Publication Performance vs. Influence: On the Questionable Value of Quality Weighted Publication Rankings

12 Pages Posted: 21 Feb 2018

See all articles by Justus Haucap

Justus Haucap

Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Department of Economics; German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)

Tobias Thomas

EcoAustria

Klaus Wohlrabe

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute

Date Written: January 17, 2018

Abstract

In broad parts of the scientific community the position in publication performance rankings, based on journal quality ratings is seen as highly reputational for the scientist. This contribution provides evidence that, at least in economics, such publication performance measures can not always be reconciled with measures for academic influence such as citation-based measures. We analyze data from the Scopus database as well as from the prestigious German-based Handelsblatt ranking for 100 renowned economists (lifetime achievement). Scholarly influence is proxied by various bibliometric indicators such as the number of citations, the h-index, the citations of the most cited paper as well as the hardly honorable Pi-Beta-score (“Publications Ignored, By Even The Author(s)”). We argue that publication performance measures based on journal ratings, such as the Handelsblatt rankings, are not good proxies for an economist’s impact within the scientific community. From this perspective the value of publication performance rankings based on journal quality ratings is questionable.

Keywords: economics, academic reputation, academic rankings, influence, citations, Scopus, Handelsblatt ranking, academic journals

JEL Classification: A120, A140

Suggested Citation

Haucap, Justus and Haucap, Justus and Thomas, Tobias and Wohlrabe, Klaus, Publication Performance vs. Influence: On the Questionable Value of Quality Weighted Publication Rankings (January 17, 2018). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 6818, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3126669 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3126669

Justus Haucap

Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Department of Economics ( email )

Duesseldorf
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.dice.uni-duesseldorf.de

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany

Tobias Thomas

EcoAustria ( email )

Institute for Economics Research
Vienna, 1030
Austria

Klaus Wohlrabe (Contact Author)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, 01069
Germany

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