Abstract
This research aims to develop a deeper insight into the development of political science from the bibliometric perspective by analysing peer-reviewed journal articles (n = 1117) indexed in the Scopus database and published by authors from fifteen Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in the period 1996–2013. Results indicate that the majority of articles (84%) by CEE authors have been published in international journals and in the English language. The visibility of these articles in international journals, measured by the mean number of citations, is 5.2 per paper, while the same indicator for CEE journal articles amounts to 0.2. Authorship analysis indicates a gradual but continuous increase in co-authorships. Additionally, there are significant differences in citations between single-authored and co-authored articles, both in international and CEE journals. Co-authorship among CEE authors is present in only 1% of the analysed articles, confirming weak collaboration between political scientists in CEE countries.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For details, please refer to RACOSS project at http://racoss.idi.hr/index_en.html (accessed 8 March 2018).
Access to the Scopus database was supported by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia.
This syntax was a default option at the time (January 2015) when we retrieved the data from the Scopus database.
See revised classification of science and technology field in the Frascati Manual, http://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/38235147.pdf (accessed 24 November 2017).
Our results are biased in the sense that the analysis has not taken into account journals that are not included in Scopus. However, using the Scopus database allowed us to perform citation analysis on the sample of journals that have attained the quality standards needed to qualify for inclusion in the Scopus database.
In order to compare a number of papers across countries of different size, we have normalised the number of papers by the population size. Normalisation by the number of full-time researchers in the field of political science (or social sciences) would be a preferable option but was not possible, due to data constraints.
Core journals in the sample include Osteuropa; Public Policy and Administration; Electoral Studies; Helsinki Monitor; Journal of Democracy; European Journal of Political Research; Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics; Journal of International Relations and Development; Perspectives on European Politics and Society; and Journal of European Public Policy.
Scopus started to include the Croatian journal Politička misao in 2015.
References
Abadal, E., R. Melero, R.S. Rodrigues, and M. Navas-Fernández. 2015. Spanish scholarly journals in WoS and Scopus: The impact of open access. Journal of Scholarly Publishing 47(1): 77–96. https://doi.org/10.3138/jsp.47.1.04.
Altman, D. 2012. Where is knowledge generated? On the productivity and impact of political science departments in Latin America. European Political Science 11(1): 71–87. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2010.82.
Angstrom, J., E. Hedenstrom, and L.-I. Strom. 2003. Survival of the most cited? Small political science communities and international influence: The case of Sweden. European Political Science 2(3): 5–16.
Archambault, É., D. Campbell, Y. Gingras, and V. Larivière. 2009. Comparing bibliometric statistics obtained from the Web of Science and Scopus. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 60(7): 1320–1326. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21062.
Bardi, L. 2011. Forty years of political science in Europe: The European consortium for political research celebrates its ruby anniversary. PS: Political Science & Politics 44(1): 93–95. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096510002179.
Bernauer, T., and F. Gilardi. 2010. Publication output of Swiss political science departments. Swiss Political Science Review 16(2): 279–303. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1662-6370.2010.tb00160.x.
Bibič, A. 1996. The development of political science in Slovenia: Democratisation and transformation of the discipline. European Journal of Political Research 29(4): 425–450.
Butler, L., and I. McAllister. 2009. Metrics or peer review? Evaluating the 2001 UK research assessment exercise in political science. Political Studies Review 7(1): 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9299.2008.00167.x.
Chi, P.-S. 2012. Bibliometric characteristics of political science research in Germany. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Annual Meeting 49(1): 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/meet.14504901115.
Chi, P.-S. 2014. Changing publication and citation patterns in political science in Germany. Scientometrics 105(3): 1833–1848. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1609-3.
Coakley, J., and J. Doyle. 1998. Developments in European political science journals and electronic literature during 1997. European Journal of Political Research 33(4): 525–547.
Czaputowicz, J., and A. Wojciuk. 2016. IR scholarship in Poland: The state of the discipline 25 years after the transition to democracy. Journal of International Relations & Development 19(3): 448–474. https://doi.org/10.1057/jird.2014.21.
