prestige of both specialty
journals and general sociology journals differs
substantially. The processes contributing to the
prestige of academic journals closely parallel the
processes contributing to the reputations of
scholars. Academic journals are embedded in
complex networks of institutions and scholarly
communities. The avcrage number of citations
to articles they publish is not the only indicator
of their quality, but
it
gauges the impact that the
journal has in the discipline. Articles published
in
a
high-impact journal are more visible and
have an increased potential for influencing the
discipline.
The work of scholars with
a
reputation for
originality and quality may draw more citations
than the work of lesser known authors. Prolific
scholars who publish their work in highly
visible journals also earn a centrality in their
field that in turn increases the number of
citations to their work. Furthemiore. scholarly
reputations are grounded in social networks
and interact with publication patterns and
academic positions. Thus, a professorship in
sociology may require both
a
strong publication
record and a strong academic reputation.
Hoivever. holding a senior position in the field
will in turn contribute to increased prestige and
productivity.
On the departmental level, senior faculty
may enhance the stature of their programs in
various ways (Sigfusdottir
&
Thorlindsson
2000). They contribute to the reputation of
the department as a whole, and they may be
instrumental in promoting the work of their
colleagues. Similarly, outside faculty affiliated
with the department provide additional ties to
other departments and the discipline as a whole.
In addition. larger departnients and depart-
ments with
a
strong culture of publication and
collaboration can generate exciting arenas of
academic challenges and industriousness.
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Productivity
and
Impact
257
The current study contributes to the under-
standing of Nordic. sociology in several ways.
First, we seek to describe the efforts of Nordic
sociologists to disseminate their work through
the publication of articles in indexed journals.
Second. we evaluate the impact of such articles,
as measured by citations in other articles
appearing in indexed journals. Third, we for-
mally assess the relative influence of publication
outlets, authors and departmental characteris-
tics on the number of citations that each article
has received. Finally, we explore the extent to
which the importance of such factors varies
between the Nordic sociology departments and
the Nordic sociologists included in
our
study.
2.
RIcthods
and
data
Our data included information on journal
article publications and citations in
16
of the
Nordic sociology departments.’ Specifically, we
studied
(1)
journal articles
(2)
indexed in SSCI
or
Sociologicnl
Abstrncts
(SA)
(3)
appearing in
the period 1981-2000,
(4)
authored by uni-
versity faculty (5) at Nordic sociology depart-
ments
(6)
that train graduate students. As a
result, niaiiy Nordic sociologists were not
included in the analysis. such as researchers
and teachers who do not hold a faculty position,
graduate students, faculty at undergraduate
departments and those working in non-aca-
demic settings. Similarly, the analysis excluded
books, book chapters. reports, lecturcs, non-
indexed journal articles and indexed articles
published prior to 1981, as ~t~ell as work by
faculty no longer associated with a department
as of
1
January
2001.
Departftieiits
mid
fariilty
Information on faculty at
16
Nordic sociology
departnients was obtained from the university
web pages of each sociology department. The
various academic titles used for full-time faculty
in these five countries were classified into four
broad categories. The category of ‘Professor’
corresponds to ‘Full Professor’. ‘Chair of Sociol-
ogy‘ and other labels denoting the highest
faculty position in each department. ‘Other
Faculty’ refers to other full-time faculty with
responsibilities for both teaching and research
within each department. The formal definitions
of these career stages vary substantially
between countries, but correspond roughly to
i\ssistant Professor’ and iissociate Professor’ at
various English-speaking universities. The cate-
gory of iiffliated Faculty’ denotes formally
affiliated full-time faculty with teaching and
research responsibilities at other departments
within the university, or at sociology depart-
ments at other universities. Finally. ‘Professor
Emeritus’ refers to retired faculty with continu-
ing ties to the department. The final list of
faculty and their classification according to this
scheme was sent to each department for
verification and minor adjustments were made
according to their responses.
All
departments
verified the final list used in the following
analysis.
Joiirrinls
nnd
nrticles
The articles included in the current study were
drawn from
two
distinct sources. The
SSCI
via
Web of Science
(IS1
2002)
is a multidisciplinary
online database. which indexes more than
1,725 journals spanning
50
disciplines, as
well as covering individually selected, relevant
items from over
3,300
of the world’s scientific
and technical journals. The SA online database
(CSA 2000a, b) indexes sociological articles in
over
1,500
journals worldwide. It includes all
articles appearing in sociological journals, and
selectively indexes articles deemed of socio-
logical interest in other journals. While the
SSCI
was our sole source of citations, we
counted citations to all articles appearing in
either index. hlaterial other than journal
articles (e.g. books, book chapters. scientific
reports, book reriem, notes, letters and editor-
ial material) was excluded from the current
analysis. The journals included in the current
study were classified into
11
broad categories by
their primary emphasis (see Appendix).
