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The justifications scientists use when starting new journals often rely on ‘indigenous theories’ which represent their particular cognitive communities. In an analysis of new journal editorials, this paper examines these indigenous theories, together with the images of scientific community they contain, and compares them with the images of science which exist in the sociological literature. As evidenced in the editorials, scientists share with sociologists a concern for the question of whether the manner in which science grows is prescriptive for, or creates obligations for, the community of researchers or instead, the community of researchers constitutes, or produces by conscious efforts, what comes to be accepted as authoritative in the particular scientific community. Douglas' grid/group model is used as an interpretive tool to map the two dimensions of concern in this question and suggests some differences between discipline groups and some changes over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]