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The influence of editorial decisions and the academic network on self-citations and journal impact factors

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  • Wilhite, Allen
  • Fong, Eric A.
  • Wilhite, Seth

Abstract

There are many means by which editors can inappropriately manipulate journal impact factors, but questions remain as to whether these potentially inappropriate behaviors actually influence these scores to an empirically meaningful degree, and which academic disciplines are most culpable. In this manuscript, we propose a game-theoretic/information-asymmetry model that suggests manipulation is reinforced by a feedback loop that creates incentives for manipulation to spread and for disciplines to specialize in the type of manipulation used. We empirically investigate these hypotheses for four different manipulation strategies; coercive citation, self-serving review articles, editorials, and online queuing. Results show that all four of these techniques are effective, they inflate JIF scores and the h-index, and a significant part of that effect is due to inflated self-citations. We also find journals within disciplines tend to specialize in which technique they most frequently employ. Moreover, we show that disciplines are also interconnected, tied together by a journal cross-discipline content network and that disciplines that share more content also tend to rely more heavily on the same JIF influencing behaviors. Effective policy needs to change the editorial decision calculation by removing the benefits of manipulation; removing self-citations from journal metric calculations drastically reduces those benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Wilhite, Allen & Fong, Eric A. & Wilhite, Seth, 2019. "The influence of editorial decisions and the academic network on self-citations and journal impact factors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1513-1522.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:48:y:2019:i:6:p:1513-1522
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2019.03.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rabishankar Giri & Sabuj Kumar Chaudhuri, 2021. "Ranking journals through the lens of active visibility," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(3), pages 2189-2208, March.
    2. Guo, Xiaolong & Li, Xiaoxiao & Yu, Yugang, 2021. "Publication delay adjusted impact factor: The effect of publication delay of articles on journal impact factor," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1).
    3. M. Ryan Haley, 2020. "Combining the weighted and unweighted Euclidean indices: a graphical approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 103-111, April.
    4. Tian, Jinfang & Zhang, Mingxuan & Xue, Rui & Cao, Wei & Shan, Yuli, 2022. "The face of achievement: Editors' facial structure and journal performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Haley, M. Ryan & McGee, M. Kevin, 2020. "Jointly valuing journal visibility and author citation count: An axiomatic approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    6. Siler, Kyle & Larivière, Vincent, 2022. "Who games metrics and rankings? Institutional niches and journal impact factor inflation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    7. Fong, Eric A. & Patnayakuni, Ravi & Wilhite, Allen W., 2023. "Accommodating coercion: Authors, editors, and citations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    8. Sandro Serpa & Maria José Sá & Ana Isabel Santos & Carlos Miguel Ferreira, 2020. "Challenges for the Academic Editor in the Scientific Publication," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 9, May.
    9. Chen, Kun & Ren, Xian-tong & Yang, Guo-liang, 2021. "A novel approach for assessing academic journals: Application of integer DEA model for management science and operations research field," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    10. Xiomara S. Q. Chacon & Thiago C. Silva & Diego R. Amancio, 2020. "Comparing the impact of subfields in scientific journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(1), pages 625-639, October.
    11. Yangping Zhou, 2021. "Self-citation and citation of top journal publishers and their interpretation in the journal-discipline context," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 6013-6040, July.
    12. Salim Moussa, 2021. "Are FT50 journals really leading? A comment on Fassin," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(12), pages 9613-9622, December.
    13. Fong, Eric A. & Wilhite, Allen W., 2021. "The Impact of False Investigators on Grant Funding," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(10).
    14. M. Ryan Haley & M. Kevin McGee, 2023. "A flexible functional method for jointly valuing journal visibility and author citation count," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(6), pages 3337-3346, June.
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