A social network analysis of academic journals in public administration in the early twenty-first century: examining journal level bibliometrics with network analysis

This study shows how network analyses, specifically whole network analysis, can be used to elicit network structures and identify subgroups in academic journal publishing in the field of public administration. To elicit the citation networks of the journals, we used social network analysis methods on the journal citations in the InCites Journal Citation Reports of the Web of Science (WoS) database at 4 time points: 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. We tested whether the citation networks had the characteristics of the small world network structure and/or a scale-free network structure. We found that the public administration citation networks became more centralized over time, while also becoming more clustered. Public Administration Review and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory were consistently the most central journals in the networks over the years. The citations networks were also clustered. Particularly, public policy journals, which are classified within the “public administration” category in WoS, tended to be clustered together. We conclude that the public administration journal citation networks had both scale-free characteristics and small-world characteristics in the first two decades of the twenty-first century.

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-023-04861-9

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Work Title A social network analysis of academic journals in public administration in the early twenty-first century: examining journal level bibliometrics with network analysis
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Glenn S. McGuigan
  2. Göktuğ Morçöl
  3. Travis Grosser
Keyword
  1. Bibliometrics
  2. Citation analysis
  3. Social network analysis
  4. Public administration
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Scientometrics
Publication Date November 9, 2023
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-023-04861-9
Deposited January 22, 2024

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Added Whole_Network_Analysis_of_PA_Journals_Pre_Publication_1_22_23.pdf
  • Added Creator Glenn S. McGuigan
  • Added Creator Göktuğ Morçöl
  • Added Creator Travis Grosser
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Description, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Bibliometrics, Citation analysis, Social network analysis, Public administration
    Description
    • <p>This study shows how network analyses, specifically whole network analysis, can be used to elicit network structures and identify subgroups in academic journal publishing in the field of public administration. To elicit the citation networks of the journals, we used social network analysis methods on the journal citations in the InCites Journal Citation Reports of the Web of Science (WoS) database at 4 time points: 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. We tested whether the citation networks had the characteristics of the small world network structure and/or a scale-free network structure. We found that the public administration citation networks became more centralized over time, while also becoming more clustered. Public Administration Review and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory were consistently the most central journals in the networks over the years. The citations networks were also clustered. Particularly, public policy journals, which are classified within the “public administration” category in WoS, tended to be clustered together. We conclude that the public administration journal citation networks had both scale-free characteristics and small-world characteristics in the first two decades of the twenty-first century.</p>
    • <p>This study shows how network analyses, specifically whole network analysis, can be used to elicit network structures and identify subgroups in academic journal publishing in the field of public administration. To elicit the citation networks of the journals, we used social network analysis methods on the journal citations in the _InCites Journal Citation Reports_ of the _Web of Science_ (WoS) database at 4 time points: 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. We tested whether the citation networks had the characteristics of the small world network structure and/or a scale-free network structure. We found that the public administration citation networks became more centralized over time, while also becoming more clustered. _Public Administration Review_ and the _Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory_ were consistently the most central journals in the networks over the years. The citations networks were also clustered. Particularly, public policy journals, which are classified within the “public administration” category in WoS, tended to be clustered together. We conclude that the public administration journal citation networks had both scale-free characteristics and small-world characteristics in the first two decades of the twenty-first century.</p>
    Publication Date
    • 2023-12-01
    • 2023-11-09
  • Updated