On February 3, I performed an ordinary routine, familiar to all of us: I entered another publication into the DiVA system. But this time turned out to be special. When I later opened the Diva Search Result window and checked that the information had registered correctly (I never stop doubting these systems…), I noticed the very even number “1000” in the “Refereed” category. So, the article “Staying open – shaping environmental history in Sweden”, in the journal
Global Environment, published by the Whitehorse Press in the UK, became the 1 000th refereed publication from the Division. Just by chance, of course: it could have been any publication.
Personally, I think this symbolic passage of the even number is worth noting, as tangible evidence of our very lively, productive, and creative research environment. To achieve such a publication intensity is rare. I would claim it is rare, if not unique, even if we extend the comparison to small or ordinary sized Humanities departments in the entire country, and perhaps even the larger ones.
How did we get all this way? It wasn’t always like this. The first year with any reasonable representation of publications in DiVA is 2005. That year, the Division had 74 publications in total of which a mere 5 were refereed. The following years, in 5-year intervals, show this pattern:
2010 90 total 20 refereed
2015 136 49
2020 160 69
2025 111 46
The top year was 2022 with 86 refereed out of 175 publications total (also an all-time high). The share of refereed out of all publications is also consistently rising and is now close to 50%, still allowing for a robust presence in public debate, outreach, and policy.
A perhaps even more stunning fact is that half of these publications have appeared since some time during 2018, or just a bit more than 7 years, in a Division that started its activities in the early 1990s, a per year average of around 70 refereed publications. The trend right now is slightly going down, reflecting the reduced grant income in recent years. More grant income can again bend the curve upwards.
Interdisciplinary collaboration and commitment to a transparent and inclusive strategy, I suggest are key factors behind the strong publishing record.
Sverker Sörlin, 20th February 2026
