List of Top and High Impact Journals in the Field of Management (Update: April 16 2014)
(compiled by Ed Carberry, Benyamin Lichtenstein, Stephan Manning, Suhaib Riaz)
The primary purpose of this list is to guide PhD students’ (and junior faculty) decision-making when it comes to selecting journals for paper submissions. Typically top-tier journal submissions take longer and are more risky than second-tier journal submissions. We list here both top-tier journals and a selection of widely recognized, high-impact second-tier journals. (Others can be found in Harzing’s list as well as other rankings.) Boundaries between these categories are blurry, subjective and change over time. However, our list of top-tiers in particular corresponds with what most top business schools (in the U.S.) would consider to be A journals. Having at least an R&R in a top journal can significantly increase chances of getting a job interview or even a job for tenure-track positions. Conversely, publishing in journals that are not even listed as second-tier can result in exclusion from any further consideration.
Other useful resources are:
- Harzing’s Journal Quality List: http://www.harzing.com/jql.htm (compilation of different rankings)
- ABS list: 3 or 4 stars would qualify as high impact or top (there is no extra category for top) http://www.bizschooljournals.com/node/4
- ABDC list: A* would quality as either top or very high impact; A is high impact http://www.abdc.edu.au/pages/abdc-journal-quality-list-2013.html
- Thomson Reuters Impact Factors: Top 20 journals in Business and Management considered top FT45 list: overlaps partly with top journals listed here, but also includes some low-impact journals http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3405a512-5cbb-11e1-8f1f-00144feabdc0.html
- Note: Another way to boost impact/citations quite independent of the outlet is by posting new publications on www.academia.edu, www.ssrn.com , scholarworks.umb.edu, www.researchgate.net
General (Management / Business)
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Academy of Management Review | Conceptual only (top theory journal) |
| Academy of Management Journal | Empirical only: both quantitative and qualitative (top empirical journal) |
| Administrative Science Quarterly | Mostly empirical: both qualitative and quantitative |
| Strategic Management Journal | Conceptual and empirical: almost exclusively quantitative; |
| Organization Science | Conceptual, qualitative, quantitative |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Journal of Management Studies | Both conceptual and empirical; both mainstream and critical |
| Organization Studies | Both conceptual and empirical; both mainstream and critical |
| Journal of Management | Regular Theory/Review Special Issue; otherwise mostly empirical (quantitative): strong orientation OB, HR |
Organization / OB / HRM
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Administrative Science Quarterly | Mostly empirical: both qualitative and quantitative, very sociological |
| Organization Science | Conceptual, qualitative, quantitative; strong roots in behavioral theory of the firm, but very open (also critical work) |
| Journal of Management | Regular Theory/Review Special Issue; otherwise mostly empirical (quantitative): strong orientation OB, HR |
| Journal of Management Studies | Both conceptual and empirical; both mainstream and critical |
| Organization Studies | Both conceptual and empirical; both mainstream and critical; strong European influence (theories, discourses) |
| Organization | Mostly conceptual and qualitative/critical; top journal for critical, after JMS and OrgStudies (BUT: Not seen as top by non-critical scholars) |
| Journal of Organizational Behavior | OB related top journal |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Human Relations | Very open to conceptual and empirical: strong orientation towards HR, OB |
| International Journal of Human Resource Management | Global HR and workplace issues, quantitative and qualitative, mostly empirical, pretty unprofessional review process (from desk rejection with little feedback to first-round conditional accepts… rather arbitrary) |
| Industrial Labor Relations Review | Broad range of issues relating work, employment relations, and HR. Highly ranked in its field. Mostly empirical, both quantitative and qualitative |
| Work, Employment and Society | Home of work-related studies, business and society interface; mostly empirical (both quant and qual) |
| Industrial Relations | Broad range of issues relating work, employment relations, and HR. Highly ranked in its field. Mostly empirical, both quantitative and qualitative |
| Work and Occupations | Sociology of work and occupations, both quant and qual. |
| Organizational Dynamics | Broad-range HR/OB-focused journal (slightly lower ranked in impact factors, but widely recognized) |
Strategy and International Business
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Strategic Management Journal | Conceptual and empirical: almost exclusively quantitative and mainstream |
| Journal of International Business Studies | Almost exclusively empirical and quantitative (top IB journal); again very mainstream |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Global Strategy Journal (aspiring top journal) | Conceptual and empirical: mostly IB related |
| Journal of World Business (aspiring top journal) | Conceptual and empirical: mostly IB related |
| Journal of Management Studies | Home of many strategy and IB-related studies / both theoretical and empirical |
| Strategic Organization | Both conceptual and empirical (open to different methods), focus on intersection between strategy and organization research |
| Critical Perspectives on International Business | One of the few outlets for critical work in international business and management |
| Competition and Change | Outlet for conceptual and explorative papers with topics related to strategy, business and society; a cross-over interdisciplinary journal |
| Industrial and Corporate Change | Explorative journal focusing on macro-level dynamics (e.g. innovation, industry evolution etc.) both conceptual and empirical |
Entrepreneurship
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Strategic Management Journal | Regarded as ‘meta-category’ top journal for studies on entrepreneurship (similar to IB) |
| Journal of Business Venturing | Mostly empirical |
| Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice | Both conceptual and empirical |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (aspiring top journal) | Both conceptual and empirical |
