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Policy impact of bibliometric rankings of research performance of departments and individuals in economics

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  • Anton J. Nederhof

    (University of Leiden)

Abstract

This paper examines policy-relevant effects of a yearly public ranking of individual researchers and their institutes in economics by means of their publication output in international top journals. In 1980, a grassroots ranking (‘Top 40’) of researchers in the Netherlands by means of their publications in international top journals started a competition among economists. The objective was to improve economics research in the Netherlands to an internationally competitive level. The ranking lists did stimulate output in prestigious international journals. Netherlands universities tended to perform well compared to universities elsewhere in the EU concerning volume of output in ISI source journals, but their citation impact was average. Limitations of ranking studies and of bibliometric monitoring in the field of economics are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Anton J. Nederhof, 2008. "Policy impact of bibliometric rankings of research performance of departments and individuals in economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 74(1), pages 163-174, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:74:y:2008:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-008-0109-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-008-0109-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Johnes, Geraint, 1988. "Determinants of research output in economics departments in British universities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 171-178, June.
    2. Rolf Sternberg & Timo Litzenberger, 2005. "The publication and citation output of German Faculties of Economics and Social Sciences - a comparison of faculties and disciplines based upon SSCI data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 65(1), pages 29-53, October.
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    6. Anton J. Nederhof, 2006. "Bibliometric monitoring of research performance in the Social Sciences and the Humanities: A Review," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 66(1), pages 81-100, January.
    7. Pantelis Kalaitzidakis & Theofanis P. Mamuneas & Thanasis Stengos, 2003. "Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions in Economics," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(6), pages 1346-1366, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anton J. Nederhof & Thed N. Leeuwen & Anthony F. J. Raan, 2010. "Highly cited non-journal publications in political science, economics and psychology: a first exploration," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 83(2), pages 363-374, May.
    2. Aistleitner, Matthias & Kapeller, Jakob & Kronberger, Dominik, 2023. "The authors of economics journals revisited: evidence from a large-scale replication of Hodgson and Rothman (1999)," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 86-101, February.
    3. Buehling, Kilian, 2021. "Changing research topic trends as an effect of publication rankings – The case of German economists and the Handelsblatt Ranking," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    4. Richard S. J. Tol, 2012. "Shapley values for assessing research production and impact of schools and scholars," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 90(3), pages 763-780, March.
    5. Ho Fai Chan & Bruno S. Frey & Jana Gallus & Markus Schaffner & Benno Torgler & Stephen Whyte, 2014. "Do the best scholars attract the highest speaking fees? An exploration of internal and external influence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(1), pages 793-817, October.
    6. Aistleitner, Matthias & Kapeller, Jakob & Kronberger, Dominik, 2022. "The authors of economics journals revisited: Evidence from a large-scale replication of Hodgson & Rothman (1999)," ifso working paper series 20, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Socioeconomics (ifso).
    7. Roula Inglesi-Lotz & Anastassios Pouris, 2011. "Scientometric impact assessment of a research policy instrument: the case of rating researchers on scientific outputs in South Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(3), pages 747-760, September.
    8. Anne-Wil Harzing & Wilfred Mijnhardt, 2015. "Proof over promise: towards a more inclusive ranking of Dutch academics in Economics & Business," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 727-749, January.
    9. Frederic S. Lee & Therese C. Grijalva & Clifford Nowell, 2010. "Ranking Economics Departments in a Contested Discipline: A Bibliometric Approach to Quality Equality Between Theoretically Distinct Subdisciplines," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(5), pages 1345-1375, November.
    10. João Claro & Carlos A. V. Costa, 2011. "A made-to-measure indicator for cross-disciplinary bibliometric ranking of researchers performance," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 86(1), pages 113-123, January.
    11. Frederic S. Lee & Bruce C. Cronin & Scott McConnell & Erik Dean, 2010. "Research Quality Rankings of Heterodox Economic Journals in a Contested Discipline," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(5), pages 1409-1452, November.

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