Australian Business Deans Council Journal Quality List

Introduction to ABDC

The Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) is the peak professional body for business education in Australia. Founded in 2008, the ABDC represents the heads of business schools and faculties across Australian universities. One of its most significant contributions to the academic community is the development and maintenance of the ABDC Journal Quality List, which serves as a benchmark for research quality in business disciplines.

Overview of the ABDC Journal Quality List

The ABDC Journal Quality List is a comprehensive ranking system that categorizes academic journals across business-related disciplines into four quality tiers. This list has become an essential tool for Australian academic institutions to evaluate research output, make promotion and tenure decisions, allocate research funding, and benchmark performance against national and international standards.

The list was first published in 2008 and has been updated regularly since then, with major revisions occurring approximately every three years. The most recent comprehensive update was released in 2019, with minor amendments made in subsequent years.

Journal Rankings and Categories

Publications evaluated by the ABDC are classified into four quality tiers:

Ranking	Description	Criteria
A*	Top Tier	Journals of the highest international reputation, generally with high impact factors, strict acceptance rates, and leading editorial boards.
A	High Quality	High-quality international journals that are well-regarded in their field with substantial impact and rigorous peer review processes.
B	Moderate Quality	Standard quality journals that are recognized in their field, typically with decent impact metrics and established in the academic community.
C	Basic Quality	Journals that meet basic academic standards but generally have lower impact metrics and less influence in their field.

Business Disciplines Covered

The ABDC Journal Quality List covers a wide range of business-related disciplines, including but not limited to:

• Accounting and Auditing
• Banking and Finance
• Business Law
• Economics
• Marketing
• Management (including sub-disciplines such as HRM, Strategy, International Business)
• Information Systems
• Operations Management and Logistics
• Tourism and Hospitality
• Entrepreneurship
• Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

History and Development

The ABDC Journal Quality List emerged from a need for a more localized assessment system that better reflected the Australian academic context while maintaining international standards. Prior to its development, Australian institutions primarily relied on international journal rankings such as the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and the European Reference Index (ERIH), which were not specifically tailored to the Australian higher education sector.

The initial development of the list involved extensive consultation with business deans across Australian universities. The process recognized the diversity of business disciplines and the need for a classification system that could accommodate different research methodologies, publication patterns, and citation cultures across various business fields.

Since its inception, the ABDC Journal Quality List has undergone significant refinement. Major revisions have aimed to improve transparency, consistency, and relevance. The evaluation methodology has evolved to incorporate more objective metrics while maintaining expert judgment as a key component of the assessment process.

Evaluation Methodology

The ABDC utilizes a multi-criteria approach to evaluate and classify journals. The evaluation process typically involves:

• Review of citation metrics (including impact factors and h-index)
• Assessment of editorial board quality and geographic diversity
• Evaluation of peer review processes
• Acceptance rates and submission-to-decision timelines
• International reputation and recognition
• Contribution to theory and practice in business disciplines

The classification process is managed by discipline-specific panels of experts comprising leading scholars from Australian business schools. These panels review existing classifications, consider new journals, and reassess current listings based on updated performance metrics and evolving scholarly landscapes.

Relationship with International Ranking Systems

While the ABDC Journal Quality List is specifically designed for the Australian context, it maintains alignment with international standards. Journals ranked in the A* category typically correspond to those appearing in the top quartiles of international rankings such as the Scimago Journal Rank and the Harzing's Journal Quality List.

This alignment ensures that research output in A* and A journals is recognized as high-quality work that meets or exceeds global standards, facilitating international academic exchange and collaboration.

Significance in Australian Higher Education

The ABDC Journal Quality List has become increasingly significant in the Australian higher education sector. Its influence extends across several key areas:

Universities regularly use the ABDC Journal Quality List to assess the quality of research produced by academics and research centers. This assessment impacts research funding allocations, research grants, and institutional research rankings.

For individual academics, publications in higher-ranked ABDC-listed journals are crucial for career advancement. Promotion and tenure decisions increasingly consider not only the quantity but also the quality of publications, with particular weight given to A* and A journal articles.

Doctoral candidates in business disciplines are often encouraged to target ABDC-ranked journals for their research publications. The list serves as a guide for developing publication strategies that align with institutional and disciplinary expectations.

The ABDC Journal Quality List provides a quality assurance framework that helps maintain standards in business research across Australian universities. It supports consistency in research evaluation and helps identify emerging and declining research areas.

