Changes in Scholarly Influence in Major American Criminology and Criminal Justice Journals between 1986 and 2015

Whose Voices are Prioritised in Criminology, and Why Does it Matter?

“…the measurement of growth and transmission of knowledge through citation factors) and highlighted that 'scholarly influence in criminology and criminal justice [as with other academic fields] is 'highly concentrated' with male authors comprising two thirds of the highly cited works examined, with this figure rising to seven in 10 for first authored works' (2019, p. 361-2). Research by Cohn et al (2020) exploring the top ten most cited scholars across six leading criminology and criminal justice journals between 1986 and 2015 also supports this finding with most-cited scholars being 'overwhelmingly' written by men and that nearly all are white or white-presenting. Moving beyond journal articles we can see that similar patterns exist when tracking the most significant books in the field (Gabbidon & Martin, 2010).…”

“…The colonial nature of criminology and the white, male, straight, cis-gendered lens through which criminological topics have been viewed, alongside the impenetrable focus on the global north, has long been problematised (Agozino, 2003; Blagg & Anthony, 2019; Carrington et al, 2018; Connell, 2007; Cunneen & Rowe, 2014; Parmar, 2017). Numerous calls to action from feminist and critical race theorists (Carpenter et al, 2021; Coyle, 2010; Cunneen & Tauri, 2016; Walklate et al, 2020; Wonders, 2020) have meant that some space within the discipline has been reclaimed, however, the criminology curriculum remains overwhelmingly white and male.…”

The Altmetrics Hot 100: What Are the Most Influential Articles in Criminology and Criminal Justice?

“…If scholars were ranked without such parameters, it could be argued that scholars who have been in the field longer have more published research, making their citation counts higher. Cohn and colleagues (2020) found that some scholars consistently remain in the top percentage of CCJ research (Cohn et al, 2014(Cohn et al, , 2020Cohn & Farrington, 1994, 1998, 2007, 2012. Their 2020 research found that the leading five CCJ scholars were Robert J. Sampson, Alex R. Piquero, David P. Farrington, John H. Laub, and Francis T.…”

“…Cullen. Robert J. Sampson was ranked first in 1996-2000, 2001-2005-2010, and 2011(Cohn et al, 2014, 2020Cohn & Farrington, 1994, 1998, 2007, 2012.…”

“…Such studies abound within criminology and criminal justice (CCJ). With few exceptions, they rank peer-reviewed journals (Barranco et al, 2015; DeJong & St George, 2018; Roche et al, 2019), the articles in the journals (Graham et al, 2019), the scholars who write the articles (Cohn et al, 2014, 2020; Cohn & Farrington, 1994, 1998, 2007, 2012; Orrick & Weir, 2011), and academic programs in general (Davis & Sorensen, 2010; Steiner & Schwartz, 2006). The typical metric used is citations.…”