Going Beyond Impact Factors: A Survey-based Journal Ranking by Agricultural Economists by Herrmann, R; Berg, E; Dabbert, S; Pochtrager, S; Salhofer, K JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 62 (3): 710-732

[Eugene Garfield]

Title:

Going Beyond Impact Factors: A Survey-based Journal Ranking by Agricultural Economists

Authors:

Herrmann, R; Berg, E; Dabbert, S; Pochtrager, S; Salhofer, K

Author Full Names:

Herrmann, Roland; Berg, Ernst; Dabbert, Stephan; Poechtrager, Siegfried; Salhofer, Klaus

Source:

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 62 (3): 710-732 10.1111/j.1477-9552.2011.00308.x SEP 2011

Language:

English

Document Type:

Article

Author Keywords:

Agricultural economics; Germany and Austria; impact factor; journal ranking; survey-based evaluation

KeyWords Plus:

CITATION ANALYSIS; RELATIVE IMPACTS; FIELDS; TIME

Abstract:

A consistent and comprehensive ranking of journals relevant for agricultural economists cannot rely on impact factors for at least two major reasons: (i) the scientific database by Thomson Reuters, on which the standard *impact factor* is based, includes only a very limited number of relevant journals; (ii) the standard *impact factor* cannot be compared across research fields of different sizes. Survey-based journal rankings may overcome these problems. We report on such a survey-based ranking initiated by the Agricultural Economics Associations of Germany and Austria. Results of the ranking and a classification of journals, i. e. a rating, are provided for 160 selected journals. Scientific quality is assessed by an index based on the researchers' perception of the quality standards of each journal and of the quality of its published articles. The survey-based ranking allows a much more comprehensive and consistent ranking than the *impact factor*, as specific agricultural !

economics journals can be directly compared with neighbouring economic and interdisciplinary journals to which agricultural economists submit their work. The low impact factors of core agricultural economics journals are put into perspective. The scientific quality of the top agricultural economics journals is assessed as being rather high and above most of the relevant interdisciplinary journals from agricultural and food sciences that are typically characterised by higher impact factors. Agricultural economists' perceptions on the scientific quality of the journals vary more across journals than perceptions of their relevance.

Reprint Address:

Herrmann, R (reprint author), Univ Giessen, Inst Agr Policy & Market Res, D-35390 Giessen, Germany Univ Giessen, Inst Agr Policy & Market Res, D-35390 Giessen, GermanyUniv Bonn, Inst Food & Resource Econ, D-5300 Bonn, GermanyUniv Hohenheim, Dept Farm Management, D-7000 Stuttgart, GermanyBOKU, Inst Mkt & Innovat, Vienna, AustriaTech Univ Munich, Enviromental & Agr Policy Grp, Munich, Germany E-mail Address:

Roland.Herrmann at agrar.uni-giessen.de

Funding Acknowledgement:

Gesellschaft fur Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e. V. (GEWISOLA); Osterreichische Gesellschaft fur Agrarokonomie (OGA)

Funding Text:

Roland Herrmann is with the Institute of Agricultural Policy and Market Research, University of Giessen, Germany. E-mail: Roland. Herrmann at agrar.uni-giessen.de for correspondence. Ernst Berg is with the Institute for Food and Resource Economics, University of Bonn, Germany. Stephan Dabbert is with the Department of Farm Management, University of Hohenheim, Germany. Siegfried Pochtrager is with the Institute for Marketing and Innovation, BOKU, Vienna, Austria. Klaus Salhofer is with the Enviromental and Agricultural Policy Group, Technische Universitaet, Muenchen, Germany. We thank David Harvey and three anonymous referees for their very helpful and detailed comments and suggestions. Thanks are due to the Gesellschaft fur Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e. V. (GEWISOLA) and Osterreichische Gesellschaft fur Agrarokonomie (OGA) for financial support and members of both associations for their participation in the survey. Very helpful research assistance by Ma!

rco Huigen, who edited the data in a data bank, and by Matthias Staudigel and Sascha Weber in the statistical analysis is greatly appreciated.

Cited Reference Count:

33

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