The Authorship Experience in Sociology: The Balance Between Institutional Canons and Individual Style

Abstract

The article describes the logic according to which sociological authors maintain the balance between individual style and institutional rules concerning text writing. Exploring the academic world of Russian sociology, I attempt to uncover the features of institutional context and how sociologists adapt to the existing “rules of the game”. It is shown that the practice of writing texts is sensitive to the genre. Essentially, the author’s balance between his or her style and institutional canons will change, increasing or reducing the degree of freedom depending on the genre. Writing a research article can be accompanied by a change in the position of the internal critic due to the need to compromise when interacting with publishing platforms and reviewers. Besides, it involves forming optimal publishing strategies, in which preference is given to journals that are tolerant of the author’s vision. I have concluded that the authorship experience in sociology is tied to the context beyond the text’s direct writing — remuneration for meeting publication standards, institutional pressure, and other factors.

Acknowledgment. The article is based on the materials of the master’s thesis defended at the HSE in 2020. This text — as well as the entire study — would not have taken place without people who agreed to an interview and kindly entrusted their stories. The author also thanks Elena Rozhdestvenskaya, Alexey Ryzhkov, Sergey Startsev, and Timofey Alekseev for valuable critical comments.