Daalder, H. 2010. Political science in Europe and the ECPR: Looking back and looking on. European Political Science 9(Supplement 1): S30–S37. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2010.42.
Dale, T., and D. Goldfinch. 2005. Notes on article citation rates and productivity of Australasian political science units 1995–2002. Australian Journal of Political Science 40(3): 425–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361140500203951.
Donovan, C. 2009. Gradgrinding the social sciences: The politics of metrics of political science. Political Studies Review 7(1): 73–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9299.2008.00172.x.
Dubrow, J.K., and M. Kołczyńska. 2015. ‘Who owns the study of democracy? Sociology, political science and the interdisciplinary promise of political sociology since 1945 [A quem pertence o estudo da democracia? Sociologia, ciência política e a promessa da interdisciplinaridade na Sociologia política desde 1945]. Sociologias 17(38): 92–119. https://doi.org/10.1590/15174522-017003805.
Eisfeld, R. and L.A. Pal (eds.). 2010a. Political science in Central-East Europe: Diversity and convergence. Opladen and Farmington Hills, MI: Barbara Budrich Publishers.
Eisfeld, R., and L.A. Pal. 2010b. Political science in Central-East Europe and the impact of politics: Factors of diversity, forces of convergence. European Political Science 9(2): 223–243. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2010.11.
Fink-Hafner, D., and T. Deželan. 2014. The political science professional project in Slovenia: from communist monism, democratisation and Europeanisation to the financial crisis [Stručni projekt studija političkih znanosti u Sloveniji: Od komunističkoga monizma, demokratizacije i europeizacije do financijske krize]. Društvena istraživanja 23(1): 133–153. https://doi.org/10.5559/di.23.1.07.
Fowler, J.H., B. Grofman, and N. Masuoka. 2007. Social networks in political science: Hiring and placement of Ph.D.s, 1960–2002. PS: Political Science & Politics 40(4): 729–739.
Furlong, P. 2007. The European conference of National Political Science Associations: problems and possibilities of co-operation. In The state of political science in Western Europe, ed. H.-D. Klingemann, 401–407. Opladen and Farmington Hills, MI: Barbara Budrich Publishers.
Ghica, L.A. 2014. Academic bovarism and the pursuit of legitimacy: Canon-building in Romanian political science. European Political Science 13(2): 171–186. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2014.3.
Goldsmith, M., and C. Goldsmith. 2010. Teaching political science in Europe. European Political Science 9(Suppl 1): S61–S71. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2010.38.
Grdešić, I. 1996. The development of political science in Croatia: Meeting the challenges of democracy and independence. European Journal of Political Research 29(4): 405–423.
Hix, S. 2004. A global ranking of political science departments. Political Studies 2(3): 293–313.
Holzer, J. 1989. Quality in the transitional process of establishing political science as a new discipline in Czech higher education (post 1989). In Leadership and management of quality in higher education, ed. C.S. Nair, L. Webster, and P. Mertova, 137–146., Chandos learning and teaching series Oxford: Chandos Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-1-84334-576-3.
Jokić, M., K. Zauder, and S. Letina. 2012 The features of Croatian national and international scholarly productivity in social sciences, arts and humanities 1991–2005 [Karakteristike hrvatske nacionalne i međunarodne znanstvene produkcije u društveno-humanističkim znanostima i umjetničkom području za razdoblje 1991–2005]. Zagreb: Institut za društvena istraživanja u Zagrebu.
Karasimeonov, G. 1997. The development of political science in Bulgaria: A discipline in transition. European Journal of Political Research 31(4): 519–532. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00327.
Kasapović, M. 2008. Political science in Croatia 1962–2007. European Political Science 7(2): 237–246. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2008.3.
Kasapović, M. 2015. Political science in Croatia at the beginning of the 21st century. In Political Science in Europe at the beginning of the 21st century, ed. B. Krauz-Mozer, M. Kułakowska, P. Borowiec, and P. Ścigaj, 39–62. Krakow: Jagiellonian University Press.
