One of the studies—reported on in the American Sociological Review (volume 53, pages 139-51)—claims, for example, that some chemical journals reject only 15% to 20% of papers submitted; on the other hand, the ASR report points out, an important political science journal—the American Political Science Review—has been known to reject as many as 94% of its submissions over a period of time. Meanwhile, another study—reported on in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (volume 100, number 626, pages 506-08)—concurs in observing the disparity, comparing relatively low acceptance rates at social science journals with, for example, three major astronomical journals that accept more than 90% of the manuscripts submitted to them.
The reason for the disparity?
According to Lowell Hargens, a University of Illinois sociologist who wrote the ASR study, physical scientists more often put their papers through several review steps—beginning with grant applications and including informal reviews by ...
