The discussion about rankings and impact plays a central role in Information Systems, as publication locations are increasingly used to evaluate scientific quality, allocate resources, and plan careers. For students and doctoral candidates, this raises the question of how they can understand these instruments and use them responsibly for their own work. This page provides an overview of key concepts, metrics, and rankings, as well as tips on how to meaningfully integrate them into your own research process.

Why are rankings important?

Rankings play an essential role in the science of business informatics. They allow researchers, universities, students, and professionals to gain an idea of the quality, impact, and relevance of research and educational institutions. Rankings can help in making decisions about programs of study, research collaborations, and career moves.

What does “Impact” Mean?

In a scientific context, impact is usually understood to mean the visibility and reception of publications, often operationalized through citations. In this context, various metrics have been established that each reflect different aspects of impact:

• Put simply, the impact factor measures how often articles in a journal are cited within a given period.
• CiteScore is based on a similar principle, but uses a different reference period and a broader database.
• The H-index attempts to combine the productivity and citation frequency of an author into a single metric.

These metrics are helpful indicators, but they are not absolute judgments of quality. They depend on the culture of the discipline, citation habits, and the coverage of the underlying databases. In business informatics in particular, which operates at the interface between computer science, business administration, and the social sciences, impact metrics should always be interpreted in a context-sensitive manner.

Methods of Assessment:

• Publications and citations: A commonly used method is to analyze scholarly publications and citations. The more frequently a publication is cited, the higher it is rated.
• Research reputation: the reputation of an institution is often determined by surveys of experts. These surveys help assess the perception and influence of research institutions.
• Teaching quality: The quality of teaching can be evaluated based on factors such as student-teacher ratio, number of graduates, employment prospects, etc.
• International outlook: an institution's international outlook can be measured by international collaborations, student exchanges, and research collaborations.

Leading institutions:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): MIT is known for its excellent research and teaching in information systems. It houses the MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
2. Stanford University: Stanford University is a pioneer in the fields of technology and information systems. It is home to the Stanford Technology Ventures Program and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.
3. Harvard University: Harvard Business School offers programs in technology management and innovation. The university also has renowned information research centers.
4. University of California, Berkeley: UC Berkeley is known for its research in information systems, data analytics, and technology management.

Tips for interpreting rankings:

• Understand methodology: Understand the criteria and weightings used to rank. A poorly understood methodology can lead to incorrect conclusions.
• Variety of criteria: Consider that rankings are based on a variety of criteria. Depending on your personal goals, some criteria may be more important than others.
• Individual needs: The "best" ranking is subjective and depends on your individual goals. A university that does well in a particular ranking is not necessarily the best choice for your needs.
• Long-term success: rankings can change over time. Also, consider an institution's long-term success instead of short-term fluctuations.

Central Rankings and Lists in Information Systems

In business informatics, a series of rankings and lists are used to classify the importance of journals and conferences. Three reference points are particularly relevant here:

• The AIS lists (e. g., AIS Senior Scholar Basket of Eight (A search guide can be found here), AIS - Senior Scholars' List of Premier Journals) offer a professionally curated view of the international business informatics community on particularly renowned journals.
• The VHB-JOURQUAL3 (VHB-JOURQUAL3: Business & Information Systems Engineering) is a journal ranking supported by the German-speaking business administration community, which also classifies business informatics journals and is frequently used for performance evaluation in the DACH region.
• The FT50 list (Financial Times 50, FT50 Ranking) focuses on leading journals in the field of management and business; some of the journals listed there are relevant to business informatics research, but are not primarily the focus of the discipline.

It is important to note that these rankings pursue different objectives: While AIS lists are highly discipline-specific and community-based, VHB-JOURQUAL is primarily used for business management evaluation practices, and FT50 is more geared toward perception in international business schools. For business informatics, it is therefore advisable to take a combined approach, comparing discipline-specific and general rankings.

