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Never let an academic crisis go to waste: Leadership Studies in the wake of journal retractions

Spoelstra, Sverre LU ; Butler, Nick LU and Delaney, Helen (2016) In Leadership 12(4). p.383-397
Abstract
In 2014, leadership studies saw the retraction of a number of journal articles written by prominent researchers who are closely associated with popular concepts such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership, ethical leadership and spiritual leadership. In response, The Leadership Quarterly published a lengthy editorial that presented these retractions as a sign of health in a mature scientific field. For the editors of The Leadership Quarterly, there is no crisis in leadership studies. In this paper, we suggest that the editorial is a missed opportunity to reflect on positivist leadership studies. In our view, leadership ought to be in crisis because this would stimulate the community to question its guiding assumptions and... (More)
In 2014, leadership studies saw the retraction of a number of journal articles written by prominent researchers who are closely associated with popular concepts such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership, ethical leadership and spiritual leadership. In response, The Leadership Quarterly published a lengthy editorial that presented these retractions as a sign of health in a mature scientific field. For the editors of The Leadership Quarterly, there is no crisis in leadership studies. In this paper, we suggest that the editorial is a missed opportunity to reflect on positivist leadership studies. In our view, leadership ought to be in crisis because this would stimulate the community to question its guiding assumptions and reconsider its methods and objectives. We therefore hope to open up a critical discussion about the means and ends of mainstream leadership studies – not least of all its scientific pretensions. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Leadership studies, journal retractions, crisis, positivism, image of science, philosophy of science
in
Leadership
volume
12
issue
4
pages
15 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:84981715592
  • wos:000387152100001
ISSN
1742-7169
DOI
10.1177/1742715016658215
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e39aed47-7ccb-4ae8-8bc7-22086c0990b3
date added to LUP
2016-09-08 18:05:40
date last changed
2022-03-24 01:12:47
@article{e39aed47-7ccb-4ae8-8bc7-22086c0990b3,
  abstract     = {{In 2014, leadership studies saw the retraction of a number of journal articles written by prominent researchers who are closely associated with popular concepts such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership, ethical leadership and spiritual leadership. In response, The Leadership Quarterly published a lengthy editorial that presented these retractions as a sign of health in a mature scientific field. For the editors of The Leadership Quarterly, there is no crisis in leadership studies. In this paper, we suggest that the editorial is a missed opportunity to reflect on positivist leadership studies. In our view, leadership ought to be in crisis because this would stimulate the community to question its guiding assumptions and reconsider its methods and objectives. We therefore hope to open up a critical discussion about the means and ends of mainstream leadership studies – not least of all its scientific pretensions.}},
  author       = {{Spoelstra, Sverre and Butler, Nick and Delaney, Helen}},
  issn         = {{1742-7169}},
  keywords     = {{Leadership studies; journal retractions; crisis; positivism; image of science; philosophy of science}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{383--397}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Leadership}},
  title        = {{Never let an academic crisis go to waste: Leadership Studies in the wake of journal retractions}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1742715016658215}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1742715016658215}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}