Who/what creates gatekeeping?

Editors

Decide which papers are published.

Peer reviewers

Evaluate whether submissions meet scholarly standards.

Grant committees

Decide which research receives money.

Hiring committees

Decide who receives academic positions.

Promotion committees

Decide who advances professionally.

University curricula

Determine which subjects and books students encounter.

Professional associations

Can determine:

• conference programs;
• awards;
• professional recognition;
• disciplinary standards.

Publishers

Decide which books receive publication and distribution.

Disciplinary norms

Create expectations about:

what constitutes rigorous scholarship.

Citation networks

Scholars choose whose work to cite.

Repeated citation can make some scholars increasingly visible.

Research funding priorities

Determine which research receives resources.

All of these can contribute to gatekeeping, although they do so in different ways.