Evaluation of Publication in Political Research

What is this project?

The Evaluation of Publishing in Political Research (EPPR) study involves evaluating how academics and practitioners view publishing in the discipline of political science. The 2025 EPPR survey updates earlier work by Garand and Giles (2003, 2011) and Giles and Garand (2008) to provide insights into how political scientists view scholarly journals and presses relevant to the discipline.

Metrics such as “impact factors” and citation practices are available to measure the quality and visibility of publication venues. They are far from perfect, however, as they vary tremendously across scholarly fields and within disciplines. That variance makes them problematic for benchmarking scholarly productivity, especially in a discipline as diverse as political science. The EEPR study will supply an alternative, reputational approach to evaluating publication venues to remedy these tensions. 

What am I being asked to do?

Participants are first asked to supply a bit of basic professional and personal demographic information. Next, all respondents will evaluate a “core” set of approximately 50 journals; after, participants will be randomly assigned to evaluate a supplementary list of journals of approximately 50 more journal venues. Finally, participants will be asked to evaluate a brief list of book presses and publishers. For more details about how these publication venues were chosen, please see here.

How long will the survey take?

The survey should take approximately 20 minutes. This task is a service to the discipline, and we do not take participants’ time lightly. The project team has endeavored to create a survey instrument that is as lean as possible. Additionally, while the survey has been optimized for mobile, we strongly recommend taking the 2025 EPPR survey on a device with a keyboard, such as a desktop or laptop.

Who is the study team?

The EEPR is spearheaded by Professors James Garand, Paul Musgrave, and Nick Davis. Learn more about the research team.

Who is eligible to take the survey?

All faculty members at public and private colleges and universities who study politics, governance, and international relations are eligible to take this survey. Potential participants were recruited from an email database supplied to the research team by the American Political Science Association, which issued a memorandum of understanding for use of this database.

In addition, non-academic practitioners and researchers who engage with and/or publish political science research are eligible to apply to take the survey. Generically, this includes anyone with a .edu, .org, or .gov email address (including the non-U.S. versions of these addresses), as well as researchers at qualifying commercial enterprises. Interested participants are directed to the study’s self-enrollment portal here.

Is my participation anonymous?

Yes. Although the 2025 EPPR survey asks some professional and demographic details about participants, the ratings you supply are anonymous. Respondents will be de-identified using a key sheet handled by different members of the research team to protect your anonymity.