\Ve searched the
SSCI
and the SA by the
names of each faculty meinber on the list and
verified their accuracy by the departmental
affiliation given by each database.
All
articles
found in either database were included in the
list
of
iiirlc.~rr~
article
yirblicntions.
All
citations
found in the SSCI to articles that were indexed
in either the
SSCI
or the SA were counted as
citntioris
to
iritkscd
nrticlcs.
No distinction ivas
made between single authors, first authors and
other authors.
Iiripnci
factors
We employed three distinct impact factors for
journals, authors and departments. The
joirriinl
iriipnct
fnctor
was obtained from the
Joirrrinl
Citatioii Rcports
(IS1
1998). For each journal
indexed in the
SSCI
the impact factor is defined
as the average number of citations in a given
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258
ACTA
SDCIOLOGICA
2002
VOLUIE
45
Table
1.
Fnrztlty
nt
16
sociology
depnrtirierits
iri
JIP h’ordic coiintries.
1
Inriiinry
2001.
~~ ~~~~~
Other
Amlat
ed Professor
Total faculty Professor faculty faculty Emeritus
Nordic countries
Denmark
44
10
33
0
1
Finland
35
16 12
1
6
Iceland
10
3
4
3
0
Nonvay 53 23 22 6 2
Sweden 129 34 79 8
8
Abo Academy 5 2 3
0
0
Copenhagen Business School 29
8
20
0
1
Goteborg University
25
4
17
1
3
Lund University 42
11
30
0
1
Uniei University 26
7
17
1
1
University of
Tromso
9
3 6
0 0
University of Bergen 17
5
9
1
2
University
of
Copenhagen 15 2 13
0
0
University of Helsinki 13
6
5
0
2
University
of
Iceland
10
3 4 3
0
University
of
Jyvaskyla
5
3
1
0
1
University of Oslo 27 15
7
5
0
University
of
Stockholm 17 4
6
6
1
University
of
Tampcre
6
3 2
0
1
University of Turku
6
2
1 1
2
Uppsala
University
19
8 9
0
2
Nordic sociology departments
Total
271
86
150 18 17
year to articles appearing in the two previous
years
(IS1
2002b). This measure provides an
indication of the average probability of citations
to articles appearing in a given journal. By
including this measure in multivariate analysis,
we
could control for the ‘citation propensity’ of
the journal in examining the importance
of
various other factors on citation patterns. The
indilil~iiditnl
iniynct
jnctor
is delined
as
the sum
of
the journal impact factors associated with each
article published by a given faculty member.
This measure allowed
us
to examine the impact
of publishing in highly cited journals on patterns
of citations to other articles by the same author.
Finally, the
idepflrtriientnl
iiiipnct
jnctor
is
defined
as the sum of the individual impact factors
of
all
faculty members. This measure allowed
us
to
examine the impact of belonging to a depart-
ment characterized by a faculty publishing more
in highly cited journals on patterns of citations
to the work of individual faculty members.
3.
Descriptive rcsults
As can be seen from Table
1,
271 faculty were
included in the initial analysis.
A
total of
86
of
these was categorized as ‘Professor’, 150 as
‘Other Faculty’.
18
as Xfiliated Faculty’ and 17
as ‘Professor Emeritus’. According
to
this
classification. Lund University has by far the
largest Nordic Sociology department. with a
total of 43 faculty members. Sociology depart-
ments with 25-29 faculty include the Copen-
hagen Business School, the University of
Oslo,
Goteborg University and Umei University.
Departments with 13-19 faculty include the
University
of
Copenhagen. the University of
Helsinki, the University of Bergen, the Univer-
sity of Stockholm and Uppsala University.
The
departments at the remaining six universities
have
a
faculty of ten
or
fewer.
The study found a total
of
1.205 articles
published in 1981-2000 in a total of 329
journals (see Appendix). Table 2 shows the
distribution of article publications across types
of journals. Half of these articles appeared in 17
journals, while the other half was distributed
across 312 journals, each accounting for
less
than
1
per cent of the total. About one-quarter
of the articles under consideration appeared in
six Nordic sociology journals, and half of the
publications appeared in various specialty
journals.
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Productivity
and
Impact
259
Table 2.
Distribirtiari
of
1.205
nrficles
(iiidesed
iri
SSCZ
or
SA)
jmblished
iri
1981-ZO00
by
facirlty
nt
16
sociolpgy
drpartrrierits
iri
firr
Nordic rorrritries ncrms jotrriinl
types.
