VHB-JOURQUAL 3

JOURQUAL3 ranks relevant journals in the field of business research based upon the judgement of its VHB members.

In 2014, more than 1.100 VHB members evaluated 934 journals in total; 651 of those exceeded the threshold of 25 evaluations and were appropriately rated.

Rating results are based on the following publishing categories:

  • 22 excellent and global leading scientific journals in business research (A+ = 3,4%),
  • 72 leading scientific journals in business research (A = 11,1%),
  • 217 important and notable scientific journals in business research (B = 33,3%),
  • 273 renowned scientific journals in business research (C = 41,9%), and
  • 59 scientific journals in business research (D = 9,1%).

The rating is based on the median value. As VHB-JOURQUAL3 does not intend to interfere with the various business research subdisciplines‘ competitions, we deliberately decided not to include aggregate ratings for the journals covered. Rather, the rating should be considered and used as a guiding tool to support decisions within specific subdisciplines in business research. In consequence, the VHB-JOURQUAL3 output is fractionalised among the individual subdisciplines.

As in former VHB-JOURQUAL rounds, in VHB-JOURQUAL3, we strongly encourage all users to make responsible and reflective use of the ratings, especially when it comes to a researcher's personal performance assessment. Ratings can not and should not replace the reading of publications, particularly in terms of evaluating individual research performances. Any research performance evaluation, using standardised methods and average values, builds on simplifications and hence leads to a narrowing of focus which may result in incorrect interpretations. For further information please read our suggestions for the responsible use of ratings (available only in german language): „Verantwortlicher Umgang mit VHB-JOURQUAL3“ and „Umgang mit Zeitschriften- und Personenrankings“.