What economists think of their journals and how they use them : reputation and relevance of economics journals

Abstract: This paper identifies factors that affect economists views on journals relevance and reputation and sheds light on their interrelationship. We find that reputation positively affects relevance and vice versa, but relevance has a much stronger impact on reputation than reputation on relevance. Citation frequency is a key determinant for both journal reputation and relevance. Given citation frequency, specialised journals are considered less relevant and, because of this, also less reputed, even though the direct effect on reputation is poitive. While German-speaking economists consider domestic journals more relevant, they are, at the same time, ranked considerably lower than foreign journals in terms of reputation. Jouranals without referee process are considered less relevant and less reputed than refereed journals. In contrast, the number of published articles makes journals more relevant and more reputed. Like red wine, journals become more reputed with age, while age hardly affects a journal's relevance.