Top-tier
National sociology international Other gcncral Specialty
Ada
Sociologicn
journals sociology sociology ,journals
Denmark
lo'%
29%
0%
2
Yu
60%
Finland
7%)
3 7% 1%
6%
49%
Iceland
11%
0%
7%
11%
70%
Nonvay
10%
2
6%
8% 8
Yu
48%
Sweden 11% 25% 4% 13% 47%
Nordic countries 9% 24% 5%
10%
50%
SSCI:
Social
Scierice
Citatio!i
Irides:
St\:
Sociologicnl
Abstracts.
About
5
per cent
of
the articles were
published in top-tier international sociology
journals; of these
2.4
per cent appeared in five
major European general sociology journals
(Errropcan Sociological
Revieiv,
British Jortrnal
of
Sociology, Sociology, Archiiw Eirropeerines
de
Sociologie
and
Zeitschrijt jiir
Soziologie),
and
likewise
2.4
per
cent appeared in the three
major general sociology journals in the
USA
(Airiericnii Iorrriinl
of
Sociology, Arrierictlri Socio-
logical Review
and
Social
Forces).
About
12
pcr
cent of the total publications appeared in four
specialty journals
(AlkolioliJolitikka,
[British
Journal
of]
Addictioii, Social
Scierice
arul
Medicine,
and
A'ordisk
Alkoliol
Tidskrijt).
and
9
per cent
of
the articles were published in
Acta
Sociologica.
A
total
of
10
per cent ofthe articles appeared in
45
general sociology journals.
Table 3.
Totnl
atid
rricari riirrtiber
ofpirblicntioris
(iridesed
iri
SSCl
or
SA)
arid
citntioris
(iridrsetl
iri
SSCl)
iri
1981-2000
by
Jacirlty
nt
1
h
sociologg
depnrtrnerits
iri
Jive
h'ordic rorrritries.
Publications Citations
Total Per faculty
Total
Fcr
faculty
~
Country
Denmark 112 2.5 129 2.9
Finland 193 5.5 527 15.1
Iceland 42 4.2 247 24.7
Norrvay 277 5.2 1.814 34.2
Sn.eden 551 4.3 2.211 17.1
Departincnt
Abo
ricadcnly 26 5.2
64
12.8
Copenhagen Business School 41
1
.4 69 2.4
Goteborg
University 87 3.5 192 7.7
Lund University 99 2.4 257
6.1
Umei
University 89 3.4 321 12.3
University
of
Tromso 16 1.8 76 8.4
University of Bergcn 44 2.6 110 6.5
Univcrsity
of
Iklsinki 108 8.3 413 31.8
University
of
Copenhagen 71 4.7 60 4.0
University
of
Iccland 42 4.2 247 24.7
University
of
Jyvaskyla 23
4.6
5
1
.o
University
of
Tampere 25 4.2 16 2.7
University
of
Turku
11
1.8
29 4.8
University
of
Oslo
217
8.0
1.628 60.3
Univcrsity
of
Stockholm 162 9.5 1.030
60.6
Uppsala University
114
7.6 412 21.7
Total 1.205 4.5 4.929 18.2
SSCI:
Socinl
Srieriee
Citntiori
Irides:
SA:
Sociological
Abstracts.
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260
AClil
SOCIOLOGICA
2002
VOLUllE
45
Table
4.
Descriptive stafisticsjor ttti~lLilcwl arialysis ofcitatioris
to
yublicntioris (irtdesed iri
SSCZ)
iti
1981-2000
byjncu!ty
at
16
sociology
dqiortrrierits
iri
lire
Nordic roiirifries.
Range hlean
SE
SD
Department level (level
3)
Department
size
Department al productivity
Departmental impact
Proportion professors
Proportion affiliates
Individual level (level
2)
Publication record
Individual productivity
Individual impact
Professor
Affiliate
Emeritus
Position’
Article level (level
1)
Article characteristics
Impact factor of journal
Age of article
Journal categoryb
Education
IIealth
Economy and stratification
Life coursc
Applied sociology
PoIitical sociology
Dependent variable
Number of citations
5-42
13.3-60.0
0-35.3
1-37
049.8
0-1
0-1
0-1
0.00-8.80
0-20
0-1
0-1
0-1
0-1
0-1
0-1
MO
16.94
34.6
7.1
6.41
3.04
0.43
0.07
0.06
0.62
8.95
0.03
0.1
1
0.05
0.06
0.02
0.03
4.50
2.65
3.3
2.9
0.55
0.44
-
-
-
0.02
0.18
-
-
-
-
-
-
0.25
10.59
13.4
12.0
7.58
6.03
-
-
-
0.73
5.57
-
-
-
-
-
7.54
11
at
level
3: 16
departments
ti
at level
2: 188
faculty
ri
at level
1:
917
articles
Other Faculty are contrast.
General Sociology Journals
are
contrast.
SSCI:
Socinl Scietice Citatioii
Irides.