Conferences in Information Systems

Unlike many areas of business administration, conferences are particularly important in Information Systems. International conferences such as AIS conferences or established IS conferences in the DACH region are often considered to be equivalent or complementary to journals as places of publication. Conference contributions not only serve to quickly disseminate new research results, but also to network and provide early feedback to the community.

It is important for students and doctoral candidates to understand that in business informatics, a distinction is often made between conference and journal publications – and that high-quality conferences can even be “ranked” internally. A conscious focus on renowned conferences can therefore be very valuable both for the visibility of projects and for building a scientific network.

In my opinion, conferences of particular importance for business informatics are as follows:

1. International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS)
2. Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS)
3. Pacific Conference on Information Systems (PACIS)
4. European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS)
5. Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI)
6. Midwest Conference on Information Systems (MWAIS)
7. Italian Conference on Information Systems (ItAIS)

Independently of this, there are numerous special conferences. Feel free to contact me (Matthias Gottlieb) if you have any questions about this.

Journals and SIGs in Information Systems and Related Fields

Information Systems is structured by numerous journals and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that focus on specific topics or methods. Lists of journals and SIGs can help you position your own work within a research ecosystem. At the same time, there are important interfaces with related disciplines, such as operations research, entrepreneurship research, and computer science.

However, an overview page on ranking and impact should clearly focus on core publications in Information Systems. References to related areas are useful if they are well justified (e. g., “operations research journals relevant to optimization problems in information systems”), but should not overshadow IS-specific journals with very long lists from other disciplines. A concise section on interdisciplinary related journals is usually sufficient here.

According to the Department of Economics at FU Berlin, the following journals and SIGs are still relevant. [1]

Journals in Information Systems:

• Electronic Markets [B]
• Business and Information Systems Engineering [B]
• Information and Organization [B]
• Communications of the Association for Information Systems [C]
• Business Process Management Journal [C]

Journals in Operations Research:

• Operations Research [A+]
• Transportation Science [A]
• European Journal of Operational Research [A]
• Computers & Operations Research [B]
• Transportation Research (six separate Journals, a.o.: Part A (Policy and Practice) [-], Part B (Methodological) [B], Part C (Emerging Technologies) [-], Part E (Logistics and Transportation Review [-])

Journals in Entrepreneurship:

• Research Policy [A]
• Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice [A]
• Journal of Business Venturing [A]
• Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal [A]
• Small Business Economics [B]
• Journal of Small Business Management [B]
• The Journal of Technology Transfer [B]

Practical Advice for Students and Doctoral Candidates

For students in bachelor's and master's programs, rankings and impact metrics primarily serve as a guide. When writing seminar papers and theses, it is advisable to:

• obtain the core literature from relevant journals and conferences in the field of business informatics,
• use impact metrics and rankings as filters, not as rigid exclusion criteria,
• and consciously include interdisciplinary sources if they are well-founded in terms of content.

For doctoral candidates, rankings also play a role in their publication strategy. This raises the question of how top-tier but difficult-to-access journals and conferences relate to more realistic publication goals and how this can be integrated into the time planning of the doctoral project. Rankings and impact metrics should be understood as strategic tools, not as an end in themselves: the quality and originality of one's own research remains decisive, not just the position of the publication venue in a list.

In addition to rankings, networks, associations and professional societies play a central role in shaping careers in information systems, for example through conferences, SIGs and awards. Anyone wishing to better understand how the community is organised across national and international associations can find further information in the article Associations in Information Systems: Networks for Innovation and Knowledge Exchange.

Critical reflection on Rankings

Finally, it is important to critically reflect on rankings and impact metrics. They may:

• favor certain topics and methods,
• underrepresent innovative or interdisciplinary approaches,
• and reinforce institutional power structures rather than questioning them.

A reflective approach means viewing rankings as one perspective on scientific quality—helpful, but incomplete. For responsible scientific practice in business informatics, they should always be combined with professional judgment, methodological rigor, and relevance to the subject matter.

Link

[1] https://www.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/fachbereich/bwl/pwo/lehre/Journal-Empfehlungen/index.html, accessed at 08/30/2023