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Reverse-engineering conference rankings: what does it take to make a reputable conference?

Author

Listed:
  • Peep Küngas

    (University of Tartu)

  • Siim Karus

    (University of Tartu)

  • Svitlana Vakulenko

    (University of Tartu)

  • Marlon Dumas

    (University of Tartu)

  • Cristhian Parra

    (University of Trento)

  • Fabio Casati

    (University of Trento)

Abstract

In recent years, several national and community-driven conference rankings have been compiled. These rankings are often taken as indicators of reputation and used for a variety of purposes, such as evaluating the performance of academic institutions and individual scientists, or selecting target conferences for paper submissions. Current rankings are based on a combination of objective criteria and subjective opinions that are collated and reviewed through largely manual processes. In this setting, the aim of this paper is to shed light into the following question: to what extent existing conference rankings reflect objective criteria, specifically submission and acceptance statistics and bibliometric indicators? The paper specifically considers three conference rankings in the field of Computer Science: an Australian national ranking, a Brazilian national ranking and an informal community-built ranking. It is found that in all cases bibliometric indicators are the most important determinants of rank. It is also found that in all rankings, top-tier conferences can be identified with relatively high accuracy through acceptance rates and bibliometric indicators. On the other hand, acceptance rates and bibliometric indicators fail to discriminate between mid-tier and bottom-tier conferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Peep Küngas & Siim Karus & Svitlana Vakulenko & Marlon Dumas & Cristhian Parra & Fabio Casati, 2013. "Reverse-engineering conference rankings: what does it take to make a reputable conference?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(2), pages 651-665, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:96:y:2013:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0938-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-012-0938-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Loizides, Orestis-Stavros & Koutsakis, Polychronis, 2017. "On evaluating the quality of a computer science/computer engineering conference," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 541-552.
    2. Vinicius da Silva Almendra & Denis Enăchescu & Cornelia Enăchescu, 2015. "Ranking computer science conferences using self-organizing maps with dynamic node splitting," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 267-283, January.
    3. Xiancheng Li & Wenge Rong & Haoran Shi & Jie Tang & Zhang Xiong, 2018. "The impact of conference ranking systems in computer science: a comparative regression analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 879-907, August.
    4. Meho, Lokman I., 2019. "Using Scopus’s CiteScore for assessing the quality of computer science conferences," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 419-433.

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