Table
2
also shows the proportion of
articles in
five
journal categories within each
country. It should be noted that these figures
reflect the relative importance of each category
withiti
each of the five Nordic countries under
study. The results indicate that although there
are
I
some national differences in publication
practices in indexed journals, there is an overall
Nordic pattern
of
half or more of all publications
appearing in specialty journals, follorlrd by one-
quarter
or
more in national journals, about
one-tenth in
Actn Suciologictl
and about one-
tenth in other general sociology journals. The
absence of a viable indexed sociology journal in
Iceland is the main exception to this pattern.
Specialty journals are somewhat more impor-
tant indexed outlets for faculty in Denmark and
Iceland, while Finnish faculty publish relatively
more
frequently in their national general
sociology journal
Susiologitl.
Table
3
shows the total number of publica-
tions and citations.
as
well as the mean per
faculty in each country and at each department.
On the national
level.
these results indicate that
patterns of publications and citations in indexed
journals are similar in most countries. However,
the analysis of sociology departments suggests
that
there
is
considerable variation in the
culture of article publication between depart;.
ments in all countries. This suggests that insofar
as a common Nordic culture
of
article publica-
tions exists,
it
involves certain departments
of
sociology having more in common with depart-
ments in other Nordic countries than with other
sociology departments in their own country.
The total number of publications and
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Productivity and Impact
citations reflects the size of each country and
each department, with almost half of all
publications and citations attributable to Swed-
ish faculty. The five largest departments (Copen-
hagen Business School, University of Oslo,
Goteborg University, Lund University and
Umed University) similarly account for close to
half of all publications and citations.
The niean number of publications and
citations per faculty gives an indication of
article pro$uctivity and impact, net of depart-
ment size.- Departments with an average of
seven to ten indexed articles per faculty include
the universities of Helsinki,
Oslo,
Stockholm and
Uppsala. Departments with an average of four
to fire indexed journal publications per faculty
include Abo Academy, and the universities of
Copenhagen. Iceland, Jyvliskyla and Tampere.
In ternis of citations, tlie departments in
Oslo and Stockholm are in
a
league
of
their own,
each with an average of about
60
citations per
faculty in the 20 year period. Indexed journal
articles by faculty at tlie universities of Helsinki,
Iceland and Uppsala were on average cited
22-
z3
times in this period, and articles by faculty at
Abo
Academy and UmeA University were on
average cited 12-1
3
times. Thus, faculty at tlie
sociology departments in Stockholm, Helsinki,
Oslo and Uppsala appear to emphasize article
publication to
a
greater degree than faculty at
other departments, while the rate of citations to
such work is highest in Stockholm and
Oslo,
folloived by the universities of Helsinki, Iceland
and Uppsala.
These findings should not be interpreted as
measures of the quality of the faculty or the
sociology programs at different Nordic universi-
ties. Alternative form of academic productivity,
such
as
books. book chapters or scientific
reports, were not considered. Furthermore. the
analysis did not take into account other roles of
university faculty, such as teaching. engagement
in public discourse. or service within and beyond
the university community. The findings do,
however. demonstrate that the different Nordic
sociology departments differ substantially in the
average number of indexed articles produced by
each faculty and the citations that these articles
receive in the larger academic community. In the
following analysis
we
examine these differences
more closely, focusing on objective eharacteris-
tics of each article, the author. and the depart-
ment to which the author belongs.
Arroz~nfirrg
for
clij&vwzrcs in
citnfioris
Article citations are influenced by
a
variety of
factors, including the area and impact of the
journals, the reputation and productivity of
authors, and the structure and culture of
academic communities. In the following analy-
sis,
we
employ multilevel (hierarchical linear)
modeling to address these issues (Bryk
&
Raudenbush 1992). The descriptive statistics
for the data used in this analysis are shown in
Table
4.
This analysis is limited to
188
faculty
members who had published 917 articles in
journals indexed in the SSCI in the
20
year
period under study
\Ve
corrected for skewness
in the dependent variable by truncating the
high end of the distribution at
40
or more
citation^.^
This affected the ten most cited
articles
(0.7
per cent of the total number of
articles) with
45-107
indexed citations.
The findings described above indicate that
the sociological communities in each of the fire
countries under study have experienced the
global ascendance of specialty journals over
general sociology journals. However. these
findings do not show the extent to which
publications in different types of journals yield
different citation patterns. In other words,
citations to the work of Nordic sociologists
may vary between types of journals because
the impact of the journals varies, or because the
visibility of Nordic sociologists varies by area.
For each article (level
1).
we included the
irnpnct
fnctor
and the
clrtegorg
of the journal in ivhich
it
appeared.
As
the number of citations can only
increase with time,
we
also controlled the
tiio,iber
ofgclrrs
from publication.
The total number of articles published by
an author can clearly be expected to increase
the total number of citations to his or her work.
