Ranking, rating and scoring of tourism journals: Interdisciplinary challenges and innovations

This paper provides a critical analysis of journal ranking and citation analysis in tourism studies. Authors and institutions using journal impact factors, citation frequency and hits as measures of academic productivity or importance should exercise great care in their use. A close look at Journal Citation Reports produced by Social Science Citation Index, ‘hits’ on CAB International, and citation analyses from several databases shows that the desire for a universal ranking system has so far only generated some imperfect systems and inconsistent applications to suit different needs. One size simply does not fit all. Drawing upon insights from other fields that have been addressing similar ranking and citation issues, concrete suggestions are offered for developing alternative evaluation parameters and processes for managing the diverse range of interdisciplinary journals in tourism and hospitality. Specifically, the analysis argues for differentiating journals by scope, influence, relevance and quality, and a scoring system that involves participation from the community of social scientists. Innovations for timely, effective dissemination of tourism knowledge are also forwarded.