Spinning disc reactor technology has been demonstrated to achieve significant enhancements in the rates of free radical polymerization. It is believed that these enhancements are related to the centrifugal and shear conditions that exist on the disk and it is the objective of this study to elucidate the role of shear in thin films in a plug flow regime. Polymerizing systems have been subjected to shear fields in the range of 0.4 to 2,173 s(-1) and comparisons between conversion profiles and polymer product properties have been made. It has been found that shear fields have little or no effect on these systems while the reaction is in the kinetically controlled regime and it is concluded that the observed rate enhancements of free radical polymerization on a spinning disk are not largely attributable to the high rates of shear experienced by the thin film as it traverses the disk. Our studies therefore continue to assess the role of flow divergence and centrifugal extension in the kinetics of polymerization. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.