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Their wordsThe papers that become the most widely cited present either theories or tools. Specific findings, however important, tend not to reach this (admittedly rarefied) level of influence.
Their wordsNow, ASR and AJS remain the most prestigious journals in the discipline, and publishing in them is still vitally important for establishing and consolidating a career. But, at least at the very top of the distribution, these journals no longer publish the discipline's most-cited work. Impact has become decoupled from venue.
Our reading
Professionalization and organizational homogenization cause outputs in a field to converge in form.
Their wordsProfessionalization is one of the main engines of organizational homogenization. In a field whose members are trained in similar programs, credentialed in similar ways, competing for a limited number of positions, and evaluated by somewhat vague but widely shared criteria, organizations and their outputs will tend to converge in form.
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