Abstract
This study demonstrates how social network analysis, specifically ego-network analysis, can be used as a methodology to investigate the degrees of the isolation, insularity, and prestige of academic journals in a particular field in relation to other fields. Using the example of journals in public administration for illustrative purposes, we analyze the network of connections between journals in this field and the ones in two related fields: political science and business/management. Earlier studies found that the research in public administration was largely isolated from the three disciplines that were its foundations: law, management, and political science. Using ego-network analyses and ratio calculations from the Web of Science citation data, we found that the top journals of public administration were indeed relatively isolated in the years 2005, 2010, and 2015. Of the public administration journals, Public Administration Review (PAR) and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART) were increasingly more recognized (less isolated and became more prestigious) among the journals in other fields. This methodology can be applied to the journals in other fields to study the relations between fields, particularly the relative academic prestige of the fields, in terms of journal citations.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Subject categories used in analyses and taxonomy criteria used based on web of science classification
All of the codes created and loaded into UCINET are based on the Web of Science subject categories. In each case, for an item to be coded with a subject, it must have that Web of Science subject category, and for items with additional subject categories, a separate code was created to include “other” subjects. The coding does not include books, chapter, or government reports unless they are specifically related to business, political science, or public administration. A detailed description of the subject taxonomy is available by request.
Public Admin Titles (journals or other sources) classified as “public administration” (PA) include those titles with that single subject classification, coded as (1). Titles classified as “public administration and other” include those titles with the classification of public administration, plus one to three other non-political science classifications, including the subjects “planning and development,” “social work,” and “environmental studies,” coded as (2). Titles classified as “public administration not indexed” includes the titles that are clearly PA journals or sources, but are not indexed within the WOS citations indexes, and therefore do not have an impact factor, coded as (3). This does not include books, chapter, or government reports unless they are specifically public administration related. Journals classified as “interdisciplinary public administration and political science” include all journals that have the combined classification, including three journals, LOCAL GOV STUD; REGUL GOV; and SCI PUBL POLICY, that have three classifications, but include PA and PS, coded as (4).
Political Science The subject classification “political science and other” (6) includes journals that have the PS classification along with 1–2 other non-PA classifications, such as “international relations,” “sociology,” or “communication.” While there is another classification for international relations, all dual classed journals will be included here, such as INT SECURITY and INT STUD QUART. The classification “political science not indexed” (7) includes journals that are clearly PS journals, but are not indexed within the WOS citation indexes, and therefore do not have an impact factor. This does not include books, chapter, or government reports unless they are specifically political science related.
Business Management those titles with the single categorization of that subject, or with the classification of that subject with “business” or “education” related subject headings that include “management.” It includes journals that have the subject classification of “business” and of “management.” It also includes journals that have those two classifications, or the single classification of “management,” along with one additional business classification such as “finance.” The classification of “interdisciplinary business” (9) includes all titles with a business classification, and another non-management classification, such as “ethics” and “psychology.” This includes journals with the dual subject classification of “business, finance” and “economics.” It includes the subject heading “industrial relations and labor.” This also includes all titles with a subject classification of “hospitality, leisure, sport & tourism.” The category of “business and other” (10) includes titles with the single classification of “business,” along with other journals that have the single classification of “business” or a related business classification such as “business finance.” The classification of “business not indexed” (21) includes all of the documents that are related to business but not indexed in the WOS. The “business not indexed” classification includes titles that are clearly business journals, but are not indexed within the WOS citation indexes, and therefore do not have an impact factor. This does not include books, chapters, or government reports unless they are specifically business related.
The rest of the subjects are in alphabetical order
Communication and interdisciplinary communication This code includes all titles with the single subject classification as well as all journals with this classification and other multiple classifications.
Computer Science and Information Systems This code includes all titles with that subject classification, single or multiple. This code includes all “computer science” and “information systems” subject classifications.
Economics those titles with that single category, or for journals with that category and another unclassified category, such as “planning and development” and “urban studies.” Any title with this subject combined with a “business” subject, is classified in “business and other.”
Education This classification includes all titles listed as “education and educational research.”
Engineering This code is used for all titles with that classification, including “industrial engineering” and all of the other fields that include “engineering” and another non-management subject heading.
Environmental Studies, Natural Sciences, and Science This classification includes all titles with that subject classification; includes agriculture interdisciplinary; biology also includes subjects with dual classifications such as “environmental studies and urban studies.” This codes includes all items with the subjects of “fisheries,” “nuclear science and technology,” “microbiology,” “energy,” “oceanography,” “water resources,” and “ecology.”
Health Care Science and Service and Medical Sciences This code includes all titles that contain these subject classifications with single or multiple headings. This code includes items with “public, environmental and occupational health” and “nursing” subject categories. This classification includes “healthcare science and services” and “veterinary sciences” including all medical sciences. This code also includes the subject heading of “rehabilitation.”
Interdisciplinary All multiple codes not included in the taxonomy are identified as “interdisciplinary.” The two journals that had both the classes of “law” and “economics” are classified as “interdisciplinary.” Any title that has the subject heading of “interdisciplinary” or “multidisciplinary” is included in the classification. Any journal that has two or more subjects not part of other classifications here is included, such as “environmental sciences” and “energy and fuels.” In addition, “family studies” and “social work” are included here. Other WOS subjects in the classification include: “area studies,” “cultural studies,” “multidisciplinary sciences, and “interdisciplinary social sciences.”
International relations and interdisciplinary international relations This classification includes any title with this subject classification.
Law those titles with that single classification and without any additional criteria.
Not indexed These journals and other items are not indexed within the WOS citation indexes, and therefore do not have an impact factor. This includes the items identified as “non-traditional” that includes books, book chapters, and various types of reports, including government reports. Non-indexed, conference proceedings, regardless of subject area, are included here. From this classification, items that were either public administration, political science, or business management were re-classified into the subject classes described above.
(All) Others These journals include those items with the single classifications found in all of the other journals in the WOS and not part of other classified items listed in this taxonomy. This includes the items with subject headings such as “social work,” “ethics,” and “planning and evaluation.”
Psychology This code is used for all of those titles with the single classification of a discipline in psychology, such as “social psychology,” and “applied psychology,” or journals with multiple classifications of “psychology” and another behavioral science field, or another field outside of the currently classified fields. All psychology journals with a dual business-related classification with a business classification, such as J APPL PSYCHOL and LEADERSHIP QUART, are classified in the “interdisciplinary business” category.
Sociology and interdisciplinary social sciences This code includes all of the titles with that single subject classification, as well as all journals with that classification, and another classification or another field outside of the currently classified fields. This classification also includes anthropology. For this study, all journals that include the classification of “management” are in the “management” category.
Statistics and Mathematics This classification includes all titles with the subjects of “statistics and probability.”
Appendix 2
See Tables 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
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McGuigan, G.S., Morçöl, G. & Grosser, T. Using ego-network analyses to examine journal citations: a comparative study of public administration, political science, and business management. Scientometrics 126, 9345–9368 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-04189-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-04189-2