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Publication Patterns in Death Studies: 40 Years On

As a living legacy to the founding editorship of Hannelore Wass, Death Studies has played a leading role in promoting scholarship in the field of thanatology for nearly 4 decades. In this article, the authors analyze publication patterns in the journal in the 25 years since Wass handed off the journal’s editorial management to her successor, focusing on changing patterns of authorship, topical focus, and methodological emphasis of articles across this period. The results document the increasing feminization of the field, the impressive internationality of the research networks driving its development, and the substantial empirical foundation for major lines of research concerned with bereavement, death attitudes, and suicide. Placed against the backdrop of early trends in publication during Wass’s overview, such findings suggest the maturation of research in this interdisciplinary specialty and validate her long-range anticipation of the field’s prospects as this flagship journal moves toward its fifth decade of publication.