What Makes a Great Journal Great in Economics? The Singer Not the Song

36 Pages Posted: 8 Jul 2010

See all articles by Chia-Lin Chang

Chia-Lin Chang

National Chung Hsing University - Department of Applied Economics, Department of Finance

Michael McAleer

Erasmus University Rotterdam - Erasmus School of Economics, Econometric Institute; Tinbergen Institute; University of Tokyo - Centre for International Research on the Japanese Economy (CIRJE), Faculty of Economics

Leslie T. Oxley

University of Canterbury

Date Written: July 7, 2010

Abstract

The paper is concerned with analysing what makes a great journal great in economics, based on quantifiable measures. Alternative Research Assessment Measures (RAM) are discussed, with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The various ISI RAM that are calculated annually or updated daily are defined and analysed, including the classic 2-year impact factor (2YIF), 5-year impact factor (5YIF), Immediacy (or zero-year impact factor (0YIF)), Eigenfactor score, Article Influence, C3PO (Citation Performance Per Paper Online), h-index, Zinfluence, PI-BETA (Papers Ignored - By Even The Authors), and two new RAM measure, the Self-citation Threshold Approval Rating (STAR) score and the Impact Factor Inflation (IFI) score. The ISI RAM data are analysed for the most highly cited journals in the ISI categories of Economics, Management, Business, and Business - Finance. The journals are chosen on the basis of 2YIF (including self citations by both author and journal). The application to these four ISI categories could be used as a template for other ISI categories in both the Social Sciences and the Sciences, and as a benchmark for newer journals in a range of ISI disciplines. In addition to evaluating high quality research in the most highly cited Economics journals, the paper also compares the most highly cited journals in Management, Business, and Business - Finance, alternative RAM, highlights the similarities and differences in alternative RAM criteria, finds that several ISI RAM capture similar performance characteristics for the most highly cited Economics, Management, Business and Business - Finance journals, determines that the Immediacy and PI-BETA scores are not highly correlated with the other ISI RAM, and hence conveys additional information regarding ISI RAM criteria. Harmonic mean rankings of the 12 RAM criteria for the most highly cited journals in the four categories are also presented. It was shown that emphasizing THE impact factor, specifically the 2-year impact factor, of a journal to the exclusion of other useful and illuminating RAM criteria, can lead to a distorted evaluation of journal performance and influence on the profession.

Keywords: Research assessment measures, impact factors, Immediacy, Eigenfactor, Article Influence, h-index, C3PO, Zinfluence, PI-BETA, STAR, IFI

JEL Classification: C43, C1, Z

Suggested Citation

Chang, Chia-Lin and McAleer, Michael and Oxley, Leslie T., What Makes a Great Journal Great in Economics? The Singer Not the Song (July 7, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1635772 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1635772

Chia-Lin Chang (Contact Author)

National Chung Hsing University - Department of Applied Economics, Department of Finance ( email )

Taichung, Taiwan
China

Michael McAleer

Erasmus University Rotterdam - Erasmus School of Economics, Econometric Institute ( email )

Rotterdam
Netherlands

Tinbergen Institute

Rotterdam
Netherlands

University of Tokyo - Centre for International Research on the Japanese Economy (CIRJE), Faculty of Economics

Tokyo
Japan

Leslie T. Oxley

University of Canterbury ( email )

Department of Economics
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch
New Zealand
+64-3-3642134 (Phone)

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