Klingemann, H.-D. 2008. Capacities: Political science in Europe. West European Politics 31(1–2): 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402380701835181.
Krupavičius, A. 1997. The development of political science in Lithuania: Years of the breakthrough. European Journal of Political Research 31(4): 499–517. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00326.
Masuoka, N., B. Grofman, and S.L. Feld. 2007a. The production and placement of political science Ph.D.s, 1902–2000. PS—Political Science & Politics 40(2): 361–366. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096507070576.
Masuoka, N., B. Grofman, and S.L. Feld. 2007b. Ranking departments: A comparison of alternative approaches. PS—Political Science & Politics 40(3): 531–537.
McGrath, C. 2008. Increasing co-operation among political science associations in Europe. European Political Science 7(3): 352–365. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2008.10.
Metz, T., and S. Jäckle. 2013. Co-authorships in German political science—A network analysis based on journal articles [Koautorenschaften in der deutschsprachigen Politikwissenschaft—Eine netzwerkanalyse auf Basis von Fachzeitschriftenartikeln]. Politische Vierteljahresschrift 54(2): 256–291.
Moed, H.F., M. Aisati, and A. Plume. 2013. Studying scientific migration in Scopus. Scientometrics 94(3): 929–942. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0783-9.
Muskens, G., and R. Kinnear. 1993. Political and multicultural constraints of the social sciences in Europe: Cultural contact, schismogenesis and institutional change. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research 6(2): 211–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.1993.9968349.
Newton, K., and J.M. Vallès. 1991. Introduction: Political science in Western Europe, 1960–1990. European Journal of Political Research 20(3–4): 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.1991.tb00268.x.
Nisonger, T.E. 1993. A ranking of political science journals based on citation data. Serials Review 19(4): 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/0098-7913(93)90027-8.
Nisonger, T.E. 2002. The relationship between international editorial board composition and citation measures in political science, business, and genetics journals. Scientometrics 54(2): 257–268. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016065929026.
Plümper, T., and C.M. Radaelli. 2004. Publish or perish? Publications and citations of Italian political scientists in international political science journals, 1990–2002. Journal of European Public Policy 11(6): 1112–1127. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350176042000298138.
Robey, J.S. 1979. Political science departments: Reputations versus productivity. PS: Political Science & Politics 12(2): 202–209. https://doi.org/10.1017/S104909650000696X.
Samuels, D.J. 2011. The modal number of citations to political science articles is greater than zero: Accounting for citations in articles and books. PS: Political Science & Politic 44(4): 783–792. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049096511001259.
Sapotichne, J.B., D. Jones, and M. Wolfe. 2007. Is urban politics a black hole? Analyzing the boundary between political science and urban politics. Urban Affairs Review 43(1): 76–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087407302901.
Schneider, C.Q., D. Bochsler, and M. Chiru. 2013. Comparative politics in Central and Eastern Europe: Mapping publications over the past 20 years. European Political Science 12(1): 127–145. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2012.27.
Waismel-Manor, I., and T.J. Lowi. 2011. Politics in motion: A personal history of political science. New Political Science 33(1): 59–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2011.544478.
Williams, H., S. Bates, L. Jenkins, D. Luke, and K. Rogers. 2015. Gender and journal authorship: An assessment of articles published by women in three top British political science and international relations journals. European Political Science 14(2): 116–130. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2015.8.
Wright, B.E. 2011. Public administration as an interdisciplinary field: Assessing its relationship with the fields of law, management, and political science. Public Administration Review 71(1): 96–101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02310.x.
Zajc, D. 2013. The development of political science in Slovenia—Options and opportunities [Razvoj politologije v Sloveniji—Možnosti in priložnosti]. Teorija in praksa 50(2): 317–329.
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by the Croatian Science Foundation under the project IP-09-2014-9351 (RACOSS).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jokić, M., Mervar, A. & Mateljan, S. The development of political science in Central and Eastern Europe: bibliometric perspective, 1996–2013. Eur Polit Sci 18, 491–509 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-018-0191-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-018-0191-6