Disciplines with consensus on paradigms are
also more likely to allow editorial teams to emphasize
conceptual and methodological rigor over author
characteristics when judging journal submissions
(Pfeffer, 1993). That emphasis on rigor
suggests that such disciplines will generate higher
expectations regarding the theory present in empirical
articles. Indeed, Cole (1983) suggested that
consensus on paradigms results in an increased
level of theory testing in a literature, and an increased
rate of obsolescence as new theories replace
flawed predecessors. Popper emphasized the
importance of such obsolescence in writing: “It is
not the accumulation of observations which I have
in mind when I speak of the growth of scientific
knowledge, but the repeated overthrow of scientific
theories and their replacement by better or more
satisfactory ones” (1965: 215). DiMaggio (1995)
echoed such sentiments in noting that the primary
contribution of a particular theory may be serving
as a place holder until it inspires a more valid or
useful one. In Kuhn’s (1963) terms, shared paradigms
provide the context for “convergent thinking.”
Such thinking is demonstrated when scientists
conduct incremental research that tests and
extends existing theory.