Productivity of Criminal Justice Scholars Across the Career

Abstract

From the moment young scholars enter the academy, they are cautioned that they should be prepared to “publish or perish.” Because a demonstrable record of scholarly publication is arguably the most important consideration at most universities and colleges that award tenure, junior faculty would be advised to heed that caution. But is there a reduction in pressure post‐tenure, and if so, does this result in a reduction in the publication productivity of faculty members? In this study, we collected and coded data on the publications of criminology and criminal justice scholars over time to determine whether tenure and promotion negatively impact publication productivity. The data, drawn from a random sample of ASC and ACJS members, were coded annually, and careers were tracked in 5‐year increments. Our findings indicate that, contrary to popular belief, the productivity of criminal justice scholars tends to initially increase post‐tenure and then stabilize as the career progresses. The findings also suggest that those affiliated with research‐oriented universities are more productive (in terms of publications) than are those at other types of institutions, and that highly productive scholars have a substantial influence on the average publication rates of scholars at research‐oriented institutions.

Notes

1 This trend in higher education more generally might be less of a concern for those in the field of criminology and criminal justice. Growth in this discipline has been quite profound over the past few decades with massive expansion in the number criminology/criminal justice programs granting degrees at the undergraduate, Masters, and doctoral level (cf., Bufkin 2004, Frost and Clear 2007). A visit to the employment exchange and bulletin pages on the websites of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) or Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), respectively, serves as a reminder that there is no shortage of tenure‐track positions in the field.

2 Although Green et al.’s focus is on Social Work programs, the same aspects are relevant to Criminal Justice scholars.

3 According to the 1994 Carnegie Classification, Research I institutions are those that “award 50 or more doctoral degrees each year and receive annually at least $40 million or more in federal support,” while Research II institutions “award 50 or more doctoral degrees each year and receive annually between $15.5 million and $40 million in federal support.” Doctoral I institutions “award at least 40 doctoral degrees annually in five or more disciplines” and Doctoral II institutions “award at least ten doctoral degrees in three or more disciplines, or 20 or more doctoral degrees in one or more disciplines.”

4 Respondents were provided a list of journals and asked to rate them. Those journals that were rated by a majority of respondents to be “important” or “very important” to their work were classified as prestigious.

5 Although they appeared infrequently, the following journals from other disciplines were also counted as prestigious journals: American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, American Journal of Psychiatry, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Economic Review, and Econometrica.

6 A total of 129 subjects were included in this study, but an additional four were excluded from the incremental analyses because their careers were shorter than 5 years.

7 It is important to note that this “fifth year” designation is not indicative of a person actually seeking or receiving tenure; it simply allows us to look at productivity before and after what might be likely to be near the point at which a person would come up for tenure review at a tenure‐granting institution.