Top institutions.

This study systematically maps the network structure of the editors-in-chief in social sciences journals, focusing on their gender representation, geographical distribution, and institutional composition. Drawing upon large-scale data from 3,320 JCR-ranked journals of 57 different fields in the social sciences (4,868 editors-in-chief from 1,485 affiliations of 71 countries), the study aims to illustrate the current connections of editorial leadership in social sciences. Findings reveal that two countries—the U.S. and the U.K.—and their institutions shape almost all fields of the social sciences, with institutions from other geographies, particularly non-English-speaking countries, being substantially underrepresented. However, there is no central institution that dominates across all fields, but within dominant geographies, a reduced number of different affiliations prevail in the most important intellectual terrains. In terms of gender representation, there is a significant imbalance across all dimensions under study. Male editors-in-chief outnumber females across most fields (66.67%), countries (76.60%), and affiliations (63.16%). All in all, by critically mapping the connections of editors-in-chief in social sciences journals, this study seeks to advance our understanding of the current structure of editorial governance and, in turn, stimulate initiatives aimed at fostering a more representative leadership in social science, keeping levels of scientific excellence constant.

本研究系统绘制了社会科学期刊主编（editors-in-chief）的网络结构，重点考察其性别代表性、地域分布与机构构成。本研究基于社会科学57个不同领域的3320种经期刊引证报告（Journal Citation Reports，JCR）收录并排名的期刊的大规模数据，涵盖来自71个国家1485个机构的4868名主编，旨在阐明社会科学领域编辑领导层的当前关联格局。研究结果显示，美国与英国及其所属机构几乎主导了社会科学的所有领域，其他地区尤其是非英语国家的机构代表性严重不足。然而，并无任何一家机构能够在所有领域占据主导地位，但在占据主导地位的地域范围内，少数不同机构在最重要的学术场域中占据优势。就性别代表性而言，本次考察的所有维度均存在显著失衡。在大多数领域（66.67%）、国家（76.60%）以及机构（63.16%）中，男性主编的数量均超过女性主编。总而言之，通过批判性地绘制社会科学期刊主编的关联网络，本研究旨在增进我们对社会科学编辑治理当前结构的理解，并进而推动旨在提升社会科学领域领导层代表性的相关举措，同时维持科学卓越水准的稳定性。