However. scholarly productivity and reputation
may also impact the number of citations
to
each
article produced. Once the characteristics of
a
given article have been taken into account, the
academic position, productivity and visibility
(individual impact factor) of its author (level 2)
may thus contribute to a greater number of
citations.
Earning
a
professorship in sociology is in
part tlie result of high productivity and impact
of scholarly work, but such a senior position
may in turn contribute to greater visibility. The
formal affiliation of retired faculty or faculty
a’f
other departments may also reflect the produc-
tivity and impact of these individuals, and may
siniilariy contribute to their greater visibility in
the field. In this analysis,
we
included indicators
of the academic positions of
Projessor.
Afilinte
Projessor
and
Professor
Bmeritin.
with
Other
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ACTA
SOCIOLOGICA
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I'OLUME
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Table
5.
Results
oJ
rriiiltilerel
nrrnlysis
of
citntioris
to
piibficatioris (iridesed iri
SSCI)
in
1981-2000
by
Jaciiltg at
016
sociology deparfrrierrts iri
jke
h'ordic roiirrtries.
Model
3
hlodcl
1
Model
2
Department.
Bivariate Department Individual individual and article Variance
Int
ercept
Department
Icvcl
(level
3)
Department size
Departmental productivity
Departmental iinpact
Proportion professors
Proportion affiliates
Level
3
explained variance
Individual level
(level 2)
Publication record
Individual productivity
Individual impact
Professor
Affiliate
Emeritus
Level
2
explained variance
Position"
Article
level
(level
1)
Article characteristics
Impact factor of journal
Age of article
Journal categoryb
Education
Health
Economy and stratification
Lire course
Applied sociology
Political sociology
Actn Sociologirn
Level
1
explained variance
3.44***
0.OOns
0.02***
0.03***
3.6811s
10.5
5***
0.1
3**
0.29***
0.84ns
3.75**
0.18ns
3.90***
0.1
s***
3.47'
3.0S'**
1.3911s
4.10***
6.12***
-0.lOns
0.79ns
3.20***
2.91'-
-
-
0.02'
6.51*
90.7%
-
-
0.2
i***
-
2.09***
-
23.3%
3.53***
-
-
0.13*
5.52*
96.1%
-
-
0.13"
-
-
-
64.X"
.
4.33***
0.2s***
-
-
-
3.08***
3.85**
-
-
27.3%)
Entered
as
a
block. Other Faculty
are
contrast.
Entered as
a
block. General Sociology Journals are contrast.
SSCI:
Social Scierice Citatiori
Irides.
***p
<
0.001,
**/I
<
0.01.
*p
<
0.05,
ns:
not significant.
Fnclrlty
serving as the omitted reference cate-
gory. The article
productivity
of each faculty
member was measured
as
the total number of
articles published in indexed journals in the
period under consideration. The
iriipnct
of each
faculty member was operationalized as the sum
of the impact factors of the journals in which
each of his or her articles appeared.
Finally, the
number
of citations
to
any
given article may be influenced by the depart-
ment of its author (level
3).
Larger departments
with more established and more productive
scholars may directly and indirectly increase the
visibility of all faculty members. Scholars may
be more likely to cite the work of their colleagues
when relevant, and belonging to a large or
productive department may thus increase the
probability of citations. Furthermore, more
established scholars may be instrumental in
promoting the work of their colleagues to
others, both through their work and through
their informal networks. These factors were
measured by
dcpartrrlerlt
siie. proportiori
profis-
sors
and
proportior]
nfilintes,
ricpnrtrrieritnl
pro-
ductivity
defined
as
the total number of articles
produced in the department. and
dcpartnieirtnl
iriipnct
defined as the
sum
impact factor of these
articles.
hliiltilerd
tnorlelitzg
of
ritntiori
freqireriry
Table
5
shows the multilei~el effects of articles,
faculty and departments on the number
of
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Productivity
and
Impact
263
citations that each article has received. On the
departmental level (levcl3), neither the number
of faculty nor the proportion of professors has
an effect on the probability of citations. How-
ever, belonging to a department with a greater
proportion of afiliated faculty significantly
increases citations to the work of all faculty
members. This pattcrn.holds true when both
individual and article characteristics have been
taken into account. In other words, establishing
formal ties r~itI1 faculty outside the department
does not seem to increase spuriously the
visibility of the department by ‘adopting’ the
work of productive scholars, but in fact appears
to enhance the visibility of the work conducted
by other faculty. This department-level effect
does not vary significantly across departments,
suggesting that all departments benefit equally
from their afliliated faculty.
