Publishing in an Immature Field: The Case of “Higher Education”

ABSTRACT

This paper is an analysis of the review for publication of an earlier manuscript that was submitted to a journal in the developing field of “higher education”. The earlier paper originated as a conference presentation and was subsequently revised for journal submission. The manuscript was rejected by the editor on the basis of reviewers' comments. In an article that follows, the author presents sections of the earlier paper and the reviewers' comments pertaining to those sections of the original manuscript. The reviewers' comments are analysed on the basis of a certainty‐uncertainty continuum that it is argued is manipulated to justify the reviewers' epistemological biases. Implications for the field of higher education are discussed.