The Skewed Few

Abstract

We tend to reify a few high-impact journals as top-tier, articles that appear in them as high quality (often without regard to their individual impact), and the small number of authors (and their institutions) who publish in them frequently as distinguished (and elite). Although such praise is warranted at times, the author hopes to encourage some skepticism in its granting and direct greater attention to “the many” authors, articles, and journals not found among “the few.”