let’s talk about edited volumes

In advising grad students or colleagues seeking promotion, I have often run into the issue of edited volumes. In general, I don’t dismiss them. In fact, I think edited volumes can be enormously valuable. Org studies has been massively influenced by edited volumes such as the Handbook of Organizations and the Orange Bible (the DiMaggio and Powell neo-institutional theory volume). So, frankly, it would be hypocritical to claim that they are not important scholarly contributions.

However, the hiring and promotion process in sociology and management does not accord much value to edited volume chapters. And I will admit there are good reasons. Edited volumes vary widely in their quality. Some are strongly edited and peer reviewed, while others not so much. Some scholars use edited volumes as dumping grounds for unpublishable low-quality work, while others use edited volumes for work that can’t be published because it’s too far out from the mainstream. Also, many chapters are summaries of existing research or reviews of the literature. Since many people won’t read job applications in detail, they adopt the rule of thumb that edited volume contributions get no credit, even if there’s a significant population of chapter contributions that are better than the modal journal article.

Personally, I tell people “do edited volume chapters for the right reason.” The right reason is that you have a good idea that doesn’t quite fit into the journal system. And you are willing to put effort into making it a good article. For example, I recently wrote a volume chapter summarizing social science research on the rise of Black Studies and Ethnic Studies. I wrote it because there is no current review and I thought the editors would do a great job with the rest of the volume. Good work appearing next to other good work. The wrong reasons are jobs and promotion. If anything, edited volumes detract from “legitimate” academic work.” If you are early career, then too many edited volume contributions can be held against you. A midterm review where you have 2 chapters and 1 article can end badly.

Ultimately, we publish not for promotion, but to advance knowledge. And if we think we have an important message, we should have the courage to publish our work, even if it doesn’t have an immediate reward.

Use the comments as an open thread on edited volume chapters.