IJPDLM's 40th anniversary: an overview and retrospective analysis

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose is threefold: to assess International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management's (IJPDLM's) reputation for quality and impact; to identify leading articles and authors during the journal's 40‐year history; and to report on the international diversity of the journal's author base and the diversity of its subject matter over the last five years.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the following: literature review of recent journal articles that assessed the quality of logistics and supply chain management (SCM) journals; IJPDLM article download counts and article counts per author over last 40 years; and assessment of subject matter content and geographical base of authors for articles published in IJPDLM over the last five years.

Findings

IJPDLM consistently ranks among the top logistics and supply chain journals on the basis of research quality and usefulness. IJPDLM is quite diverse both with respect to logistics subject matter and to the location of its authors. The most popular topics over the last five years are: purchasing and supply management; inter‐organizational relationships; customer service and demand management; and logistics outsourcing/3PL. A key emerging research area for logistics and SCM is the discipline's contributions to addressing important societal issues.

Practical implications

The findings pertaining to current and emerging research areas will be of interest and value to all logistics and SCM researchers.

Originality/value

The analysis of IJPDLM's reputation and the assessment of the subject matter it covers are both original and of interest to prospective authors.

Citation

Crum, M.R. and Poist, R.F. (2011), "IJPDLM's 40th anniversary: an overview and retrospective analysis", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 5-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/09600031111101394