Innovation
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Research Policy | Mostly empirical: both quantitative and qualitative |
| Technovation | More narrowly focused on technology |
| Journal of Product Innovation Management | More narrowly focused on technology |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Industrial and Corporate Change | Explorative journal focusing on innovation, industry evolution etc. ; both conceptual and empirical |
| R&D Management | More narrowly focused on technology |
| Industry & Innovation | Broad, widely read, explorative journal on innovation-related issues (even though reputation among scholars outside innovation is rather low) |
Economic geography
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Journal of Economic Geography | Mostly empirical research |
| Economic Geography | More critical research in economic geography domain, qualitative and theoretical, few issues per year |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Regional Studies | Open to both qualitative and quantitative research; mostly empirical |
| Environment and Planning | Highly respected journal in this field |
| World Development | Journal dedicated to publishing work on development issues with some policy impact // interface between research and development policy // mostly macro level |
Sociology (including economic sociology)
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| American Journal of Sociology | Both empirical and conceptual view; allows (even encourages) VERY long papers; home of theoretical development in sociology (e.g. classics by M Granovetter, HC White, others) |
| American Sociological Review | Another top journal in sociology; next in line |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Social Forces | Empirical and conceptual work |
| Sociology | Empirical and conceptual work |
Practitioner / Broader Audience Journals
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Harvard Business Review | Top practitioner journal |
| Long Range Planning | Interface between strategy research and managerial practice |
| Sloan Management Review | Another popular practitioner journal |
| California Management Review | Interface between research and practice |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Journal of Management Inquiry | Explorative/broad-range journal at the interface between research and practice |
| Organizational Dynamics | Similar to JMI, but stronger focus on HRM, OB |
| Academy of Management Perspectives | Written in interdisciplinary style, accessible to both scholars and students, review and perspective articles; interface between management research and other disciplines |
Journals for Management Reviews and Methods
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Journal of Management | Special Issue every three years or so / highly cited (reason why impact factor of JOM is so high) |
| International Journal of Management Reviews | Another top journal for management reviews |
| Academy of Management Perspectives | Review journal with bold theoretical outlook targeting interested academics across sub-disciplines |
| Organizational Research Methods | Discusses advances of methods; unique journal for this kind of research |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Journal of Business Research | Trans-disciplinary outlet for management and marketing research, home of both empirical and theoretical work, but also for reviews |
Critical Management Research
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Journal of Management Studies | Strong critical tradition; conceptual and qualitative |
| Organization | Primary organization journal dedicated to critical research |
| Critical Perspectives on Accounting | Highly ranked critical accounting journal |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Critical Perspectives on International Business | One of the few outlets for critical work in international business and management; relatively low visibility |
| Human Relations | Friendly to ‘critical research’ // accepts both empirical and conceptual work, related to HR, work/labor issues |
| Organization Studies | Friendly to ‘critical research’ // accepts both empirical and conceptual work |
| Competition and Change | Broad range of topics, widely read |
| Journal of Management Inquiry | Broad range, including critical management topics |
Nonprofit Management (in progress)
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
Business Ethics/ Business and Society
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Academy of Management Review | Publishes significant theoretical advancements in business ethics |
| Journal of Business Ethics | Both conceptual and empirical work; listed in FT45, but considered to be rather low quality among ‘top journals’ in terms of analytical rigor (however: easy and fast way to get something out related to business and society issues, plus FT45 ranked, and actually pretty high impact in terms of citations) |
| Business Ethics Quarterly | Top journal in ethics community for theoretical advancements but also empirical work |
| Economy and Society | Covers Business and Society issues |
| Work, Employment and Society | Home of work-related studies, business and society interface; mostly empirical (both quant and qual) |
| Accounting, Organizations and Society | Major journal dedicated to all aspects of the relationship between accounting and human behaviour, organizational structures and processes |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Business and Society | High visibility if lower ranked |
| Business Ethics: A European Review | Ditto |
| Business and Society Review | Ditto |
Sustainability (environmental)
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Organization and Environment | Re-launched in 2013 as mainstream flagship journal on business and environment |
| Global Environmental Politics | An International Relations journal, but also does business and political economy |
| High Impact (Selection) | |
| Ecological Economics | Journal dedicated to publishing advancements in ecological sustainability, mostly macro perspectives, economic trends and policy |
| Business Strategy and the Environment | High impact journal |
Teaching and Learning
| Journal | Notes (e.g. empirical orientation) |
| Top Tier | |
| Academy of Management Learning and Education | Top journal in this area |
| Journal of Management Education | probably more widely used by academia |
| Management Learning | Somewhat more used by industry |
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