![Sample our Law journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5942/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Law.jpg"})
Abstract
This study examines the mean number of authors of criminology and criminal justice articles as well as the percentage of solo‐authored articles across 14 criminology and criminal justice journals. Data are from 11,870 journal articles over 44 years. Findings show that solo‐authored papers have declined from nearly three‐quarters of all articles in the late 1960s to just more than one‐quarter at the end of the first decade of the twenty‐first century. Mean number of authors per article has increased from 1.3 in the late 1960s to 2.5 currently. Data are presented across years and for individual journals.
Notes
1. One additional publication—Advances in Criminological Theory—is not used in the present analysis, as it is an annual publication which does not generally publish unsolicited manuscripts.
2. Members of these professional associations were surveyed regarding their views on the most prestigious journals in the discipline.
3. For the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology only articles appearing under the heading “Criminology” (not “Criminal Law”) are included in the data. Also, when examining individual journals, we do not include Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology in the tables or discussion because they have a very low number of criminology articles: a mean of 9.2 articles per year over their publication history and a mean of 3.4 in the last 20 years. These data are included in the analysis, but are not discussed specifically.
4. In the tables the following abbreviations are used for the journals that are reviewed: JRCD (Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency), LSR (Law & Society Review), CRIM (Criminology), C&D (Crime & Delinquency), JCJ (Journal of Criminal Justice), CJ&B (Criminal Justice & Behavior), L&HB (Law & Human Behavior), DB (Deviant Behavior), JQ (Justice Quarterly), JQC (Journal of Quantitative Criminology), JIV (Journal of Interpersonal Violence), ThC (Theoretical Criminology), and C&PP (Criminology & Public Policy).
5. Here it is important to note that the assumption in the social sciences is that the first listed author of a published article is the primary author. Although this is not universal in academic publishing, the assumption in criminology and criminal justice publishing is that the first author has made the largest contribution to the project and holds the most prestigious position in the author listing.