For a long time, it has been said that the sociology of science plays an important role in the sociology of education, but not enough has been done to integrate these fields (the sociology of science and the sociology of education) in Japan to date (Arimoto, 1991; Arimoto, 2003).

Therefore the purpose of this article is to review the literature of the "sociology of science"-based approach within the sociology of education, and to clarify the research task of the "sociology of science"-based approach within the sociology of education.

Within sociology of education, pioneer studies written by those with a "sociology of science"-based approach, were studies of nepotism in Japanese universities (gakubatsu kenkyu). Later, some studies tried to integrate the sociology of science with the sociology of education. These studies dealt with theories and methodologies in the sociology of science: for example, scientific productivity, the Matthew effect, consensus, and citation analysis.

Universities have two missions - research and teaching. In research, the academic profession acquires knowledge. In teaching, the academic profession transmits knowledge. So far, many studies in the "sociology of science"-based approach have only examined knowledge associated with research. However, the knowledge associated with teaching has not been fully analyzed. Henceforth, the study of knowledge in teaching should also be important to the "sociology of science"-based approach.