To answer the main question of the present study, i. e. to see if the Matthew effect was mitigated by the non-commercial distribution of academic publications, I examine the exchange of publications of four Finnish learned societies which represent dif-ferent disciplines, from their foundation until the Second World War. The recently founded, geographically peripheral Finnish societies and their strategies in linking themselves into an international scholarly community, form an intriguing point of departure to examine this period and to scrutinise the change in the structure of scientific community, in general. The main question is specified into five research questions and their subquestions.
First: (1) To what extent did these societies really aim at international networking and distribution of their publications to foreign exchange partners, or did they rather work for a domestic audience?
1a) If they aimed at reaching international academic readership, how did this goal affect the development of their journals?
The second research question focuses on the origins and motives of the exchange of publications. (2) How was the idea of exchanging publications adopted and what were the main motives of the societies when they undertook initiatives for this activity?
Although it is impossible to measure the importance of various motives of exchange, I asked which motives were indicated explicitly in the documents of these four soci-eties. The question is divided into subquestions:
2a) From where did the societies get models and guidance for this activity?
2b) What were the main motives for promoting exchanges or, alternatively, adopting a passive attitude?
2c) Was exchange discussed widely or accepted without reservations?
2d) What were the alternatives of exchange in distributing the publications and ac-quiring foreign literature?
Because the origins of the exchange of publications strongly mirrored the ideals of the Republic, the motives and the practices of exchange will serve to illustrate how the Republican heritage lived in the Finnish scholarly community and elsewhere.
51 Pihlaja 2009.
52 Garritzen 2011.
53 Paasivirta 1978; Paasivirta 1984. I have used the Finnish version of the book entitled “Suomi ja Eurooppa”. The abridged English version “Finland and Europe: international crises in the period of autonomy 1808-1917” and “Finland and Europe: the early years of independence 1917-1939” are published in 1981 and 1989.
The above issues lead to the most important research question of the present study:
(3) How did the Finnish societies succeed in their efforts to distribute their publica-tions and through this activity, to link themselves into the international networks?
3a) How large a share of exchanges was initiated by foreign partners and what kind of institutions were interested in Finnish research?
3b) Did these Finnish societies reach the publishers whose serials they were interested in, in order to acquire these publications to their libraries?
3c) How did geographical or institutional factors affect establishing exchanges?
3d) To what extent were the Finnish societies willing to establish exchanges with all those foreign institutions which took initiatives?
These questions are meant to shed light on the period characterised by increasing competition and the emergence of the Matthew effect. When did the scientific com-petition replace the old Republican ideals – or did it happen at all, during the period under study? How did the Matthew effect manifest itself in small and peripheral Finnish societies? What kind of strategies did the Finnish societies have in establish-ing their position in the international scholarly community? Did the Republican heritage aid them in their efforts?
Despite the Republican ideals of neutrality and objectivity, science and scholarship were not independent of politics. Especially in the interwar period, political questions were unavoidable and they were often discussed in Finnish learned societies. Hence the question: (4) how did the political upheavals such as the Russian Revolutions or the emergence of Nazism affect existing exchange relationships or establishing new ones? This question, again, illustrates the heritage of the Republic, where neutrality was a principal norm of science. From the point of view of the Matthew effect, it is also interesting to note that in the twentieth century politics had a major impact on the formation of centres and peripheries in science.
A final research question concerns the relevance of the exchange material. (5) To what extent were the periodicals received in exchange used by Finnish researchers?
5a) How was the literature received in exchange made available to readers?
5b) What share of the exchange publications was relevant to Finnish research?
5c) What kind of publications were the most relevant?
5d) How much did the exchange contribute to the use of foreign literature among Finnish researchers?
The answers to these questions will indicate if exchange as a method of non-com-mercial distribution and acquisition of publications mitigated the Matthew effect by creating well-functioning links between learned bodies and by providing useful litera-ture. Alternatively, did it lead to a twofold structure of the scholarly community, that is users of the products of commercial publishing houses and the marginal category of other actors depending on the exchange publications?
The focus is here on these four societies, which excludes some interesting questions.
For instance, the system of government subsidies, peculiar to Finland, is not analysed from the point of view of the funding party. The decisions to allow the subsidies probably influenced the formation of national science policy but this question is beyond the scope of this study. Another interesting subject would be the relevance of the Finnish exchange material in foreign publications which likewise is excluded from the work at hand.
These research questions are answered in the various chapters of this study, which is partly organised chronologically and partly by the activities of the societies. Chrono-logical order makes it possible to underline the influences of the First World War, which was a significant watershed in science and scholarship.
The first chapter introduces the research questions, methods and research materials of the study. In the second chapter, two central concepts – the Republic of Letters and the Matthew effect – are discussed, together with the network theories and the theo-ries of scientific centres and periphetheo-ries which both offer useful concepts for describing the international scholarly community. To illustrate the historical background of the societies under study, the position of Finland in the international networks of science and scholarship is examined in Chapter 2.3.2.
Chapter Three describes how these four societies under study were founded and what kind of activities they pursued. This chapter focuses especially on their publica-tions, which are compared with the international development in the field of academic publishing. The scope of the journals, their language policy, the development of the peer review practices and the funding of the publications are discussed.
The focus of Chapter Four is on the foundation of exchange relations before the outbreak of the First World War. The initiators of the exchanges are categorised to investigate the extent to which the exchanges were proposed by the Finnish societies and the foreign partners. To analyse the exchange relations, the exchange partners are categorised geographically and according to their age and status. The rejected exchange initiatives are analysed similarly. Finally, two alternative means of inter-national networking are described, the commercial distribution of publications and gifts to corresponding and honorary members. The chapter endeavours to ascertain what kind of strategies these four newcomers had in establishing their position in the research front.
Chapter Five describes political upheavals and their effect on the exchange relations.
The First World War, the Russian Revolutions, the new independent position and the Civil War in Finland changed the environment radically. Furthermore, the economic situation after the war caused problems to learned societies. New exchange relations are examined with regard to the political and economic factors but also considering the development of scientific publishing.
The availability and use of the publications received by exchange is the focus of Chapter Six. These four societies differed in their library policies: the FLS maintained a library of its own. The FAS deposited its library in the National Museum of Finland.
The majority of the collections of the SFFF and the FDS were located in the Library of the Scientific Societies. The use of material is described with the results of citation analyses focusing on the serials of the SFFF and FAS. The aim of these analyses is to demonstrate the relevance of the exchange material and to find the most useful contacts. The proportion of exchange publications and commercial publications in the references of the Finnish papers is also discussed.
Chapter Seven summarises the results, discusses their significance and proposes some issues for further research. Chapter Eight concludes this study.