The social space of Italian leading sociology journals: A network and field-theoretic analysis of sociologists' interlocking editorships.

This article examines the editorial boards of Italy’s top-ranked sociology journals, conceptualizing them as an affiliation network formed by scholars serving on multiple boards. Using Cluster Correspondence Analysis, the study identifies six distinct clusters representing network positions that reveal patterns of shared board memberships among scholars and journals, reflecting intellectual proximities and divisions within the Italian sociological field. The analysis interprets these board memberships as forms of "position-taking" in the Bourdieusian sense, illustrating how editorial compositions adapt to recent accreditation demands and evaluation criteria. Findings highlight the coexistence of established and newer journals, the disciplinary specializations of scholars within clusters, and the relational structure of symbolic capital in academic publishing. The study focuses on 32 “Class A” journals as classified by the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (ANVUR), emphasizing the national academic field without extending to international or broader publication networks.