Gender Research in Political Science Journals: A Dataset

Abstract

Research on gender and politics is becoming increasingly mainstreamed within political science. To document this process, we introduce a comprehensive dataset of articles published in 37 political science journals through 2019 that can be considered “gender and politics” research. Whereas recent related literature has explored the descriptive representation of women in political science by examining authorship and citation patterns, we argue that the identification of publications substantively focused on gender and politics not only illuminates trends but also can contribute to broader conversations about substantive representation and methodological diversity in the discipline. This article highlights the theoretical challenges of identifying gender and politics research and analyzes major trends in the substantive representation of gender in the journals over time. This dataset is useful for scholars who are interested in the evolution of salient topics in gender and politics research and patterns of citation.

Why does gender inequality in academic publishing persist? Lessons and recommendations

“…It is hence relevant to understand to what extent and in what ways gender biases exists in academic journal publishing. Leading political science journals have started to publish data on gender differences in submissions, review processes and editorial work (Barnett et al, 2022). Some journals now report their gender distribution figures on an annual basis as part of their overall performance indicators ( ibid ).…”