University of Wisconsin Economics Journals: 1997

25 Most Cost-Effective Titles by Cost/Impact Factor

Measure: Ascending Order

Most Cost-Effective Economics Journals Publisher Publisher Type Institutional Subscription Cost: 1997 Cost /Impact Factor*
Journal of Economic Literature American Economics Association Non-Profit 130.00 0.317
Monthly Labor Review U. S. Dept. of Labor Non-Profit 29.00 0.457
Journal of Finance American Finance Association Non-Profit 110.00 0.716
Population and Development Review Population Council Non-Profit 32.00 0.773
Journal of Economic Perspectives American Economics Association Non-Profit 77.00 0.890
American Economic Review American Economics Association Non-Profit 75.00 0.903
American Political Science Review American Political Science Association Non-Profit 200.00 1.030
Econometrica Blackwell Commercial 174.00 1.048
Quarterly Journal of Economics Harvard University Non-Profit 110.00 1.061
Demography Population Association of America Non-Profit 85.00 1.190
Brookings papers on Economic Activity Brookings Institution Non-Profit 73.00 1.647
Journal of Business and Economic Statistics American Statistical Association Non-Profit 72.00 1.667
Journal of Political Economy University of Chicago Press Non-Profit 127.00 1.712
Journal of Economic Issues Association for Evolutionary Economics Non-Profit 40.00 2.277
China Quarterly Oxford University Press Non-Profit 90.00 2.532
Journal of Consumer Research University of Chicago Press Non-Profit 90.00 2.546
Journal of Human Resources University of Wisconsin Press Non-Profit 94.00 2.640
International Organization MIT Press Non-Profit 120.00 2.701
Journal of Law and Economics University of Chicago Press Non-Profit 45.00 2.975
National Tax Journal National Tax Association Non-Profit 90.00 3.421
Social Science Quarterly University of Texas Press Non-Profit 59.00 3.421
Review of Economics and Statistics Harvard University by MIT Press Non-Profit 170.00 3.716
RAND Journal of Economics RAND Non-Profit 152.00 4.057
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Blackwell Commercial 174.00 4.092
Economy and Society Routledge Commercial 140.00 4.168

 

Analyzing its 1997 subscription list, the University of Wisconsin found that the most cost-effective journals in Economics tended to be those published by Non-Profit publishers. This table presents the 25 most cost-effective Economics journals in the Wisconsin subscription list, as measured by the Cost/Impact Factor*. Only three of these journals were published by commercial publishers.

 

 

*Cost/Impact Factor has been used as one way of measuring the cost-effectiveness of journals. It relates the cost of a journal to its impact as measured by its citation record. It is derived by dividing the Cost per 1000 Characters by the ISI Impact Factor. Here is an example for the Journal of Economic Literature.

Cost per 1000 characters = 1.2 cents.
ISI Impact Factor = 3.784
1.2/3.784 = 0.317
Cost/Impact Factor = 0.317

An Impact Factor of 3.784 is relatively high--the highest for all the journals in the Economics sample. So, though the cost of the Journal of Economic Literature is not among the lowest for Physics, its high
frequency of citation combined with its modest cost makes it the most cost-effective journal in the Wisconsin list. The lower the Cost/Impact Factor, the more cost-effective the journal is, according to this measure.