No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
From Bookworm to Browser: The Decline of Books in Political Science Scholarship
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 October 2025
Abstract
This study examines how patterns of referencing in political science research have changed during the past three decades. By analyzing references in leading political science journals from 1990 to 2024, we reveal a notable shift: a decline in book references (52% to 28%) and a corresponding increase in journal article references (40% to 65%). These findings have important implications for students, the discipline, research libraries, and academia, particularly in tenure and promotion evaluations. They also raise concerns about the depth of analyses and increased specialization at the expense of broader synthesis.
Information
- Type
- Article
- Information
- Copyright
- © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Political Science Association
References
REFERENCES
Bennett, Andre, Barth, Aharo, and Rutherford, Kennet R.. 2003. “Do We Preach What We Practice? A Survey of Methods in Political Science Journals and Curricula.” PS: Political Science & Politics 36 (3): 373–78.Google Scholar
Berry, David M. 2012. “Introduction: Understanding the Digital Humanities.” In Understanding Digital Humanities, ed. Berry, David M., 1–20. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230371934CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boboc, Diana. 2025. “Book Publishing Timeline 2025: How Long Does It Take?” Lambert Academic Publishing, January 30. https://blog.lap-publishing.com/how-long-does-book-publishing-take-publishing-timeline.Google Scholar
Breuning, Marijke, Backstrom, Jeremy, Brannon, Jeremy, Gross, Benjamin Isaak, and Widmeier, Michael. 2015. “Reviewer Fatigue? Why Scholars Decline to Review Their Peers’ Work.” PS: Political Science & Politics 48 (4): 595–600.Google Scholar
Breuning, Marijke, and Sanders, Kathryn. 2007. “Gender and Journal Authorship in Eight Prestigious Political Science Journals.” PS: Political Science & Politics 40 (2): 347–51.Google Scholar
Carpenter, Christopher R., Cone, David C., and Sarli, Cathy C.. 2014. “Using Publication Metrics to Highlight Academic Productivity and Research Impact.” Academic Emergency Medicine 21 (10): 1160–72.10.1111/acem.12482CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davidson, Lloyd A. 2005. “The End of Print: Digitization and Its Consequence—Revolutionary Changes in Scholarly and Social Communication and in Scientific Research.” International Journal of Toxicology 24:25–34.10.1080/10915810590921351CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunlap, Isaac Hunter. 2008. “Going Digital: The Transformation of Scholarly Communication and Academic Libraries.” Policy Futures in Education 6:132–41.10.2304/pfie.2008.6.1.132CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frederick, Jennifer, and Wolff-Eisenberg, Christine. 2020. “Academic Library Strategy and Budgeting During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from the Ithaka S+R US Library Survey 2020.” Ithaka S+R, December 9. https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.314507.Google Scholar
Garand, James C., and Giles, Micheal T.. 2003. “Journals in the Discipline: A Report on a New Survey of American Political Scientists.” PS: Political Science & Politics 36 (2): 293–308.Google Scholar
Goodnow, Frank. 1904. “The Work of the American Political Science Association.” Proceedings of the American Political Science Association 1:35–46.10.2307/3038319CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunnell, John C. 2006. “The Founding of the American Political Science Association: Discipline, Profession, Political Theory, and Politics.” American Political Science Review 100 (4): 479–86.10.1017/S0003055406062320CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Housewright, Ross. 2009. “Themes of Change in Corporate Libraries: Considerations for Academic Libraries.” Libraries and the Academy 9:253–71.10.1353/pla.0.0048CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, Eric T., and Schroeder, Ralph. 2009. “The World Wide Web of Research and Access to Knowledge.” Knowledge Management Research & Practice 7 (3): 218–33.10.1057/kmrp.2009.13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mintz, Steven. 2024. “The Evolving University Library.” Inside Higher Education, October 28. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/columns/higher-ed-gamma/2024/10/28/whats-gained-whats-lost-evolving-university-library.Google Scholar
“ProQuest.” 2008. Wayback Machine Internet Archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20080925022313/http://proquest.com/brand/proquest.shtml.Google Scholar
Saiya, Nilay. 2022. “Navigating the Academic Book-Publishing Process.” PS: Political Science & Politics 55 (4): 783–87.Google Scholar
Savage, William E., and Olejniczak, Anthony J.. 2021. “More Journal Articles and Fewer Books: Publication Practices in the Social Sciences in the 2010s.” PLoS ONE 17. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263410.Google Scholar
Teele, Dawn Langan, and Thelen, Kathleen. 2017. “Gender in the Journals: Publication Patterns in Political Science.” PS: Political Science & Politics 50 (2): 433–47.Google Scholar
Tripp, Aili Mari, and Dion, Michelle L.. 2024. “American Political Science Review Editorial Report: Executive Summary.” Political Science Today 4 (1): 56–60.10.1017/psj.2024.21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, Randall. 2024. “Publishing: Brief History.” University of Tennessee Health Science Center, December 2. https://libguides.uthsc.edu/metrics.Google Scholar
Yanus, Alixandra B., and Ardoin, Phillip J.. 2025. “Replication Data for ‘From Bookworm to Browser: The Decline of Books in Political Science Scholarship.’” PS: Political Science & Politics. DOI: 10.7910/DVN/KFZ3NZ.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Tao, Niu, Xi, and Promann, Marlen. 2017. “Assessing the User Experience of E-Books in Academic Libraries.” College & Research Libraries 78 (5): 578–601.10.5860/crl.78.5.578CrossRefGoogle Scholar