Cross-Institutional Investigation of Faculty Publishing in the United States, 2021-2022

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Nicole R. Webber, University of Northern Colorado; Stephanie Wiegand, University of Northern Colorado; Jason A. Cohen, University of Miami Libraries; John M. Reynolds, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Louis Calder Memorial Library; Lisa Ancelet, Texas State University; Arlene V. Salazar, Texas State University

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  Data 08/05/2025 11:28:AM
  Documentation 08/05/2025 11:29:AM
  Survey-Instrument 08/05/2025 11:29:AM

Project Citation: 

Webber, Nicole R., Wiegand, Stephanie, Cohen, Jason A., Reynolds, John M., Ancelet, Lisa, and Salazar, Arlene V. Cross-Institutional Investigation of Faculty Publishing in the United States, 2021-2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-08-05. https://doi.org/10.3886/E237082V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary
The objectives of this study were to ascertain the awareness and attitudes of university faculty in the United States concerning journal publication, and specifically, the phenomenon known as "predatory publishing." The research questions that guided the development of the survey were:
  1. How do university faculty determine where to submit journal article manuscripts for publication?
  2. Are university faculty aware of the terminology, tools, and strategies related to predatory publishing and assessing the quality of journals?
  3. How is a faculty member's awareness or attitudes related to their prior experience in academia?
  4. Does a faculty member's knowledge of predatory journals affect which publishers they publish with and how they view the work of other scholars?
This study was exploratory in nature, and the survey instrument developed for this purpose was not formally validated. The investigators designed the survey through a pilot study and consequently refined and expanded it to investigate a broader population. The resulting survey consists of 47 closed- and open-ended items with 136 total variables. The questions are organized into five sections: demographics, environment/department culture, history/experience, journal criteria, and predatory publishing.

The dataset resulting from this study consists of 1167 cases and 152 variables. The target population was faculty of any discipline who worked at a university in the United States and who were required to conduct and publish research as part of their position. The survey was sent to approximately 19,400 faculty at 17 doctoral-granting universities between September 2021 and May 2022.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms college faculty; universities; academic publishing; scholarly journals
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 9/2021 – 5/2022
Universe:  View help for Universe University faculty in the United States who publish research.
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) survey data

Methodology

Response Rate:  View help for Response Rate The survey was sent to approximately 19,400 faculty members at 17 universities in the United States. A total of 1,498 responses were received, and 331 cases were removed for having no completed questions beyond the initial Demographics section of the survey. All respondents met the inclusion criteria for faculty who were required to publish research. The remaining 1,167 completed cases result in a response rate of 6 percent.
Sampling:  View help for Sampling Participating institutions were selected through convenience sampling and stratified sampling using three research levels of Carnegie Classifications. All faculty at each selected institution were invited to participate in the survey.
Collection Mode(s):  View help for Collection Mode(s) web-based survey
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation Individuals

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V1 [2025-08-05]

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