A Note on Ranking the International Business Journals
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Note
on
Ranking
the
International
Business
Journals Andrew C. Inkpen
THEAMERICAN GRADUATE SCHOOL THUNDERBIRD, OFINTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT n theirrecentarticle,DuBoisandReeb (2000) examined the relative quality of 30 international business (IB) journals. The article's objectives were to present an objective analysis of journal quality for tenure and promotion decisions, to guide researchers considering submission options, and to provide the academic community with an enhanced understanding of IB publication outlets. Using citation analyses and a survey questionnaire, journal rankings were developed. As designed, the study was carefully executed and provides a comprehensive list of journals that publish IB research. Within the IB research academy, an article of this type will generate reader interest because it provides researchers the opportunity to consider their own research and the journals in which it has been published. However, I believe there are several substantive issues not addressed by DuBois and Reeb (2000). These issues are absent because the orientation of the article is shaped by the authors' IB "silo" perspective. Consequently, issues of substantive importance to Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) readers
and business researchers have not been addressed. One issue is the nature of IB research and where IB research should be disseminated. IB research deals with cross-functional, cross-level, and crosstheoretical questions. The authors' ex-
clusive and expedient focus on IB journals does not address the more important question of which journals overall are the most appropriatefor and supportive of IB research. A second issue deals with journal quality and in particular, the quality of JIBS relative to the other journals. A third issue deals with the development of IB research;the authors' speculation on the slowness of development is, in my opinion, unsubstantiated and misplaced.
The Authors' IB Silo Questions about the domain of IB are multi-dimensional, complex, and have generated a considerable amount of study (e.g., Toyne and Nigh, 1998). Although I do not intend to deal with these questions, I believe that DuBois and Reeb (2000) have retreated to a comfortable space in their IB silo by assuming that the debate about IB as a field of research remains a relevant issue. I will arguethe opposite: that a debate about IB as a legitimate field of research is an irrelevant issue and that journals like JIBSshould focus on publishing cuttingedge research on IB problems regardless of the author's orientation to a particular field of study. The authors state that "including what are normally considered non-IB journals in the analysis would dilute and confuse the primary mission of this research." I believe that in focusing only on journals
BUSINESSSTUDIES,32, 1 (FIRSTQUARTER2001): 193-196 JOURNALOF INTERNATIONAL
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