Dominating the Narrative: How Scholars Outside of Africa Define African Politics in the Top Political Science Journals

Key findings from this study

This research indicates that:

• African and Africa-based scholars have experienced declining influence in top political science journals since 2010, despite initial gains between 2000 and 2010.
• The rising competitiveness of leading journals has increasingly privileged quantitative methodologies that require substantial financial resources and specialized training, limiting access for scholars in under-resourced contexts.
• Non-African and non-Africa-based scholars have achieved increasing citation prominence in the same journals during the period when African-based scholars' influence declined.

Overview

This study examines the representation and influence of African and Africa-based scholars in the top 20 political science journals since the subfield's emergence in the late 1950s. Using citation network analysis, the research traces how authorship and scholarly influence in African politics research have shifted over time.

Methods and approach

Citation network approach applied to top-tier political science journals across the entire history of African politics as a research subfield.

Results

African and Africa-based scholars remain systematically underrepresented among authors in leading journals and among the most-cited scholars in the field. Between 2000 and 2010, these scholars experienced a period of increasing influence, but their citation impact has declined substantially since 2010. The decline coincides with two institutional trends: increasing competitiveness of top journals that prioritize quantitative methodologies requiring substantial financial and training resources, and rising citation rates for non-African scholars in the same journals.

Implications

The findings expose structural barriers within academic publishing that limit scholarly voice from within Africa. The preference for resource-intensive quantitative approaches creates asymmetric advantages for researchers affiliated with well-funded institutions, disproportionately affecting scholars in African contexts. Addressing this imbalance requires deliberate efforts to diversify methodological standards and citation practices within the discipline.

The study's conclusions extend beyond African politics to broader questions of scholarly gatekeeping and knowledge production in political science. Institutional reforms that promote greater inclusivity in top journals could reshape the intellectual foundations of the entire subfield and enhance the representation of diverse research perspectives.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.