The total number of publications produced
in each department
(rlepwtn~ciitnl
productivity)
significantly predicts citations on the bivariate
level. but this effect disappears once the sum of
the impact factors of these articles
(departiiierital
irttpact)
has been taken into account. In
contrast, departmental impact significantly
increases the number of citations to all articles,
net of the position, productivity and impact of
the author. as ivell as net of the impact factor
and category of the journal in which the article
appeared. Belonging to a department where
other facuIty members publish more in high-
impact journals thus increases the probability of
citations to any given article by all faculty
members, irrespective of their own position,
productivity or visibility, or the journal in which
the article
was
published. Again. this effect does
not vary significantly between departments,
suggesting that departmental impact operates
in similar ways in all the departments under
study.
On
the individual level (level
2),
the
number of citations to articles written by
Professors
or
Enmitiis
Factdty
does
not
differ
from
Other
FucIIZ~~.
As
might be expected,
Ajiliate
Fac~ilty
tend to be more widely cited
than other faculty members. However, the sum
author
irtiynct
and publication characteristics
fully accounted for this difference. It is thus
important
to
note that while articles produced
in departnients with more affiliates are more
widely cited, the affiliates themselves are not
more widely cited net of other factors in the
model. Table
5
also
shows
that
on
the birariate
level. the
prorlirctivity
and
impact
of each faculty
contribute to the number of citations to each of
their articles. In the multivariate model, how-
ever. only the individual impact has an indc-
pendent effect on the probability of citation. This
docs, however. vary significantly between
faculty members, indicating that the effect is
not simply a function of publishing more in
high-impact journals. This variability could be
attributed to a variety of factors outside the
scope of the current study, including the
originality. timeliness or quality of the work, or
the formal or informal networks in which the
author is embedded.
Finally, Table
5
shows
the effects of article
characteristics (level
1)
on the citations that
each article receives. As expected, the age of the
article increases the probability of citations, and
articles published in high-impact journals are
more widely cited. Before the impact factor of
the journals is taken into account, articles
published in most specialty journals arc found
to
have
a
greater probability of being cited than
articles published in general sociology journals.
However, in the cases of both
ediicatiort
and
Iicalth
(see Appendix), this can be fully attribu-
ted
to
the higher impact factors of the journals
in which the articles arc published. In the case
of articles published within the categories of
li/e
coiirse
and
applird
sociology,
the Nordic contri-
butors are significantly more likely to be cited
than the impact factor of the journal or other
article-level characteristics would suggest. The
number of citations to articles published in
Acta
Sociologica
docs not differ significantly from
what the journal’s impact factor would predict.
Overall. the model accounts rather ~vcll for
differences in citation patterns. The model
accounts for
96
per cent of the variation in
citations between departments, leaving little
room for other omitted departmental charac-
teristics. It accounts for about
65
per cent of the
variation in citations between faculty in the five
countries, and about
27
per cent of the
variation in citations to each article.
.
4.
Discussion
The publication of indexed journal articles by
faculty at Nordic sociology departments
was
found to be equally divided between gene&
sociology journals and specialty journals. About
one-quarter of
all
the articles indexed were
published in general sociology journals in one of
the Nordic countries, one-tenth appeared in
Acta
Sociologica
and
15
per cent in dozens of
other general sociology journals. The remaining
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264
xrr\
SOCIOLOGICA
zoo2
VOLUME
45
50 per cent of the indexed articles were
published
in
hundreds of specialty journals.
These results indicate that the national-Ian-
guage sociology journals constitute the single
most important journal outlets for most Nordic
sociological communities, while the Nordic
journal
Actn
Sociologicn
continues to be the
single most important English-language Nordic
channel into the international sociological
conimunity Perhaps the most striking aspect
of these findings, however, is the fact that while
half of the
1,205
articles were published in
17
journals, the remaining half was distributed
across 312 journals, each constituting less than
1
per cent of the total (see Appendix). This
diversity may indeed be
a
defining characteristic
of Nordic sociology, and serws as
a
sobering
reminder of the fallacy of imposing a monolithic
definition upon the Nordic sociological commu-
nity. Our multilevel analysis of citations to
indexed journal articles produced,by the faculty
of
16
departments of sociology revealed several
important patterns.
The
SSCI impact factor,
calculated on the basis of all citations to articles
published in a particular journal in the past
two
years, strongly predicted the probability of
citations to the Nordic sociology articles under
study. These findings support the use of the
journal impact factor as a predictor of the
number of citations to the
work
of Nordic
sociology faculty. Furthermore. the impact of
Actn
Sociologicn
did not differ significantly from
other general sociology journals, supporting
Allardt’s
(1
995)
observation that Xcta Socio-
logica has
21
good position in
n
respectable
middle category of journals’. The impact factor
did, however, appear to underestiniate the
number of citations in the areas of
liJc
coiirse
studies and
opplicd
socioJogy,
perhaps indicating
il
relatiwly strong Nordic impact in areiis that
have important implications for public policy,
as suggested by Bertilsson and Therborn
(2000).
