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Robust Ranking of Journal Quality: An Application to Economics

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Abstract

The paper focuses on the robustness of rankings of academic journal quality and research impact in general, and in Economics, in particular, based on the widely-used Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science citations database (ISI). The paper analyses 299 leading international journals in Economics using quantifiable Research Assessment Measures (RAMs), and highlights the similarities and differences in various RAMs, which are based on alternative transformations of citations. All existing RAMs to date have been static, so two new dynamic RAMs are developed to capture changes in impact factor over time and escalating journal self citations. Alternative RAMs may be calculated annually or updated daily to determine When, Where and How (frequently) published papers are cited (see Chang et al. (2011a, b, c)). The RAMs are grouped in four distinct classes that include impact factor, mean citations and non-citations, journal policy, number of high quality papers, and journal influence and article influence. These classes include the most widely used RAMs, namely the classic 2-year impact factor including journal self citations (2YIF), 2-year impact factor excluding journal self citations (2YIF*), 5-year impact factor including journal self citations (5YIF), Eigenfactor (or Journal Influence), Article Influence, hindex, and PI-BETA (Papers Ignored - By Even The Authors). As all existing RAMs to date have been static, two new dynamic RAMs are developed to capture changes in impact factor over time (5YD2 = 5YIF/2YIF) and Escalating Self Citations. We highlight robust rankings based on the harmonic mean of the ranks of RAMs across the 4 classes. It is shown that emphasizing the 2-year impact factor of a journal, which partly answers the question as to When published papers are cited, to the exclusion of other informative RAMs, which answer Where and How (frequently) published papers are cited, can lead to a distorted evaluation of journal quality, impact and influence relative to the harmonic mean of the ranks.

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  • Chia-Lin Chang & Esfandiar Maasoumi & Michael McAleer, 2012. "Robust Ranking of Journal Quality: An Application to Economics," Working Papers in Economics 12/05, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:cbt:econwp:12/05
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    Cited by:

    1. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael Mcaleer, 2014. "Just How Good Are The Top Three Journals In Finance? An Assessment Based On Quantity And Quality Citations," Annals of Financial Economics (AFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(01), pages 1-31.
    2. Chang, Chia-Lin & McAleer, Michael & Oxley, Les, 2013. "Coercive journal self citations, impact factor, Journal Influence and Article Influence," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 190-197.
    3. Dejian Yu & Wanru Wang & Shuai Zhang & Wenyu Zhang & Rongyu Liu, 2017. "A multiple-link, mutually reinforced journal-ranking model to measure the prestige of journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(1), pages 521-542, April.
    4. Yu, Tian & Yu, Guang & Wang, Ming-Yang, 2014. "Classification method for detecting coercive self-citation in journals," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 123-135.
    5. Carlo D'Ippoliti, 2021. "“Many‐Citedness”: Citations Measure More Than Just Scientific Quality," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 1271-1301, December.
    6. Klaus Wohlrabe, 2016. "Taking the Temperature: A Meta-Ranking of Economics Journals," CESifo Working Paper Series 5726, CESifo.
    7. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael Mcaleer, 2013. "What Do Experts Know About Forecasting Journal Quality? A Comparison With Isi Research Impact In Finance," Annals of Financial Economics (AFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(01), pages 1-30.
    8. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer, 2013. "Ranking Leading Econometrics Journals Using Citations Data from ISI and RePEc," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-19, November.
    9. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer & Les Oxley, 2012. "Journal Impact Factor, Eigenfactor, Journal Influence and Article Influence," KIER Working Papers 822, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    10. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer, 2014. "Quality Weighted Citations Versus Total Citations in the Sciences and Social Sciences," Documentos de Trabajo del ICAE 2014-06, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico.
    11. Chang Chia-Lin & McAleer Michael, 2014. "Ranking Economics and Econometrics ISI Journals by Quality Weighted Citations," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 65(1), pages 35-52, April.
    12. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer, "undated". "Quality Weighted Citations Versus Total Citations in the Sciences and Social Sciences, with an Application to Finance and Accounting," Documentos de Trabajo del ICAE 2015-01, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico, revised Jan 2015.
    13. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer, 2013. "Ranking journal quality by harmonic mean of ranks: an application to ISI statistics & probability," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 67(1), pages 27-53, February.
    14. McAleer, M.J. & Oláh, J. & Popp, J., 2018. "Pros and Cons of the Impact Factor in a Rapidly Changing Digital World," Econometric Institute Research Papers EI2018-11, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics (ESE), Econometric Institute.
    15. William C. Horrace & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2017. "Accounting for Multiplicity in Inference on Economics Journal Rankings," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(1), pages 337-347, July.
    16. Franklin G. Mixon, Jr. & Kamal P. Upadhyaya, 2021. "Scholarly Impact of Core Econometrics Journals: A Catalog and Citations-Based Ranking," International Econometric Review (IER), Econometric Research Association, vol. 13(4), pages 118-131, December.
    17. Francesco Bartolucci & Valentino Dardanoni & Franco Peracchi, 2015. "Ranking scientific journals via latent class models for polytomous item response data," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 178(4), pages 1025-1049, October.
    18. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer, 2015. "Bibliometric Rankings of Journals Based on the Thomson Reuters Citations Database," Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, Lifescience Global, vol. 4, pages 120-125.
    19. Polterovich, Victor, 2022. "Библиометрическое Равновесие [Bibliometric Equilibrium]," MPRA Paper 111802, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Lutz Bornmann & Alexander Butz & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2018. "What are the top five journals in economics? A new meta-ranking," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 659-675, February.
    21. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer, 2019. "Modeling Latent Carbon Emission Prices for Japan: Theory and Practice," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-21, November.
    22. Konstantinos Metaxoglou, 2021. "Canadian Journal of Economics: A historic overview," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 1418-1453, November.

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    JEL classification:

    • C18 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Methodolical Issues: General
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • Y10 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Data: Tables and Charts - - - Data: Tables and Charts

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