Publishing Opportunities in Business: Journal Rankings

Please note that the Butler Libraries do not subscribe to Scopus at this time.

Journal rankings are based on bibliometrics, which is a set of quantitative methods (1) to measure patterns of scientific publication and citation and (2) to assess the impact of research.  A list of top journals will differ depending on citation tools, metrics chosen for analysis and how broadly a field is defined, for example human resource management vs. management in general. Journal rankings  may change from year to year.

The standard source for journal rankings in North America is the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) from the ISI Web of Knowledge by Thomson Reuters.  

Lists of top journals in specific fields may also be found in academic journal articles (featured on the left) or by searching in subject databases and Google Scholar.

Anne-Wil Harzing's site offers additional information on business journal rankings. Her article When Knowledge Wins: Transcending the Sense and Nonsense of Academic Rankings provides an overview of issues in journal rankings and their effect on scholarship.

NOTE:  Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities does not provide journal rankings. As a directory of publishing opportunities, it lists requirements for submitting a manuscript including acceptance rates.

Journal Citation Reports (JCR) includes Social Science Citation Reports and Science Citation Reports online since 2003. JCR and the Web of Science are part of the ISI Web of Knowledge, a product of Thomson Reuters. When researching literature on journal rankings, you may find references under all of these terms. JCR is published annually in June in two editions, JCR Science Edition (5900+ journals) and JCR Social Sciences Edition (1700+ journals).

Currently Butler University Libraries does not subscribe to Journal Citation Reports. However, faculty can get an Indiana Resident Library Card from the University Library at IUPUI. This card allows for the use of public computers under certain conditions. 

What follows are some useful links that explain citation metrics.

This RSS feed comes from EBSCO databases Business Source Complete, EconLit, Academic Search Complete.