Participants

The population for this study consisted of the history and economics faculty at the University of Michigan and at five liberal arts colleges: Bryn Mawr College, Denison University, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, and Williams College. History and economics faculty were targeted because the initial JSTOR selections drew on ten journals, reflecting five core journals in each of these disciplines. The institutions were selected based on their status as Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant recipients for the JSTOR project.

Potential respondents were identified from the roster of full-time history and economics faculty at each institution. With the permission of the respective department chairs at each school, faculty were invited to participate in the JSTOR study by completing a questionnaire. No incentives were offered for respondents, and participation was voluntary. Respondents were told that answers would be confidential, but not anonymous due to plans for matching responses longitudinally. The resulting sample contained 161 respondents representing a response rate of 61%. In this sample, 46% of the respondents were economists, 76% were male, and 48% worked at the University of Michigan. The average respondent was 47.4 years old and had a Ph.D. granted in 1979.