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Publication patterns in the social sciences and humanities: evidence from eight European countries

Author

Listed:
  • Emanuel Kulczycki

    (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań)

  • Tim C. E. Engels

    (University of Antwerp)

  • Janne Pölönen

    (Federation of Finnish Learned Societies)

  • Kasper Bruun

    (Agency for Science and Higher Education, Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science)

  • Marta Dušková

    (Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information)

  • Raf Guns

    (University of Antwerp)

  • Robert Nowotniak

    (Lodz University of Technology)

  • Michal Petr

    (Masaryk University)

  • Gunnar Sivertsen

    (Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education)

  • Andreja Istenič Starčič

    (University of Ljubljana
    University of Primorska)

  • Alesia Zuccala

    (University of Copenhagen)

Abstract

This study investigates patterns in the language and type of social sciences and humanities (SSH) publications in non-English speaking European countries to demonstrate that such patterns are related not only to discipline but also to each country’s cultural and historic heritage. We investigate publication patterns that occur across SSH publications of the whole of the SSH and of economics and business, law, and philosophy and theology publications in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Flanders (Belgium), Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. We use data from 74,022 peer-reviewed publications from 2014 registered in at least one of the eight countries’ national databases and for 272,376 peer-reviewed publications from the period of 2011–2014 registered in at least one of the seven countries’ national databases (for all countries except Slovakia). Our findings show that publication patterns differ both between fields (e.g. patterns in law differ from those in economics and business in the same way in Flanders and Finland) and within fields (e.g. patterns in law in the Czech Republic differ from patterns in law in Finland). We observe that the publication patterns are stable and quite similar in West European and Nordic countries, whereas in Central and Eastern European countries the publication patterns demonstrate considerable changes. Nevertheless, in all countries, the share of articles and the share of publications in English is on the rise. We conclude with recommendations for science policy and highlight that internationalization policies in non-English speaking countries should consider various starting points and cultural heritages in different countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuel Kulczycki & Tim C. E. Engels & Janne Pölönen & Kasper Bruun & Marta Dušková & Raf Guns & Robert Nowotniak & Michal Petr & Gunnar Sivertsen & Andreja Istenič Starčič & Alesia Zuccala, 2018. "Publication patterns in the social sciences and humanities: evidence from eight European countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 463-486, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:116:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-018-2711-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-018-2711-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Publication patterns; Social sciences; Humanities; Language; Publication type; Internationalization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

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