While it is known that academic journal articles are being published in greater amounts each year, the amount of publishing of scholarly books and monographs are widely understudied.
In a study published in PLOS One, a team of researchers found that social science journal articles are on the increase. However, scholarly books pertaining to the social sciences are on the decrease.
During the study, the researchers looked through a wealth of publishing patterns from over 1,500 academic departments within nearly 300 American research universities.
According to the study’s authors: “In all disciplines, journal articles per person increased between 3% and 64% between 2011 and 2019, while books per person decreased by at least 31% and as much as 54%.”
“Our study sample was limited to research universities that offer the Ph.D. degree in the United States. Faculty employed by many non-Ph.D. granting universities also routinely publish research results, and are likely also influenced by community practices, prestige, external evaluation, and the increasing use of quantitative research methods.”
“Future research may seek to expand the sample of universities to include those institutions,” researchers suggested.
