Book Reviews and the Need to Take Books More Seriously

Excerpt

Researchers studying youth and adolescence now have several highly-regarded outlets for publishing their research. Mirroring developments in other social and life sciences, the most remarkable surge in publishing opportunities in our field now comes in the form of journals (see Levesque, 2006). Without doubt, journals are cornering the market as they efficiently contribute to the dissemination of knowledge necessary for advancing the study of adolescence. This journal, for example, recently doubled the number of manuscripts it publishes and eliminated what used to be a long waiting period between acceptance and publication—accepted manuscripts now appear published on-line within a matter of weeks. This dramatic growth in the number of published manuscripts and the journal’s efficiency was a much needed response to the increased number of quality submissions and the need for articles to reach their audiences much more quickly. Perhaps because of these and other similar opportunities and efficiencies, many researchers progressively favor articles as the expected venue for sharing their research findings—even a quick look at reference sections reveals that authors increasingly ignore books. Although the market of ideas speedily veers toward journals, even journals themselves may not be spared as society moves to use new forms of digitalization in the transfer of knowledge. There is a movement afoot, as evidenced by the increased use of articles’ D.O.I. numbers, that would eliminate journals altogether and simply focus on individual articles published on-line. Publishing opportunities clearly abound and are changing form. …