TY - JOUR
T1 - The sustainability publication gap and its implications
AU - Sala, Osvaldo E.
AU - Boone, Christopher G.
AU - Turner, Billie L.
AU - Currier, Courtney M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Andrea Noziglia, Kelsey Mc Gurrin, and Laureano Gherardi for their invaluable assistance. The National Science Foundation [NSF DEB 18-32194 , DEB 17-5406 , DEB 13-54732 ] financially supported this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Scientific articles and journals represent a knowledge network, and the distribution of articles among journals with different impact factors highlight a structure of the network. We found a large gap in the publication pattern of sustainability with research published in either high or low impact factor journals, but not middle-range impact factor outlets. This distribution stands in contrast to established disciplines, which maintain a continuous gradient across low to high impact factor journals. The bi-modal publication pattern of sustainability may reflect the variation in the significance of the topics addressed by sustainability researchers or the youthful stage of sustainability as a scientific field. The sustainability publication gap may hamper communication among sustainability scientists and delay the consolidation of the field. Simultaneously, it may assist sustainability from becoming a research silo, nurturing and strengthening the integrative character of its research.
AB - Scientific articles and journals represent a knowledge network, and the distribution of articles among journals with different impact factors highlight a structure of the network. We found a large gap in the publication pattern of sustainability with research published in either high or low impact factor journals, but not middle-range impact factor outlets. This distribution stands in contrast to established disciplines, which maintain a continuous gradient across low to high impact factor journals. The bi-modal publication pattern of sustainability may reflect the variation in the significance of the topics addressed by sustainability researchers or the youthful stage of sustainability as a scientific field. The sustainability publication gap may hamper communication among sustainability scientists and delay the consolidation of the field. Simultaneously, it may assist sustainability from becoming a research silo, nurturing and strengthening the integrative character of its research.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cosust.2019.06.006
DO - 10.1016/j.cosust.2019.06.006
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85069230610
SN - 1877-3435
VL - 39
SP - 39
EP - 43
JO - Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
JF - Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
ER -