Editing Multiauthor Books in Political Science: Plotting Your Way Through an Academic Minefield

Edited books in the Social Sciences and Humanities: Characteristics and collaboration analysis

“…To the best of our knowledge, no empirical study has addressed the role of a book editor. Thomas and Hrebenar (1993) state that editing a book consist of 25% organizing and managing, 25% communication and 50% academic work. Although editing a book is far more time consuming than writing an article (Lewis, 1996;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993) and appears to be undervalued for the academic career (Edwards, 2012;Nederman, 2005;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993), there are some major advantages in editing a book.…”

“…Although editing a book is far more time consuming than writing an article (Lewis, 1996;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993) and appears to be undervalued for the academic career (Edwards, 2012;Nederman, 2005;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993), there are some major advantages in editing a book. For the author these advantages are: a great learning experience, in academic, organizational and interpersonal skills (Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993), network building possibilities (Edwards, 2012;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993), time saving (in comparison with e.g. writing a monograph) (Edwards, 2012;Nederman, 2005) and the sense of satisfaction (Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993).…”

“…For the author these advantages are: a great learning experience, in academic, organizational and interpersonal skills (Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993), network building possibilities (Edwards, 2012;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993), time saving (in comparison with e.g. writing a monograph) (Edwards, 2012;Nederman, 2005) and the sense of satisfaction (Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993). In addition, the edited book has a possible academic and educational value to the field (Edwards, 2012;Gold, 1999;Heumann, 2001;Leal, 2013;Lewis, 1996;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993).…”

“…writing a monograph) (Edwards, 2012;Nederman, 2005) and the sense of satisfaction (Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993). In addition, the edited book has a possible academic and educational value to the field (Edwards, 2012;Gold, 1999;Heumann, 2001;Leal, 2013;Lewis, 1996;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993). Edited volumes can bring together a greater variety of skills and knowledge than a monograph, resulting in a publication with multiple perspectives, a broader scope, more data analysis, multi-disciplinary research and a wide variety of methodologies (Edwards, 2012;Leal, 2013;Lewis, 1996;Nederman, 2005).…”

“…The value of the book is largely determined by the choice of contributors who have significant expertise and a balanced view on the issues addressed. Moreover, the choice of the contributors determines the chances of success in finishing the edited book, as contributors who do not follow the deadlines can make the project fail (Edwards, 2012;Galanter, 2008;Leal, 2013;Lewis, 1996;Nederman, 2005;Thomas & Hrebenar, 1993). The quality of an edited book is determined to a considerable extent by the editing process and the possibility of uniting the chapters into a whole (Heumann, 2001;Nederman, 2005).…”