Citation Rankings of Public Administration Journals

This article employs standard citation analysis techniques to rank the research value of public administration journals. Although prestige is a suspect measure of quality, esteem surveys have been used to rate the perceived importance of journals in many fields (including public administration). By gauging actual consumption rather than estimated value, citation analysis offers a better method of assessing journal worth. The three citation rankings presented in this study confirm the importance of such prestigious journals as Public Administration Review; American Political Science Review, and Administration Science Quarterly. In some cases, however, the citation hierarchies differ considerably from the esteem ratings.