Gender and location in African politics scholarship: The other white man's burden?

Abstract

While the percentage of women publishing in African Affairs and The Journal of Modern African Studies from 1993 until 2013 has increased, the percentage of articles by Africa-based authors has declined. We present evidence suggesting that this decline is not being driven by lower submission rates from Africa but rather by low and declining acceptance rates. We also find that Africa-based scholars, but not women, are systematically cited less than others. We then analyse article titles and find preliminary evidence suggesting that Africa-based authors are more likely to write on a small number of countries and less likely to generalize. Authors based outside Africa seem more likely to generalize to the continent and are more likely to write on economics or conflict. These patterns have implications for the diversity of the discipline and the state of our knowledge about Africa.