Methods and Theoretical Approaches for Studying Political Scientists and Political Science as a Discipline

How do we study our own discipline and its practitioners? How do we define the discipline's borders and its community members? And what can such studies reveal about the substantive and institutional state of our discipline? This panel invites contributions on such topics with a focus particularly on the methodological, conceptual and theoretical aspects of the matter. Continuing a debate started within RC33 several years ago, which already produced a methodological workshop and a recent volume (How to Research Researchers: Methods for Studying Political Scientists Worldwide, eds. Mehtap Söyler, Paulo Ravecca; Routledge 2026), the panel aims to develop the conversation further, including by stimulating more publications on such topics, as part of the newly relaunched RC33 book series.