The Network of Law Reviews: Citation Cartels, Scientific Communities, and Journal Rankings.
Research evaluation is increasingly influenced by quantitative data. We focus on the influential Web of Science Journal Citation Reports (JCR) ranking of law journals and critically assess its methodology. In particular, we consider the existence and impact of a tacit citation cartel between US law...
| Published in: | Modern Law Review Vol. 82; no. 2; pp. 240 - 269 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Mar2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=135078294&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 135078294 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00267961 D8H jtl: Modern Law Review issn: 00267961 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Mar2019 vid: 82 iid: 2 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 135078294 10.1111/1468-2230.12405 ppf: 240 ppct: 29 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 691KB tig: atl: The Network of Law Reviews: Citation Cartels, Scientific Communities, and Journal Rankings. aug: au: Perez, Oren Bar‐Ilan, Judit Cohen, Reuven Schreiber, Nir su: Journal Citation Reports (Periodical) Law reviews Rating of scholarly periodicals Cartels Methodology Scientific community sug: subj: Journal Citation Reports (Periodical) Law reviews Rating of scholarly periodicals Cartels Methodology Scientific community ab: Research evaluation is increasingly influenced by quantitative data. We focus on the influential Web of Science Journal Citation Reports (JCR) ranking of law journals and critically assess its methodology. In particular, we consider the existence and impact of a tacit citation cartel between US law reviews. A study of 45 US student‐edited (SE) and 45 peer‐reviewed (PR) journals included in the category of Law in the JCR revealed that PR and SE journals are more inclined to cite members of their own class and that this phenomenon is more pronounced in SE generalist journals, reflecting tacit cartelistic behavior generated by deeply entrenched institutional practices. Because US SE journals produce more citations than PR journals, the fact that their citations are directed almost exclusively to SE journals elevates their scores and distorts the journals' ranking and can consequently undermine the flow and creation of ideas. We discuss policy measures that can counter the adverse effects of this situation. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Modern Law Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Modern Law Review holder: Wiley-Blackwell dt: @attributes: year: 2019 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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