Disciplinary Permeability, Academic Specializations, and University Presses
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Disciplinary Permeability, Academic Specializations, and University Presses Jean‑Pierre V. M. Hérubel1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract University presses select and publish intellectually significant scholarship. As they each occupy disciplinary space, particular to their publishing and editorial missions, university presses consider manuscripts per respective brands and imprimatur. This presentation will examine subject specialization within the larger context of disciplinary formation and disciplinary alignments university presses consider within their purview. To gain a greater appreciation of their missions in subject specialization, a definitional model will animate further discussion of publication trends, and disciplinary nomenclature utilized by university presses to capture their emphases within the constellation of scholarly publishing. Methodology and discussion will focus on data gleaned from the 2018 Directory of Association of American University Presses. Via a bibliometric approach, comparison with earlier Directories will situate discussion within the wider frame of disciplinary specialization growth. Disciplinary subjects and disciplinary nomenclature will constitute the focus of discussion as central to university press monographic publication trends. Special emphasis and illustrations will focus on fragmentation, hyper-specialization, and trends accommodating emerging scholarly domains, especially disciplinary permeability. Further broached vis-à-vis academic publishing and corresponding influence on scholars, especially, humanities scholars, as they navigate the scholarly communication system, exemplified by university presses. Keywords Disciplines · Humanities · Social sciences · Publishing · Specialization · University presses
* Jean‑Pierre V. M. Hérubel [email protected] 1
Libraries and School of Information Studies, Purdue University, HSSW, 504 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907‑2058, USA
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Publishing Research Quarterly
Introduction University presses constitute a core phenomenon in the scholarly communication ecology. They publish both book and journals, increasingly trade and specialized formats. However, they concentrate on books, and more appropriately, monographic studies in the humanities. This discussion focuses on university presses and the disciplinary cultures they represent in their respective publishing emphasis. Since the inception of university presses in the late nineteenth century, especially in North America, these publishers have produced significant scholarship in all fields, especially the humanities where they have consistently been focused and dominant.1 University press publishing is also complemented by scholarly trade presses which publish in these domains. This is especially so, in fields where costs can be of less critical concern than for university presses. Such as it is, commercial presses that publish academic scholarship must still be concerned with their place within the evo
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