Exploring Journal Use in Graduate Research in the Sociology of Religion Informing Collections, Instruction, and Reference

Abstract

Analyzing citations in doctoral dissertations provides important insight for the library subject specialist into research patterns in their discipline. One of those patterns, journal usage, is an important signpost for understanding the scholarly scope and shifting trends within a discipline. This study explores journal use patterns in graduate research in the sociology of religion. Using journal clusters, the study examines journal use from 64 dissertations from a population of 516 dissertations in sociology awarded from 2016-2020 from 16 institutions in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. This study provides librarians with an initial framework around the importance of studying journal use. A description of a clustering method of journal use to identify research of religion in sociology dissertations is followed by an introduction of an empirical method for exploring the nuances of journal use based on citation and dissertation counts. This analytical method is explored further by demonstrating three approaches: identifying thematic journal clusters, exploring journal cluster strength, and exploring institutional comparisons. Finally, the study briefly explores how the findings can inform library collection development, instruction, and reference.