Importantly, \ve found that the sum of
journal impact factors can be used
as
a
measure
of the impact of both individual scholars and
entire sociology departments. Articles by
authors who publish more in high-impact
journals receive more citations, regardless of
the impact of the journaI in wfiicii they appear.
In effect. authors who publish more in high-
impact journals receive more citations to all of
their work, not just to those articles that appear
in these journals. It thus appears that scholars
may earn a certain level of centrality in their
field by publishing in top-tier journals, which
enhances
the
visibility of their work published in
lower ranked journals. It should. howrer, be
noted that the effect of individual impact on
citations differs significantly between authors.
In other words, the effects of publishing in high-
impact indexed journals are stronger for sonic
scholars than for others. The origin of this
variation is beyond the scope of this paper, but
may include such academic considerations :is
the perceived originality or competence of the
author,
or
such social considerations
as
the
formal or informal networks in which the
author is embedded. Hoivever, it is clear that
these differences are not due to the effects of the
formal academic position of individual authors.
Citations
to
articles by Professors and Professors
Emeritus do not differ significantly from cita-
tions to articles by Other Faculty. \Vork pub-
lished by Afliliated Faculty does receive more
citations than the work of regular faculty at
each department, but this can fully be attributed
to these publications appearing in higher
impact journals.
Finally, articles published in departments
where the faculty publish more in high-impact
journals receive more citations, regardless of
both the impact of the journal in which they
appear and the publication patterns of their
authors. This may in part be due to patterns of
self-citations and citations to the work of
colleagues, although the numbers of publica-
tions per se hare a much smaller effect on both
the individual and the departmental level, and
are not significant in the multivariate model. On
the departmental level, the proportion of
rlfiliated Faculty does, however, increase the
probability of citations to the work of all faculty
members. In other words. net of characteristics
of articles
or
authors, work is more likely
to
be
cited when it is produced in departments with
a
greater proportion of Afiliated Faculty. This
effect persists when controlling for the total
number of publications in the department, but
is not found for the proportion of Professors in
each department. It is possible that Affiliated
Faculty are more likely to cite the faculty of the
department with which they are afliliated than
are regular faculty members, although it is not
clear why this would be the case. A more
plausible expIanation appears
to
be that afilia-
tions with faculty outside the department help
to integrate the department into the wider
sociological community, benefiting all faculty
members.
These findings suggest that the publication
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Productivity and Impact
265
patterns
of
individuals and entire department
constitute a form of social capital that raises the
profile of all faculty members. The career
trajectories of individual faculty may therefore
be intimately tied up with the trajectory of the
department as
a
whole, suggesting
a
form of
group mobility that transcends individual
mobility.4 In this formulation, the collective
efforts
of
faculty may lead certain departments
to become known as ‘powerhouses’ in the
discipline. thereby incrcasing the prestige and
visibility of all faculty members beyond what
their individual efforts could have achieved.
Alternatively, more productive faculty are likely
to have lilrger personal networks in the global
discipline, and numerous productive faculty
may therefore create
i1
synergy of overlapping
and interlocking global networks, resulting in
higher citation counts
for
both network mem-
bers and their colleagues. Further analysis of
the sources of citations would help to clarify this
issue.
This research shows that although there
are some differences in article productivity and
citations in indexed journals among the Nordic
countries, these differences can mostly be traced
to differences among departments and individ-
uals. In all the departments under study, many
of the publications and citations in indexed
journals can be attributed to
a
specific group of
scholars, while some faculty in all departments
had no such publications or citations. This does
not imply that these latter faculties are necess-
arily idle
or
unproductive. Most importantly. the
entire field of book publishing falls beyond the
scope of the current study, excluding seminal
work
that has had
a
profound impact on Nordic
and international sociology. Furthermore,
the
role
of university faculty is continuously
evolving and expanding (Gibbons et al.
1994;
Barnes et al.
1996;
Ziman
2000).
Apart from
the vital
role
of
training future generations,
faculty obligations increasingly include
accumulating and allocating research funds,
chairing scientific committees, organizing con-
ferences, managing research groups and insti-
tutions, providing consultation to businesses
and government agencies, and participating in
public discourse. Future studies should expand
the focus to the entire sociological vocation and
the dynamics of division of labor within Nordic
sociology departments.
In this study
we
hare attempted to move
beyond ideological, political and philosophical
debates
over
the ‘true nature’ of Nordic
sociology to start outlining the position of
Nordic sociology in the increasingly global
sociological community. Insofar as the interna-
tional sociology journals are concerned, Nordic
sociologists are increasingly prolific, and their
work is
well
represented in citations in these
journals.
