Global ranking of knowledge management and intellectual capital academic journals: a 2021 update
Journal of Knowledge Management
ISSN: 1367-3270
Article publication date: 14 June 2021
Issue publication date: 6 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to update a global ranking list of 28 knowledge management and intellectual capital (KM/IC) academic journals. The list should be periodically updated because the pool of active KM/IC researchers changes, researchers adjust their journal perceptions, citation indices change and new journals appear while others become discontinued.
Design/methodology/approach
The ranking list was created based on a survey of 463 active KM/IC researchers and journal citation impact metrics (the h-index and the g-index).
Findings
Journal of Knowledge Management and Journal of Intellectual Capital are ranked A+, followed by The Learning Organization, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, Knowledge and Process Management and International Journal of Knowledge Management which are ranked A. VINE, Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management and Online Journal of Applied Knowledge Management have shown the most improvement. The recently established Journal of Innovation & Knowledge has demonstrated a strong performance.
Practical implications
KM/IC discipline stakeholders may consult and use the ranking list for various purposes, but they should do so with caution. Highly ranked journals are quite likely to have the Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor or be included in the Clarivate’s Emerging Sources Citation Index. A journal’s longevity is strongly correlated with its citation metrics and is moderately correlated with expert survey scores. Interdisciplinarity is the natural state of the KM and IC research domains, and it should be embraced by the research community.
Originality/value
This study presents the most up-to-date ranking list of KM/IC academic journals.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Aaron Sprague and Justin Waxman (Research Associates at McMaster University) who provided data collection support. The authors are grateful to all survey participants for dedicating their time to this important study. Alexander Serenko is a member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Knowledge Management and Journal of Intellectual Capital. He also served as the Associate Editor of Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management. Nick Bontis was the founding Associate Editor of Journal of Intellectual Capital. Both authors are ad hoc reviewers for many journals ranked in this study. However, they believe that their affiliation with these journals had no effect on the findings, as they remained neutral and objective during the study.
Citation
Serenko, A. and Bontis, N. (2022), "Global ranking of knowledge management and intellectual capital academic journals: a 2021 update", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 126-145. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2020-0814
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited