Research Institute

Classification of Journals

Tinbergen Institute has drawn up a classification of journals in the field of economics. In this ranking journals have been classified as:

  • AA: generally accepted top-level journals, or
  • A: very good journals covering economics in general and the top journals in each field,
  • B: good journals for all research fields within the Tinbergen Institute.

The list is limited with regard to the fields covered: only the fields covered by the Tinbergen Institute have been taken into consideration: economics, econometrics, finance, operations research, marketing and accounting. The ranking plays an important role in the weighing of the publications of applicants for the admission to the Tinbergen Institute as a research fellow. Also, this list shows the quality standards that the institute is standing for.

Realization of the classification

The classification is based on objective rankings, supported by the judgement of experts. Important inputs have been: SSCI and SCI impact factors, the ranking by Kalaitzidakis, P. et al.. 2003. "Ranking of Academic Journals and Institutions in Economics", Journal of the European economic Association: 1 (6), pp. 1346-66, and a more recent 'within economics' ranking by Kodrzycki, Y. and P. Yu (2006) "New Approaches to Ranking Economics Journals," Contributions to Economic Analysis & Policy: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1, Article 24.

The Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and the Science Citation Index (SCI), annually published by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), provide journals citations every year. This leads to an impact factor for each journal, using the following formula:

Cites in year X to articles published in year X-1 and in year X-2 = impact factor year X
Number of articles in year X-1 and X-2

The two articles mentioned above correct the SSCI scores for self-citation, average number and size of pages of the journal, age of the journal and the impact factor of the journal in which articles have been cited. In this way a more reliable impact factor has been reached for journals in economics.

See also:
[New Approaches to Ranking Economics Journals]
[Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions in Economics]
[Rankings of Academic Journals and Institutions in Economics] (PDF File)