Contrarians at the Gate: Publishing Controversial Topics in the Era of Academic Progressivism

In this week's episode Elizabeth and Professors of Sociology Mark Horowitz and Anthony Haynor talk about the pitfalls of trying to publish research findings that challenge progressive orthodoxy. They describe their own experiences with editors and reviewers (one of their papers about grade inflation was the topic of prior episodes). We also discuss public complaints about the editorial process at Frontiers and Perspectives on Psychological Science. In our view, editors and reviewers are doing their fields an injustice by judging papers on their conformity with ideology instead of focusing on quality and scientific merit.

Podcast Notes:

Uttl, Bob & Violo, Victoria & Gibson, Lacey. (2024). Meta-analysis: On average, undergraduate students' intelligence is merely average. Available here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378173544_Meta-analysis_On_average_undergraduate_students'_intelligence_is_merely_average

One summary of the Perspectives on Psychological Science Controversy: https://www.chronicle.com/article/i-am-the-victim-a-journal-editor-is-under-fire-after-a-diversity-debate-is-derailed?sra=true

Mertonian Norms of Science Wikipedia Mertonian Norms

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In September, ILV presents several Back to School specials. First up is our Liberal Values Lab: Ethnic Studies in your School.

Ethnic Studies has become a hot button issue in K-12. Efforts to get Ethnic Studies onto the curriculum in California and to make it a mandatory course have been pushed by groups like the Coalition for Liberated Ethnic Studies. The battle over the California Ethnic Studies curriculum reveals how Ethnic Studies is being used as a vehicle to drive illiberalism and antisemitism into K-12 classrooms. However, Ethnic Studies is only one means that activist groups are using to inculcate an illiberal ideology in K-12. This webinar will cover the background to the battle of Ethnic Studies - the cast of characters, the dueling curriculums, and strategies to win the battle. We’ll place the skirmish over Ethnic Studies within the broader context of the war on Liberal values in the classroom.