American Sociological Review

American Sociological Review
source
Title	American Sociological Review
Discipline	Sociology
Abbreviation	ASR
Publisher	American Sociological Association
Country	United States
Frequency	Quarterly
History	1936–present

American Sociological Review is a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing original research across the field of sociology. Established in the 1930s, it serves as a flagship periodical for the American Sociological Association and features articles engaging debates in stratification, demography, organizations, race and ethnicity, gender, law, and culture. The journal has shaped theoretical development and empirical practice within the sociological community and related social science disciplines.

History

The journal was founded in 1936 amid institutional transformations linked to the American Sociological Association, reflecting concurrent developments at universities such as University of Chicago, Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Michigan. Early editorial leadership included scholars associated with projects at the Chicago School of Sociology, debates with figures connected to the Progressive Era, and methodological shifts paralleling work by researchers from London School of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and Princeton University. Across mid‑century decades the journal intersected with landmark events and institutions such as the Great Depression, World War II, the rise of programs at the Russell Sage Foundation, and survey innovations exemplified by collaborations with the United States Census Bureau and the National Science Foundation. Later editorial waves responded to intellectual movements traceable to scholars affiliated with University of Wisconsin–Madison, Yale University, Brown University, Duke University, and international centers like Sciences Po and University of Toronto.

Scope and Content

The journal publishes empirical and theoretical work addressing social stratification, institutions, networks, culture, and inequality, often engaging debates linked to scholarship from Pierre Bourdieu, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, Karl Marx, Talcott Parsons, Erving Goffman, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Articles connect to empirical traditions involving datasets produced by organizations such as the General Social Survey, National Longitudinal Surveys, Panel Study of Income Dynamics, European Social Survey, and methods developed in association with centers like the Rosenberg Institute and laboratories at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Interdisciplinary cross‑citations link to work from scholars at Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, New York University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and policy institutions including the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute.

Editorial Structure and Peer Review

The editorial board model follows conventions practiced by journals overseen by societies such as the American Psychological Association, American Political Science Association, and Modern Language Association. Editors drew on peer networks spanning faculty at University of California, Los Angeles, University of Minnesota, Indiana University Bloomington, Ohio State University, and editorial offices often coordinate with the administrative apparatus of the American Sociological Association and publishers working with presses like SAGE Publications, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press. The double‑blind peer review process engages reviewers from research centers including NORC at the University of Chicago, the Institute for Social Research (University of Michigan), and international partners at Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and Australian National University.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in major bibliographic services utilized by scholars affiliated with institutions such as Web of Science, Scopus, JSTOR, ProQuest, and EBSCOhost. Citation tracking intersects with databases maintained by organizations like CrossRef, Clarivate Analytics, and repositories hosted by universities including Harvard University Library, Yale University Library, and national systems such as the Library of Congress. Scholarly visibility is further amplified through aggregation platforms connected to initiatives at Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and institutional repositories at Princeton University Library.

Impact and Reception

Articles published in the journal have influenced public policy debates and academic curricula at schools including Columbia Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, London School of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, and research institutes such as the Urban Institute and Migration Policy Institute. Citations and awards link to recognition from organizations like the American Sociological Association sections, prizes established by the Ruth Benedict Prize tradition, and career milestones aligned with appointments at National Academy of Sciences and fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Critical reception has included methodological debates connecting commentators at Princeton University, University of Chicago, Stanford University, Yale University, and critics writing in venues such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, and disciplinary newsletters.

Notable Articles and Contributions

The journal has published influential pieces that stimulated subsequent research by scholars associated with the Chicago School, contributors in the tradition of Howard S. Becker, Ann Swidler, Robert K. Merton, Kathleen M. Newman, Doug Massey, William Julius Wilson, Patricia Hill Collins, Carolyn R. Nordstrom, John W. Meyer, and Nicole Hemmings. Landmark empirical studies drew on datasets from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and theoretical syntheses that dialogued with the work of Anthony Giddens, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Stuart Hall, and Pierre Bourdieu. Contributions have advanced methods such as event history analysis, social network analysis, regression discontinuity designs, and ethnographic innovations practiced at centers like Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and labs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, influencing policy reports at the United Nations and program evaluations by the World Bank.

Category:Academic journals