Journals are mirrors to a discipline. One of their important functions is reflecting how a discipline perceives itself. Editors are both gateways and gatekeepers. They not only evaluate what is fit to print but also which topics are to be addressed in the annals of disciplinary scholarship. The theories, data, and findings of a discipline are displayed in the pages of journals. Politics, Groups, and Identities (PGI)—not unlike its peers Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics, National Political Science Review, and Politics & Gender—performs an important function in the discipline, which fundamentally alters that reflection. . These subfield-specific journals emerged in response to scholarly demand for more visible and accessible scholarship, making the discipline of political science more inclusive of a range of research topics, scholars, and methodologies.
Publishing as Disciplinary Service
PGI publishes works across all subfields of political science, focusing on the politics of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, class, and other dimensions of identity and structural disadvantage. PGI answers a demand for relevant scholarship in the discipline, broadening its reach and representativeness. Women and scholars of color are underrepresented in the discipline’s most prestigious journals (Teele and Thelen Reference Teele and Thelen2017). Yet, a recent scholarly examination of political science journals found that women view their odds of being published in PGI more favorably and are more likely to state that they will submit their research to this journal (Brown et al. Reference Brown, Horiuchi, Htun and Samuels2019). Indeed, in Volume 6, which was published in 2018, 54% of authors were women, 53.4% were scholars of color, and 39.8% were junior scholars.
Publishing research on identity by scholars of diverse backgrounds is a crucial function. In the absence of PGI and journals like it, whole sets of scholarship, pathbreaking theories, concepts, analysis, and fundamental contributions to the literature around issues related to undertheorized groups would have less distribution. The organization of the journal illustrates this. Original research articles are PGI’s “bread and butter”; this is where cutting-edge work is showcased. In recent years, PGI authors contributed to topics including body politics, Asian American politics, second-class citizenship, intersectionality, gender stereotyping, and LGBTQ politics. In addition, PGI features dialogue sections that provide a unique avenue for a collection of authors to contribute to a conversation surrounding a topic. For example, in 2019, PGI is working with organizers of the Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey to coordinate a dialogue on linked fate to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Michael C. Dawson’s Behind the Mule. This issue will be accompanied by a panel at the 2019 APSA Annual Meeting.
Publishing as Outreach
In its pages, PGI and journals like it identify and cultivate scholarship on various topics and encourage scholars who might otherwise be absent from the discussion to contribute to the ongoing exchange of ideas in the discipline. PGI establishes lines of inquiry and connects scholars with one another. Outreach may not be necessary (or even obligatory) for more established groups, but it is vital for journals that publish research on disenfranchised groups and whose authors often are members of those communities. PGI considers outreach to these scholarly communities as a particular responsibility to make the discipline more diverse and inclusive. That is, journals like PGI may be obliged to identify the best work across subfields from scholars who are members of historically underrepresented groups, whereas other outlets may be satisfied with taking a hands-off approach to diversifying their authors. Toward this end, PGI also works to demystify publishing in journals. Such demystification often occurs within private social networks; however, PGI journal editors use “Meet the Editors” panels at national and regional association meetings, ads in conference programs, and coffee breaks as tools of outreach to encourage formal and informal interactions with the journal. These tools signal PGI’s openness to scholars, research topics, and readership, creating and fostering an inclusive intellectual community in the discipline.
Outreach may not be necessary (or even obligatory) for more established groups, but it is vital for journals that publish research on disenfranchised groups and whose authors often are members of those communities.
This type of outreach may be of added importance to smaller or newer journals, but larger journals also may benefit from such work. Many journals explain to scholars what to do and what to avoid to be published in their pages. Encouraging researchers to submit their work for review is yet another type of outreach. Journal presentations at the Politics of Race, Immigration, and Ethnicity Consortium; the National Conference of Black Political Scientists; and the Symposium on the Politics of Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity encourage promising young scholars to submit papers for review. Of course, there is no guarantee of publication, but it is a service to the discipline to invite graduate students and assistant professors to submit their best work for publication.
Publishing as Mentoring
To address the underrepresentation of women and (to a lesser extent) ethno-racial-minority authors in political science journals, scholars have examined whether editors and reviewers contribute to this publication gap (Djupe, Smith, and Sokhey Reference Djupe, Smith and Sokhey2018). Although studies have found that editorial decisions may not be biased against women, the authors concluded that editors can and should take proactive measures to reduce the gender submission gap (Brown and Samuels Reference Brown and Samuels2018). It is within this vein that journals can serve a mentoring function. Mentoring can take place in the review process, where especially good manuscripts may receive the opportunity for more than one round of review. Working with the lead editors, a member of PGI’s editorial team determines that a manuscript could benefit from additional time and then works with the author to improve the paper and present a novel or interesting idea. This is not routine, but it is one way that journals can help emerging scholars produce their best work. It is not all “sink or swim.” PGI sometimes allows for substantive revisions and repeated rounds to polish good work that otherwise might not be published due to shortcomings that could have been fixed.
Conclusion
PGI seeks to publish the best scholarship in the areas of politics, groups and identities, broadly defined. To do so, the journal takes an active role in fostering and supporting scholarship on undertheorized groups and by underrepresented minorities. PGI urges other editors to use these three practices to diversify their authors, reviewers, and subject areas published in their journals.
