Journal acceptance rates: A cross-disciplinary analysis of variability and relationships with journal measures

Cassidy R. Sugimoto, Vincent Larivière, Chaoqun Ni and Blaise Cronin

Journal of Informetrics, 2013, vol. 7, issue 4, 897-906

Abstract: There are many indicators of journal quality and prestige. Although acceptance rates are discussed anecdotally, there has been little systematic exploration of the relationship between acceptance rates and other journal measures. This study examines the variability of acceptance rates for a set of 5094 journals in five disciplines and the relationship between acceptance rates and JCR measures for 1301 journals. The results show statistically significant differences in acceptance rates by discipline, country affiliation of the editor, and number of reviewers per article. Negative correlations are found between acceptance rates and citation-based indicators. Positive correlations are found with journal age. These relationships are most pronounced in the most selective journals and vary by discipline. Open access journals were found to have statistically significantly higher acceptance rates than non-open access journals. Implications in light of changes in the scholarly communication system are discussed.

Keywords: Acceptance rates; Open access; Journal measures; Citation analysis; Scientometrics; Scholarly communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:infome:v:7:y:2013:i:4:p:897-906

DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2013.08.007

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