Advantages of the ABDC Journal Quality List

The ABDC Journal Quality List offers several benefits to the Australian academic community:

• Contextual Relevance: Unlike generic international rankings, the ABDC list is tailored to the specific needs and contexts of Australian business education and research.
• Comprehensive Coverage: The list encompasses a broad range of business disciplines, providing a holistic view of business scholarship.
• Expert Evaluation: The classification process involves subject matter experts who understand the nuances of different research areas.
• Dynamic Updates: Regular revisions ensure the list remains current with evolving publication landscapes and emerging journals.
• Consistency: The list provides a common framework for evaluating research quality across different Australian institutions.

Criticisms and Limitations

Despite its widespread adoption and utility, the ABDC Journal Quality List has faced some criticisms:

• Potential for Conformity: Some critics argue that reliance on journal rankings may incentivize researchers to target "safe" topics that align with established paradigms, potentially stifling innovative or interdisciplinary research.
• Methodological Concerns: Questions have been raised about the transparency and consistency of the classification process, particularly regarding how subjective judgments are balanced with quantitative metrics.
• Representation: Some scholars have noted potential biases in the selection of journals, with concerns that certain methodological approaches or regional perspectives may be underrepresented.
• Pressure for Performance: The focus on publishing in high-ranked journals may create excessive pressure on academics, potentially affecting research quality, work-life balance, and the cultivation of early career researchers.
• Potential for Misuse: When used as the sole criterion for research evaluation, journal rankings may oversimplify the complex process of assessing scholarly contribution.

Usage Guidelines and Best Practices

To maximize the benefits of the ABDC Journal Quality List while mitigating potential drawbacks, many Australian institutions have developed usage guidelines. These typically recommend:

• Using the list as one of several indicators of research quality, rather than the definitive measure.
• Considering discipline-specific publication patterns when evaluating research performance.
• Valuing contributions to C-ranked journals when they align with emerging research areas or serve practitioner communities.
• Supporting early career researchers through development opportunities rather than focusing solely on immediate high-tier publications.
• Recognizing alternative forms of research impact, such as policy influence, industry applications, and societal benefits.

International Recognition and Comparisons

While primarily developed for the Australian context, the ABDC Journal Quality List has gained recognition internationally as a valuable benchmark for business journal quality. Researchers and institutions from other countries, particularly in New Zealand and parts of Asia, sometimes reference the ABDC rankings as a supplementary evaluation tool.

The ABDC list maintains conceptual alignment with other prominent journal ranking systems worldwide:

• Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) Academic Journal Guide: Primarily used in the UK, this guide employs a similar four-tier ranking system.
• SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): A portal that includes journal indicators developed from information contained in the Scopus database.
• Journal Citation Reports (JCR): Published by Clarivate Analytics, providing impact factors for journals included in the Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index.

Impact on Research Strategy

The ABDC Journal Quality List has significantly influenced research strategies within Australian business schools. Institutions have adapted their research support systems, including:

• Providing additional support and resources for researchers targeting A* and A journals.
• Developing writing workshops and manuscript development programs focused on submission to higher-ranked journals.
• Creating incentives for collaborative research that enhances chances of publication in top-tier journals.
• Aligning conference travel and research funding with strategic publication goals.

For individual researchers, the list informs their publication strategies, career planning, and approach to developing their research programs. Many academics now explicitly target specific ABDC-ranked journals when designing research projects.

Future Developments

The ABDC continues to refine the Journal Quality List to address changing needs and concerns in the academic community. Potential future developments include:

• Increased transparency around the classification process and criteria.
• Better integration with altmetrics and new measures of research impact.
• Enhanced recognition for emerging research paradigms and methodologies.
• More nuanced approaches to evaluating interdisciplinary research that crosses traditional business boundaries.
• Greater consideration for journals serving practitioner audiences and regional markets.

Conclusion

The Australian Business Deans Council Journal Quality List has become an integral component of the Australian academic landscape, providing a valuable framework for evaluating research quality in business disciplines. While not without limitations, its development reflects the evolution of academic assessment in an increasingly competitive and metrics-driven higher education environment.

When used judiciously as part of a broader assessment framework that values diverse contributions to knowledge, the ABDC Journal Quality List serves as an important tool for maintaining and enhancing the quality of business research in Australia. Its ongoing refinement will be crucial in ensuring that it continues to serve the academic community effectively while adapting to the changing nature of scholarly communication and research impact.

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