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An Examination of the Reliability of Prestigious Scholarly Journals: Evidence and Implications for Decision-makers

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Author Info
Andrew J. Oswald () (University of Warwick and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

In universities all over the world, hiring and promotion committees regularly hear the argument: "this is important work because it is about to appear in prestigious journal X". Moreover, those who allocate levels of research funding, such as in the multi-billion pound Research Assessment Exercise in UK universities, often come under pressure to assess research quality in a mechanical way by using journal prestige ratings. The results in this paper suggest that such tendencies are dangerous. It uses total citations over a quarter of a century as the criterion. The paper finds that it is far better to publish the best article in an issue of a medium-quality journal like the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics than to publish the worst article (or often the worst 4 articles) in an issue of a top journal like the American Economic Review. Implications are discussed.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2070.

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Length: 15 pages
Date of creation: Apr 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2070

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Related research
Keywords: citations; research productivity; economics journals; Research Assessment Exercise;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
O3 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Jerry G. Thursby, 2000. "What Do We Say about Ourselves and What Does It Mean? Yet Another Look at Economics Department Research," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(2), pages 383-404, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Moore, William J & Newman, Robert J & Turnbull, Geoffrey K, 1998. "Do Academic Salaries Decline with Seniority?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(2), pages 352-66, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Oswald, Andrew J & Ralsmark, Hilda, 2008. "Some Evidence on the Future of Economics," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 841, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jan Ours & Frederic Vermeulen, 2007. "Ranking Dutch Economists," De Economist, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 469-487, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Damien Besancenot & Joao Faria & Kim Huynh, 2009. "Congestion in academic journals under an impartial selection process," Working Papers halshs-00382585_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  4. van Ours, Jan C., 2009. "Will You Still Need Me – When I'm 64?," IZA Discussion Papers 4264, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Damien Besancenot & Joao Faria & Kim Huynh, 2009. "Search and Research: The influence of editorial boards on journals' quality," Working Papers halshs-00370785_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  6. Rosalind S Hunter, 2009. "The Elite Brain Drain," Working Papers id:2048, esocialsciences.com. [Downloadable!]
  7. Oswald, Andrew J., 2009. "World-Leading Research and its Measurement," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 887, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Hunter, Rosalind S. & Oswald, Andrew J. & Charlton, Bruce G., 2009. "The Elite Brain Drain," IZA Discussion Papers 4005, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
    • RosalindS. Hunter & AndrewJ. Oswald & BruceG. Charlton, 2009. "The Elite Brain Drain," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(538), pages F231-F251, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Besancenot, Damien & Huynh, Kim & Vranceanu, Radu, 2006. "The "Read or Write" Dilemma in Academic Production: A European Perspective," ESSEC Working Papers DR 06021, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School. [Downloadable!]
  10. Bruno S. Frey, 2009. "Economists in the PITS?," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Prufer, J. & Zetland, D., 2007. "An Auction Market for Journal Articles," Discussion Paper 2007-027, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Oswald, Andrew J., 2008. "Can We Test for Bias in Scientific Peer-Review?," IZA Discussion Papers 3665, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  13. Ali, Showkat & Carden, Giles & Culling, Benjamin & Hunter, Rosalind & Oswald, Andrew J & Owen, Nicola & Ralsmark, Hilda & Snodgrass, Natalie, 2007. "Elite Scientists and the Global Brain Drain," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 825, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  14. Howard J. Wall, 2009. "Journal rankings in economics: handle with care," Working Papers 2009-014, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
  15. David L. Anderson & John Tressler, 2008. "Research Output in New Zealand Economics Department 2000-2006," Working Papers in Economics 08/05, University of Waikato, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  16. Oswald, Andrew J., 2009. "A Suggested Method for the Measurement of World-Leading Research (Illustrated with Data on Economics)," IZA Discussion Papers 4313, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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