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Development Studies Journal Ranking Table

17 June 2010 Richard Heeks Leave a comment Go to comments

The following represents a first attempt at a league table for development studies journals. Ra nk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Journal World Development Journal of Development Studies Oxford Development Studies Development Policy Review Studies in Comparative International Development Sustainable Development European Journal of Development Research Development and Change Information Technology for Development Information Technologies and International Development Journal of International Development Development Third World Quarterly Public Administration and Development Development in Practice Progress in Development Studies Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries African Development Review Gender and Development Enterprise Development and Microfinance Canadian Journal of Development Studies IDS Bulletin Information Development Forum for Development Studies Citation Score 6.04 4.90 4.06 3.20 2.40 2.39 1.90 1.89 1.58 1.55 1.46 1.33 1.30 1.21 1.03 0.88 0.81 0.79 0.58 0.45 0.45 0.40 0.37 0.17

25

Journal of Third World Studies

0.11

Comparator Journals Journal of Development Economics Human-Computer Interaction Environment and Planning D Information Systems Journal The Information Society Mountain Research and Development Basis - Selection was on the basis of development studies journals that appear in various other tables or lists. However, development economics journals (inc. Economic Development and Cultural Change, Journal of Development Economics, Review of Development Economics, and The Developing Economies) were not included. If you have suggestions for additions (or deletions), then let me know. - Citation score is calculated by taking papers published in each journal in 2008 and identifying how many times each paper is cited in Google Scholar. The average number of cites per paper was then divided by the average number of years since publication. Very roughly, then, the score equates to average number of GS citations per paper per year. - All papers published in 2008 were used if less than 20 were published; a sample of at least 20 building outwards from the midyear issues was used if more than 20 were published. - One anomalous paper, with over 10 times the citations of any other (a pattern not seen in any other journal), was omitted from African Development Review. Had this been included, ADR would place seventh. - This exercise will be repeated and expanded in future years. What is presented here should only be seen as a first, fairly rough-andready set of figures. The original data used for the calculations can be found here. Notes - The raw figures shown here should not be compared with the impact factor scores under Planning and Development provided in ISIs Journal Citation Reports. The rankings can be compared. - Different disciplines have different citation habits and norms. Specifically, if economists cite more highly, then those development studies journals that include a greater proportion of

10.90 4.06 3.42 2.89 1.64 0.91

development economics papers may gain a greater overall citation score. - Conversely and requiring further investigation in compiling the figures, I got some sense that papers in special issues tend to receive fewer citations. Journals that have a lot of special issues may receive a lower overall citation score. Reflections - These average figures provide no guidance on whether your individual paper would be cited more highly if published in one journal or another. However, the rankings could be used to provide guidance or evidence on the general impact of a selected journal. (Of course recognising that overall impact is about more than just citations.) - The figures suggest that, beyond the obvious top two of JDS and World Development, there may be some mismatch between previous subjective ratings and actual impact. For example, Oxford Development Studies and Development Policy Review rank 3rd and 4th here, yet are unrated by most other journal rating schemes. - There is a moderate mismatch with the ISI JCR 2008 impact factor ranking. Most notably, four of the top ten journals here do not appear at all in the ISI list including the two top-cited ICT-fordevelopment journals. Other Data - The table below gives details of other ranking and rating data on development studies and some development economics journals.
High->Low Asto n 200 8 (4>0) CNR S 200 8 (1*>4) Idea s 2010 (/73 1) SJR 2010 (/11 8) Wo K 201 0 (/4 3) 43 ABD C 201 0 (A*>C) AB S 201 0 (4>1) So M 201 0 (4>1) 2 Hee ks 201 0 (/25 ) 18

African Development Review Canadian Journal of Development Studies Development Development and Change Development in Practice Development Policy

65

78

42

21

666 2 2

28 15 32

19

12 8 15

270

10

Review Economic Development and Cultural Change Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries Enterprise Development and Microfinance European Journal of Development Research Forum for Development Studies Gender and Development IDS Bulletin Information Development Information Technologies and International Development Information Technology for Development Journal of Development Economics Journal of Development Studies Journal of International Development Journal of Third World Studies Oxford Development Studies Progress in Development Studies Public

117

24

17

20

438

48

24

73 70 37

19 22 23 10

43

36

A*

152

26

292

22

11

86

25

192

58

30

16

62

39

14

Administratio n and Development Review of Development Economics Studies in Comparative International Development Sustainable Development The Developing Economies Third World Quarterly World Development High->Low

129

26

32

23

31

9 474

11 35 B

2 3 Asto n 200 8 (4>0) 1 CNR S 200 8 (1*>4) 134 Idea s 2010 (/73 1)

29

30 9

A A ABD C 201 0 (A*>C)

2 3 AB S 201 0 (4>1) 3 So M 201 0 (4>1)

13 1 Hee ks 201 0 (/25 )

SJR 2010 (/11 8)

Wo K 201 0 (/4 3)

Key - ABS UK Association of Business Schools: http://www.the-abs.org.uk/?id=257 - Ideas citation data from RePEc project of paper downloads: http://ideas.repec.org/top/top.journals.simple.html (economics and finance research) - SJR Scopus-based citation ranking: http://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=3303&area=0 &year=2008&country=&order=sjr&min=0&min_type=cd (development journals) - SoM Cranfield School of Management: https://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/dinamiccontent/media/SOM%20Journal%20Rankings%202010%20%20alphabetical.pdf - WoK 2008 impact factor in ISI Journal Citation Reports under Planning and Development - All other data from Harzings Journal Quality List: http://www.harzing.com/jql.htm