University of Kentucky, USA
Outlets for business computing (BC) research are segmented horizontally and vertically, as a basis for understanding the quality and influence of journal publications by BC researchers in the DSIS area of the University of Kentucky 's School of Management. Horizontal Segmentation On the horizontal dimension, the segments include:
These segments are based on those discussed in "Business Computing System Research: Structuring the Field," OMEGA: The International Journal of Management Science, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 69-81, 1994, C. Holsapple, L. Johnson, H. Manakyan, and J. Tanner. They reflect different editorial missions and orientations toward different audiences. Each horizontal segment could be further subdivided into those with an academic orientation and those with a practitioner orientation. Here, we are primarily concerned with the academic orientations in the five segments identified above. Horizontal segmentation is commonly ignored in reported rankings of “MIS” journals. Often these rankings will contain some mixture of journals from the five segments, usually with an emphasis on segments 1 and 2. Some BC specialty journals may be evident, but these are typically not near the top of the list as they are not as well known; due to their more narrow focus, they tend to be not as broadly recognized and/or have more modest circulations. Nevertheless, a specialty journal can be of high quality, can be the “first-read” or a “must-read” by someone with a particular research interest in the represented topic, and can have a high impact within its sub-discipline. Similarly, journals devoted to BC reference disciplines tend to be less represented in BC journal rankings and are not near the top of the list. Although they may have large circulations, they are not as well known across the population of BC researchers as they are in their own disciplines and much of their content may not have a direct bearing on BC research. Nevertheless, these reference disciplines have high-quality, high-impact journals to which BC researchers may contribute and in which BC researchers can find some articles of relevance to their own investigations. Journals of the fifth segment are perhaps most rare on BC ranking lists, as they focus on specialties within reference disciplines. Nevertheless, they include high-quality periodicals that can be targets for placing BC research to reach a specialized audience and they can be relevant sources for specialized BC investigations. Thus, rather than a single journal ranking list that combines the horizontal segments, rankings of quality and influence in each horizontal segment are adopted. Vertical Segmentation Each of horizontal segments can be vertically structured into categories that differ in terms of such attributes as influence, quality, impact, relevance, or originality (and so forth). Approaches for assigning specific journals to vertical segments vary from relatively objective (e.g., citation analysis) to relatively subjective (e.g., opinion surveys). They can also be influenced by geographic scope, journal age, methodological emphasis, tradition, and other factors. Over time, the vertical placement of a journal in a horizontal segment is subject to change. The following assignments of print journals to vertical segments are based on rankings such as those posted at ISWorld, plus subjective evaluations in the case of relatively new journals (e.g., consideration of the editorial board and the papers published). Rankings within each horizontal segment are incomplete, including no more than two vertical segments; there are many more journals that could be added to additional vertical segments. Absence of a journal from the lists below does not mean that its articles are of poor quality or devoid of impact. For instance, in the cases of segments 3 and 5, only sample specialties are given; others exist. In the case of segment 4, sample reference disciplines are given; others exist. |
| Journals devoted to BC research (incomplete) |
Top segment (alphabetical) |
Decision Support Systems |
Information and Management |
Information Systems Research |
Journal of Management Information Systems |
MIS Quarterly |
Second segment (alphabetical) |
Data Base |
European Journal of Information Systems |
Information Systems Frontiers |
Information Systems Journal |
Information Technology and Management |
| Multidisciplinary business journals that publish BC research (incomplete) |
Top segment |
Academic orientation (alphabetical) |
Decision Sciences |
Management Science |
Organization Science |
Practitioner orientation (alphabetical) |
California Management Review |
Harvard Business Review |
Sloan Management Review |
Second segment |
Interfaces |
Omega: The International Journal of Management Science |
| Journals on topics within BC field (Incomplete, sample specialties) |
Top segments for |
Social aspects of BC (alphabetical) |
Human Systems Management |
Information and Organization |
Information Society |
Information Technology and People |
Human-computer interfaces (alphabetical) |
Human-Computer Interaction |
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction |
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies |
Modeling processes and data (alphabetical) |
Computational Economics |
Computers and Operational Research |
Information Systems |
INFORMS Journal on Computing |
Systems management (alphabetical) |
Information Systems Management |
Journal of Strategic Information Systems |
Collaborative Systems (alphabetical) |
Computer-Mediated Communication |
Computer-Supported Cooperative Work |
Group Decision and Negotiation |
Electronic Commerce (alphabetical) |
Electronic Markets |
International Journal of Electronic Commerce |
Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce |
Intelligent Systems (alphabetical) |
Expert Systems with Applications |
International Journal of Intelligent Systems for Accounting, Finance, and Management |
Accounting Systems (alphabetical) |
Accounting, Management, and Information Technologies |
International Journal of Accounting Information Systems |
Journal of Information Systems |
| Journals devoted to a reference discipline (Incomplete, sample of disciplines) |
Top segments for |
Computer Science (alphabetical) |
Communications of the ACM |
Computer |
Computing Surveys |
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics |
Journal of the ACM |
Management (alphabetical) |
Academy of Management Journal |
Academy of Management Review |
Administrative Science Quarterly |
Strategic Management |
Operations Research (alphabetical) |
European Journal of Operational Research |
Journal of the Operational Research Society |
Operations Research |
Operations Management (alphabetical) |
International Journal of Operations and Production Management |
International Journal of Production Research |
Journal of Operations Management |
Production and Operations Management |
Accounting (alphabetical) |
Accounting, Organizations, and Society |
Accounting Review |
Auditing: Journal of Theory and Practice |
Journal of Accounting Research |
Information Science (alphabetical) |
Information Processing and Management |
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology |
Knowledge Management (alphabetical) |
Journal of Knowledge Management |
Knowledge Management: Research and Practice |
Knowledge and Process Management |
Knowledge, Technology, and Policy |
Artificial Intelligence (alphabetical) |
AI Magazine (AAAI Journal of Record) |
Artificial Intelligence |
IEEE Intelligent Systems |
Communications (alphabetical) |
Communication Monographs |
Human Communication Research |
Journal of Applied Communication Research |
| Journals on a specialized topic within a reference discipline (incomplete) |
Computer science specialties (samples) |
ACM Transactions on Database Systems |
ACM Transactions on Networking |
ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems |
ACM Transactions on Computer Systems |
ACM Transactions on Computational Logic |
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction |
ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems |
ACM Transactions on Information and System Security |
ACM Transactions on Information Systems |
ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation |
ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology |
IEEE Transactions on Communications |
IEEE Transactions on Computers |
IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation |
IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems |
IEEE Transactions on Image Processing |
IEEE Transactions on Information Theory |
IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering |
IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing |
IEEE Transactions on Multimedia |
IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks |
IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation |
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering |
IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration Systems |
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics |
IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications |
Artificial intelligence specialties (samples) |
Expert Systems |
IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence |
International Journal of Expert Systems |
Journal of Automated Reasoning |
Machine Learning |
Management specialties (samples) |
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes |
Industrial Relations |
Journal of Conflict Resolution |
Journal of Human Resources |
Long Range Planning |
Publication Targets The foregoing lists give faculty guidance in thinking about targets for publishing their research. Promotion depends on publishing ample quantities of research articles in the top segments of the horizontal categories. Publishing at the top of category 1 and/or 2 is essential. Publishing at the top of categories in 3 and/or 4 is very helpful. Publishing at the top of categories in 5 is supportive. The foregoing lists also give guidance to faculty in terms of what print journals are candidates for regular monitoring. It gives guidance to librarians about what items to include in a core collection of journals related to business computing. |