On the Influence of Top Journals

Ductor, L., Goyal, S., van der Leij, M. and Paez, G. N.

We study the evolution of the influence of journals over the period 1970-2017. In the early 1970's, a number of journals had similar influence. But by 1995, the `Top 5' journals ̶ QJE, AER, RES, Econometrica, and JPE ̶ had acquired a major lead; this dominance persists (with small changes) until 2017. To place these developments in a broader context we also study journal influence in sociology. The trends there have gone the other way ̶ the field journals rose in influence relative to the top general journals, over the same period. We present a model of journals as platforms to help explain the different trajectories of journal influence across time and across disciplines.