Alan McKinnon’s article on “starry eyed” journal ratings and rankings is on IJPDLM’s EarlyCite and has been circulating around in logistics mailing lists – creating considerable discussion in the otherwise rather quiet Logprofs list, for example. Here’s my favourite quote from the article:
“a good paper is a good paper
regardless of the journal in which it is published”
As with everything else in the article, I couldn’t agree more.
Gyöngyi
Posted in Academic journals, Journal ranking, Logistics, Supply Chain Management
Tagged Journal, quotes, research, science, supply chain
Just when I wrote that we are in suspense with the rankings the new ISI impact factors came out. Here’s the verdict for a variety of journals – again, this is a selected few related to logistics, operations management, supply chain management, transportation, you name it – the stuff we write about on this blog. In alphabetical order, with the 5-year in brackets:
Computers and Operations Research: 1.720 (1.984)
Decision Science: 1.359 (3.146)
European Journal of Operations Research: 1.815 (2.277)
Interfaces: 0.843 (1.048)
International Journal of Logistics Management: 0.841
International Journal of Logistics: Research and Applications: 0.357
International Journal of Operations and Production Management: 1.127 (1.993)
International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management: 1.038
International Journal of Production Economics: 1.720 (2.384)
International Journal of Production Research: 1.115 (1.367)
Journal of Business Logistics: 2.352
Journal of Operations Management: 4.382 (6.012)
Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management: 1.061
Journal of Supply Chain Management: 2.650
Journal of Transport Geography: 2.538 (2.973)
Management Science: 1.733 (3.304)
Omega: 3.338 (3.622)
Operations Research Letters: 0.537 (0.821)
Production and Operations Management: 1.301 (2.259)
Supply Chain Management: An International Journal: 1.535 (2.404)
Transport Policy: 1.719
Transportation Research Part A: 2.354 (2.705)
Transportation Research Part B: 2.856 (3.393)
Transportation Research Part C: 1.957 (2.284)
Transportation Research Part D: 1.659 (1.777)
Transportation Research Part E: 1.648 (2.126)
Transportation Research Part F: 1.989
Transportation Research Record: 0.471 (0.608)
Transportation Science: 1.507 (2.107)
Transportation: 1.023 (2.074)
Overall, some ups and downs, and some new journals (e.g. IJLM) in the ranking.
Gyöngyi
We are all a bit in suspense – the Web of Science already shows you how many times a journal was cited in IJLM but it doesn’t yet show IJLM’s own rating. Hm.
In the meantime national rankings are moving forward. Handelsblatt is about to publish its 2012 ranking – if this list stands till Sep this would come with significant improvements for ops mgmt, SCM and logistics journals, so this is good news for our German colleagues. “Julkaisufoorumi” (the Finnish Publication Forum Project) is also just about to revise its ranking, they just heard all universities comments. Stay tuned for the verdicts…
Gyöngyi
So the Journal of Supply Chain Management didn’t have to wait one more year after all 
It’s impact factor has now been announced to be an astonishing 5.853, which puts it second(!) in the category of management journals (for the case you wonder, the Academy of Management Review is first). Congrats to the editors Craig Carter & Lisa Ellram and their team!
Here’s a quote from their happy e-mail:
“We are delighted to inform you that Thomson-Reuterss updated 2010 Impact Factors were just released. We are very pleased to announce that the Journal of Supply Chain Management received an exceptional 2010 ISI Impact Factor of 5.853, placing JSCM 2nd among 144 management journals encompassed within Thomson Reuterss Social Sciences Citation Index . . . These impact factors are based on 2010 citations of articles published in 2008-2009.”
Gyöngyi
Quite a few logistics and SCM journals got their first ever ISI rating* recently, including JBL, IJPDLM, IJLRA etc. Others are still in the queue and will probably get their first rate next year. But here is a list of some that already have a rating:
Let’s start with the “newbies” on the list – NB! the ratings are quite impressive and compare rather well to the “oldies”:
JBL: 3.905
IJPDLM: 2.617
IJLRA (IJoL): 0.558
And here are some others (in alphabetical order), with the 5-year rates in brackets if available:
Dec.Sci (DSJ): 2.233 (3.937)
EJOR: 2.158 (2.512)
IJOPM: 1.812 (2.792)
IJPE: 1.988 (2.411)
IJPR: 1.033 (1.469)
Interfaces: 0.826 (1.115)
JOM: 5.093 (6.029)
MS (ManSci): 2.221 (3.966)
Omega: 3.467 (3.733)
POM: 1.851 (3.147)
SCMIJ (SCM): 2.473 (3.427)
TJ: 2.348 (2.853)
TRE: 1.954 (2.516)
Ok, some disclaimers: This doesn’t include all MS/OR journals but the highest rate I found among those (so far) was MIS Quarterly with 5.041 (9.821). I may also just have missed some journals. So feel free to add them and their rates in the comments section!
Also, rates depend on whether journals that actually cite a journal are captured by the ranking system, how many numbers (and articles) a year a journal publishes etc. Anyhow, this is it for now.
Gyöngyi
*abbreviations as follows: ISI rate = Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Knowledge rate from their Journal Citation Report; JBL = Journal of Business Logistics, IJPDLM = International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, IJLRA (IJoL) = International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications. The rest can be found through the links.
Just when all these SCM journals are about to get their first ISI ratings, the Australian Research Council (ARC) took a fresh, different approach to journal rankings – the one of abolishing overall rankings. As they argue, their excellence in research exercise will be able to capture multidisciplinary research better, will leave room for applied research, enable the possibility for (only?) regional impact etc. The importance of regional impact has also been discovered in the Nordic countries now calling for Nordic journals. Journal quality is still of essence but no more as a stand-alone factor. But here is the press release of the ARC decision.
Gyöngyi
Posted in Academic journals, Journal ranking
… or rather, Petersen, Aase and Heiser (2011) used meta-analysis for looking at citation analyses of OM journals, linking them to different streams and disciplines. A bit like the three amigos, though they seemingly have more such friends, and these friends have quite different views on the journals in the analysis… Nice reading while all sorts of SCM journals are waiting for their first ever impact factor by Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Knowledge or whichever combination of these terms applies right now.
Gyöngyi
Upon all the articles on “why I rejected your paper” and books on dissertation writing, finally there is an outlet that deals with rejection anxiety: the Journal of Universal Rejection. It certainly tops all rankings if you base them on acceptance rates What a lovely practical joke on academics.
Gyöngyi
…meaning access to the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management is free for this week through this link. The choice of the journal is not surprising considering the news about its impact factor (to be announced for the first time in the 2011 round of the Thomson Reuters SSCI).
News for service (operations) junkies at the same time: IJPDLM calls for papers on “Applying service-dominant logic to physical distribution and logistics management“. The guest editors include the fathers of S-D logic Deadline Nov 30, 2011
Gyöngyi
Another logistics / SCM journal made it into the ISI: The International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. This was the message from Thomson Reuters:
I am happy to inform you that the International Journal of Physical > Distribution & Logistics Management has been selected for coverage in > our products Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences (CC/S&BS) > and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI).
We are happy, too
Gyöngyi
PS Now it is just time to wait for the actual rates and ranks of all the logistics journals that got in recently.
