EVALUATING JOURNAL QUALITY AND THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS SENIOR SCHOLARS’ JOURNAL BASKET VIA BIBLIOMETRIC MEASURES : DO EXPERT JOURNAL ASSESSMENTS ADD VALUE?

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

171 Scopus Citations
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Author(s)

  • Paul Benjamin Lowry
  • Gregory D. Moody
  • James Gaskin
  • Dennis F. Galletta
  • Sean L. Humpherys
  • And 2 others
  • Jordan B. Barlow
  • David W. Wilson

Related Research Unit(s)

Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)993-1012
Journal / PublicationMIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems
Volume37
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2013

Abstract

Information systems journal rankings and ratings help scholars focus their publishing efforts and are widely used surrogates for judging the quality of research. Over the years, numerous approaches have been used to rank IS journals, approaches such as citation metrics, school lists, acceptance rates, and expert assessments. However, the results of these approaches often conflict due to a host of validity concerns. In the current scientometric study, we make significant strides toward correcting for these limitations in the ranking of mainstream IS journals. We compare expert rankings to bibliometric measures such as the ISI Impact Factor™, the h-index, and social network analysis metrics. Among other findings, we conclude that bibliometric measures provide very similar results to expert-based methods in determining a tiered structure of IS journals, thereby suggesting that bibliometrics can be a complete, less expensive, and more efficient substitute for expert assessment. We also find strong support for seven of the eight journals in the Association for Information Systems Senior Scholars' "basket" of journals. A cluster analysis of our results indicates a twotiered separation in the quality of the highest quality IS journals-with MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, and Journal of Management Information Systems belonging, in that order, to the highest A+ tier. Journal quality metrics fit nicely into the sociology of science literature and can be useful in models that attempt to explain how knowledge disseminates through scientific communities.

Research Area(s)

  • AIS Senior Scholars basket of journals, Bibliometrics, Composite ranking or rating, Expert opinion, H-index, Impact factor, Information systems journal rankings, Journal quality, Nomologies for dissemination of scientific knowledge, Scientometrics, Self-citation, SenS-6, SenS-8, Social network analysis

Citation Format(s)

EVALUATING JOURNAL QUALITY AND THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS SENIOR SCHOLARS’ JOURNAL BASKET VIA BIBLIOMETRIC MEASURES: DO EXPERT JOURNAL ASSESSMENTS ADD VALUE? / Lowry, Paul Benjamin; Moody, Gregory D.; Gaskin, James et al.
In: MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems, Vol. 37, No. 4, 12.2013, p. 993-1012.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review