A New Method for Ranking Academic Journals in Accounting and Finance

Citation

Beattie V & Goodacre A (2005) A New Method for Ranking Academic Journals in Accounting and Finance. University of Stirling, Department of Accounting, Finance and Law Working Paper, 01/2005. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=685116

Abstract
Given the many and varied uses to which journal rankings are put, interest in ranking journal 'quality' is likely to persist. Unfortunately, existing methods of constructing such rankings all have inherent limitations. This paper proposes a new (complementary) approach, based on submissions to the most recent UK research assessment exercise (RAE 2001), which is not restricted to a pre-defined journal set and, importantly, is based on quality choice decisions driven by economic incentives. For three metrics, submissions to RAE 2001 are compared with the available set of publications to provide evidence on the perception of journal quality, a fourth metric is based on the overall RAE grades, and an overall ranking is produced.

Keywords
journal quality; journal rankings; research assessment exercise

JEL codes

• M40: Accounting and Auditing: General
• G00: Financial Economics: General
• A00: General Economics and Teaching