Acta Sociologica
appears to have served
the Nordic sociological community
well
in
promoting the work of Nordic sociologists and
establishing
a
Nordic profile in the international
community. Thcre are considerable differences
between sociology departments within each of
the Nordic countries, but these within-country
differences are reproduced with remarkable
consistency across the Nordic countries. Sinii-
larly, although the total
volume
of indexed
articles published differs among these five
countries, the national communities
as
a
whole publish similar proportions
of
their
work in different types of national and interna-
tional outlets. Finally, the multilevel analysis
showed that the predictors of citation patterns
do
not differ significantly between the
16
department under consideration. Although
these results cannot directly address the relative
‘success’
or
‘failure’ of the project of Nordic
sociology, they do strongly suggest that the
sociological communities in these countries
share
a
common, diversified journal article
tradition.
First version received January
2002
Final version accepted hlay
2002
Ackllo~\~lcdgelllellts
The
authors would like to thank
a
large number ofdepartmental
administrators and faculty chairs at the
16
departments for
their assistance in compiling the dataset used in this paper. and
Daniel Beaulieu and Benjamin Pearson-Nelson for research
assistance.
The
manuscript has benefited greatly from perceptive com-
ments from the reviewers and editors of
Actn
Soriologirn.
Notcs
The
choice ofsociologydepartments to study is obviously
a
contentious issue.
Our
definition excludes several of the
smaller Nordic sociology departments. as
rvell
as
sociology
faculty in Grecnland and the Faroe Islands, and multidisciplin-
ary programs
in
other Rordic countries. Similarly. imposing
a
single scheme of faculty classification on different national
realities can never
be
beyond reproach. but
our
final list
of
faculty and their classification
was
verified by each of the
16
departments.
*
It
should be rciteratcd that these figures exclude outlets
other than indexed journals. and thus do not reflect the total
productivity
or
impact of the faculty at each department.
at Iceland Telecom on July 30, 2013asj.sagepub.comDownloaded from
266
ACTA
SDCIOLOGICA
2002
\’OLUSIE
45
Furthermore. each of the departments under study includes
highly productire and widely cited faculty
members.
IIoivever.
a
large
number
of faculty
that
do not publish in indexed journals
contributes
to
a
loir
average. trhile exceptionally productive
faculty members publishing in such
outlets
raise the average
ntrniber substantially.
In an alternative analysis.
we
used log-transformations of
skewed variables. This did not substantially change either the
overall patterns ofthe findings
or
the fit of the models estimated.
In the folloiving analysis
we
thus
only report the more directly
interpretable
results
based on untransformed data.
This important point was raised by an anonymous
reviewer of an earlier version of the paper.
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Productivity and Impact
267
Appctidix
Table
Al.
ClassiJicatiori
o/joirrrinls
(iridexed
iri
SSCl
or
SA)
IJ~
prirfinry
eriqhsis
arid
iiirfiiber
o/nrtirles
published
iri
1981-
2000
iri
each
category
by
/ncirlty
at
16
sociology
depnrtrrierits
iri
five
Nordic
roirrifrics.
Journals Articles Journals Articles
Gerieral
sociology
hlajor international journals
Nordic national journals
Other general sociology
Gerieral
stirdies
Philosophy
General interest
Methodology
Statistics and methods
Demography
Erorioriiic
st
irtlies
Economics
\Vork
and occupation
Organization and stratification
Urban and rural studies
Polificnl
arid
historical
General political science
Third world issues
IIistorical studies
Politics and policy
\Velfarc and social work
Social movements
Cirlture
arid
theory
Cultural studies
hledia and communication
Theory
Knoivledge and religion
59
8
6
45
23
6
17
9
4
5
29
9
6
10
4
44
11
4
14
3
10
35
11
7
13
4
7
-
5
70
163
298
109
31
10
21
1s
10
8
61
11
13
30
7
74
15
4
25
12
16
64
14
9
35
6
7
I
Edlrcaf
ior
i
General and special education
Science studies
Sport studies
Health
stiltlies
Community and public health
Epidemiology
Social studies in medicine
Psychology and psychiatry
Disabilities studies
Sport studics
Deriarice
Crime
and
delinquency
Alcohol and drugs
Legal studies
LiJe
roiirse
stirdies
hlarriage and fanlily
Childhood
Adolescence
Gender and sexuality
Aging and gerontology
Applied
sociology
Disasters and accidents
Planning and regional
Administrative studies
Technology
and
resources
Consumer and advertising
19
40
10 16
9
24
2 3
47
I28
15
45
5
10
8
40
13 25
4
5
2 3
IS
101
4
5
10 91
4
5
29
74
9 34
1
4
4
9
5
10
10
17
23
44
2 3
4’
13
6
7
6
12
5
9
Note: This is
;I
classification
of
journals by primary emphasis. not
of
article topics.
SSCI:
Social
Scierice
Cifntioii
Irides:
SA:
Sociologicd
Abstrncts.
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