In a recent opinion piece for Times Higher Education, Meron Wondemaghen (University of Hull) outlines ongoing issues within the landscape of social sciences publishing and argues that it is due for an overhaul. The author writes that the overproduction of research, problems with article review backlogs, and a lack of editorial decision-making transparency undermines the timeliness and impact of social science publications. Wondemaghen calls for a systematic review of existing social sciences studies in order to identify research gaps, influential studies, and future publishing priorities. “My hope is that this will usher in a genuine era of impact, built on timely dissemination, replicable research and oversight of editors that ensures that acceptance and rejection decisions are meritocratic and rubric-based,” concludes Wondemaghen.
