Periodical death and resurrection: the case of a Venezuelan research journal

Abstract

Dissemination of scientific knowledge is a key issue of both culture and social development and studying aspects of refereed journals can cast light on important problems, including those that may hinder the regular editing of such publications. This study used three types of academic genres and it had three objectives: first, to identify possible causes of the demise of the Venezuelan university journal “Pedagogía” during the 1980s; second, to learn about aspects of the context of the journal’s editing during such period; and third, to devise ways to avoid a new interruption of the publication. Journal editorials between 1971 and 2011, university school council actae between 1983 and 1989, plus answers to semi-structured interviews to key informants, all of which rendered a total of 83 texts, were analyzed. After the analysis, results show that the possible causes of the journal’s interruption are attributed mostly to an amalgam of factors grouped under the category of “other factors”, above the economic and administrative ones. The analysis seems to unveil beliefs and ideologies that originate and develop within the particular community. It is concluded that the specific topic of scientific communication here investigated is part of the organization’s culture within the particular society in which our centers of higher learning interact.