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The Matthew effect of a journal's ranking

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  • Drivas, Kyriakos
  • Kremmydas, Dimitris

Abstract

We examine the impact of a journal's ranking on the citations its papers garner. Our testbed is journals included in the early annual publications of the Academic Journal Guide, published by the Association of Business Schools from 2007 to 2010. By focusing on a small subset of these journals, we provide causal evidence that an increase in a journal's ranking will increase citations to its papers. We argue that this increase can be attributed to (i) more authors learning about and viewing these outlets and their publications and (ii) researchers signalling their paper's own impact by citing highly ranked journals. We find some evidence for the former, though not robust, and substantial evidence for the latter. Given that signalling is deliberate and associated with incentives to publish in highly ranked journals, we decompose this channel by citing researchers’ characteristics. Except for senior academics, all types of researchers are consistent with signalling. The policy implications of our results relate to the pervasive use of journal rankings and recent initiatives to evaluate research.

Suggested Citation

  • Drivas, Kyriakos & Kremmydas, Dimitris, 2020. "The Matthew effect of a journal's ranking," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(4).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:49:y:2020:i:4:s0048733320300317
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.103951
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Journal rankings; AJG/ABS list; Scientific diffusion; Matthew effect; Difference-in-differences; Coarsened exact matching;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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