How Many Authors Does It Take to Publish an Article? Trends and Patterns in Political Science* Bonnie S. Fisher, University of Cincinnati Craig T. Cobane, University of Cincinnati Thomas M. Vander Ven, Hofstra University Francis T. Cullen, University of Cincinnati P olitical scientists have a tradition of reflecting on the evolution and state of their discipline. Numerous studies have examined rankings of departments (Klingemann 1986; Jackman and Siverson 1996; Lowery and Silver 1996; Miller, Tien, and Peebler 1996b; Morgan and Fitzger- ald 1977), graduate programs (Katz and Eagles 1996), journals (Baum et al. 1976; Garand 1990; Giles and Wright 1975; Giles, Mizell, and Patterson 1989; Lester 1990), and citation rates (Cnudde 1986; Gleditsch 1993; Gleditsch 1996; Klingemann, Groffman, and Cam- pagna 1989; Miller, Tien, and Peebler 1996a). The status of women in the profession—ascer- tained by, for example, counting the number of Ph.D.s granted over time—has also become a subject of study (Burton 1979; Sarkees and McGlen 1992; Kelly, Williams, and Fisher 1993; Hesli and Burrell 1995; Young 1995). We continue the self-study tradi- tion by examining an area that has not received much attention among political scientists: trends and pat- terns of multiple-authored journal articles in political science over time (for an exception, see Miller, Tien, and Peebler 1996a, Table 7). In the social sciences more generally, pat- terns of multiple authorship have increasingly become the focus of scholarly attention and concern (Endersby 1996; Fisher et al. 1998; De Maio and Kushner 1981; Hud- son 1996; Wildavsky 1986). About half of all articles published in top- tiered professional social science journals are written by two or more scholars; two or three decades ago, the proportion of multiple-authored articles was one-quarter to one-third of all social science articles (End- ersby 1996; Hudson 1996; Miller, Tien, and Peebler 1996a). The explanations offered for this increase in multiple authorships fall into three loosely defined categories (see Endersby 1996, Hudson 1996, Miller, Tien, and Peebler 1996a). First, the pool from which suitable collaborators can be found has steadily expanded over the last fifty years. Between 1950 and 1990, the Bonnie S. Fisher is an associate profes- sor in the department of political science at the University of Cincinnati. She has written several articles that examine issues con- cerning the extent and nature of college student criminal victimization. Criminology, Crime and Delinquency, Public Administra- tion Review, and the ANNALS have pub- lished her most recent work. Craig T. Cobane is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of political science at the University of Cincinnati. His research ad- dresses the effectiveness of antiterrorism legislation and its impact on civil liberties in a democratic context. His work has ap- peared in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, PS: Political Science and Politics, and The International Journal. Thomas M. Vander Ven is an assistant professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Hofstra University. His research interests include the relationship between maternal working conditions and delinquent involvement. Francis T. Cullen is distinguished re- search professor in the department of criminal justice at the University of Cin- cinnati, where he also holds a joint ap- pointment in sociology. He is the author of Rethinking Crime and Deviance The- ory, coauthor of Reaffirming Rehabilita- tion, Corporate Crime under Attack, Criminological Theory, and Criminology, and coeditor of Contemporary Crimino- logical Theory. number of Ph.D.s awarded in the social sciences has grown 283%.' During the same period, there was a 288% increase in the number of Ph.D.s awarded in political science (National Research Council 1995, Table A). With this increase in the size and expertise of disciplines, we have witnessed the development of specialized "sections" and journals, which may give authors more oppor- tunities to interact with academics possessing similar research interests, and the creation of multidisciplinary journals, which are outlets for the growth in subject areas covered by social scientists. Second, the nature and execution of the scholarly task has changed over time. Large-scale data collec- tion efforts, the availability of large data sets from archival depositories such as the Inter-university Consor- tium for Political and Social Re- search (ICPSR), and the increasing technical and statistical sophistica- tion of data analyses have led to more scholarly specialization and, in turn, division of labor on research projects. These changes, coupled with the availability of external fund- ing from research agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), have helped to create "invisi- ble colleges" (De Maio and Kushner 1981, 191). These invisible colleges, according to Price and Beaver (1966, 1017), develop from a core of researchers (with several single- authored and multiple-authored pa- pers) and afloatingpopulation con- sisting of occasional collaborators. Third, simultaneously, the devel- opment of technology has made col- laboration more accessible across time and space. Overnight mail, photocopiers, computers, fax ma- chines, email, and teleconferencing make long-distance collaboration PSOnline www.apsanet.org 847