Gatekeeping African studies: what does “editormetrics” indicate about journal governance?

Abstract

This paper probes the internal governance of research journals by focusing on the editorial boards of leading African studies academic journals. We submit editorships to systematic scrutiny through a number of perspectives: geography, gender, institutional affiliation, research performance, entry/exit, etc. Overall, leading journals in the area of African studies are found to be less inclusive than expected: under a quarter of the editors are Africa-based scholars while women are even scarcer. Observations on editorial inflation, interlocking editorships and differentiated journal positioning are also made possible by taking a quantitative approach to editorial evidence. What we refer as “Editormetrics” thus suggests the need for further debate regarding the managerial rules and roles of journals. This perspective may, and perhaps should, inform other evidence-based appraisals of the journal “industry” and the research scene at large.