Stratification among Journals in Management Research: A Bibliometric Study of Interaction between European and American Journals

Abstract

Tho key features of science are its rapid growth and its continuous differentiation. The establishment of new journals can be seen as an expression of both growth and differentiation. In this study of the network among management journals, the focus is on forms of differentiation, i.e., the relationship between stratification and specialization in a network of journals. The question asked in this study is whether the different position of American and European journals corresponds with different levels of specialization. A tendency toward such a structuration of the journal network would indicate an interregional integration of management research. Articles published in six of the most influential American and European journals covering the period from 1981 to 1998 have been downloaded. The findings in this study indicate that even though European journals formed a periphery in relation to the American journals in terms of clearly asymmetrical exchange relations, it was the European journals that seemed to be more comprehensive in scope. The tendency during the investigated period indicated differentiation in terms of segmentation rather than specialization.