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Policy Studies Journal
H-index 21

Policy Studies Journal

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Political Science 40 38 54 17

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 59
Documents by Best Scientists*: 70
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 4
SCIMAGO H-index: 96
SCIMAGO SJR: 2.066
Impact Factor: 4.9

Overview

Top Research Topics at Policy Studies Journal?

The journal covers a variety of subjects, including Public administration, Politics, Public policy, Public economics and Policy studies. In addition to Public administration research, it aims to explore topics under Government, Process (engineering), Public relations and State (polity). The studies tackled, which mainly focus on Politics, apply to Political economy as well.

The in-depth study on Policy studies also explores topics in the intersecting field of Foreign policy analysis.

  • Public administration (33.28%)
  • Politics (15.99%)
  • Public policy (13.78%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Background on the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (796 citations)
  • Policy Entrepreneurship and Policy Change (594 citations)
  • THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC POLICY: A FRAMEWORK OF ANALYSIS* (518 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Policy Studies Journal:

The most cited articles mainly tackle studies in Public administration, Public relations, Public policy, Politics and Public economics. In particular, the Public administration works presented in the published articles emphasize discussions on Policy analysis. The studies on Politics discussed at the published papers can also contribute to research in the domains of Social psychology and Morality.

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Law
  • World War II
  • China

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The journal mainly tackles studies in Public administration, Diffusion (business), State (polity), Politics and Political economy. It blends together research topics in Public administration and Policy development. Topics in Diffusion (business) explored in the journal were investigated in conjunction with research in Life course approach, Spacetime, Econometrics and Industrial organization.

Policy Studies Journal holds forums on State (polity) that merges themes from other disciplines such as Legislature, Organizational performance, Economic system and Accounting. Politics research featured in Policy Studies Journal incorporates concerns from various other topics such as Aesthetics, Policy implementation, Well-being, Feeling and Regulatory enforcement. Some problems in Political economy that were presented in it overlapped with concepts under Sovereignty, Autism, Indian country, Political mobilization and Grammar.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Who Are Your Neighbors? The Role of Ideology and Decline of Geographic Proximity in the Diffusion of Policy Innovations (16 citations)
  • Topic Modeling and Text Analysis for Qualitative Policy Research (15 citations)
  • Experimentalist Governance with Interactive Central–Local Relations: Making New Pension Policies in China (15 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in Policy Studies Journal (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Christopher M. Weible (25 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 2 less than at the previous edition,
  • Michael D. Jones (21 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition,
  • Hank C. Jenkins-Smith (21 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Stuart S. Nagel (15 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Peter DeLeon (13 papers) absent at the last edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Policy Studies Journal (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Indiana University (43 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition,
  • University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (39 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • University of Washington (37 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Florida State University (32 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Syracuse University (32 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 69.23% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 20.00% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 5.00% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 20.00% of all publications and 55.00% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Career Opportunities in Policy Research

Policy research is an expansive field with various potential career paths. One of the key careers in this field is a policy analyst, whose primary responsibility is to examine the effectiveness of existing policies and suggest improvements or alternative approaches. Academic researchers who focus on policy studies often work in university settings, teaching and conducting research on various topics related to public administration, politics, public policy, public economics and policy studies. Public librarians can also find opportunities in policy research by assisting with data collection and information dissemination, and making improvements to access to information.

Minnesota, for example, has a thriving policy studies sector with numerous universities, research institutions and government agencies active in the field. For those who are interested in joining this field in Minnesota, it could be beneficial to start by gaining a proper understanding and knowledge base. You can do such by considering a school librarian role, which often serves as an excellent starting point to learn about research methodologies, data collection, and information management. Check out this article on how to become a school librarian in Minnesota to learn more about this exciting career path. This could be your first step in launching a versatile and dynamic career in policy research.

As you can see, possibilities in policy research are vast and varied. It can lead to rewarding careers that directly impact the formulation of public administration strategies, politics directions, policy decisions and public economics understanding. Step into this world and make a difference in shaping the future through well-informed, research-backed decisions.

Top Publications

  • Sharpening Advocacy Coalitions

    Christopher M. Weible;Karin Ingold;Daniel Nohrstedt;Adam Douglas Henry

    (2020)
    143 Citations
  • A Research Agenda for the Study of Policy Entrepreneurs

    Evangelia Petridou;Michael Mintrom

    (2021)
    103 Citations
  • Updating the Institutional Collective Action Framework

    Serena Y. Kim;William L. Swann;Christopher M. Weible;Thomas Bolognesi

    (2020)
    84 Citations
  • When Does Government Listen to the Public? Voluntary Associations and Dynamic Agenda Representation in the United States

    Shaun Bevan;Anne Rasmussen;Anne Rasmussen

    (2020)
    56 Citations
  • The Determinants of Public Policy: What Matters and How Much

    (2020)
    48 Citations
  • Capacity Building toward Resilience: How Communities Recover, Learn, and Change in the Aftermath of Extreme Events

    Elizabeth A. Albright;Deserai A. Crow

    (2021)
    47 Citations
  • China’s Policy Processes and the Advocacy Coalition Framework

    Wei Li;Christopher M. Weible

    (2021)
    47 Citations
  • Collective Action Problem Characteristics and Partner Uncertainty as Drivers of Social Tie Formation in Collaborative Networks

    Daniel Nohrstedt;Örjan Bodin

    (2020)
    43 Citations
  • Building blocks of polycentric governance

    (2023)
    40 Citations
  • Patterns of Participation and Representation in a Regional Water Collaboration

    Iris Hui;Nicola Ulibarri;Bruce Cain

    (2020)
    35 Citations

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

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Overall, aligning your Political Science background with these related online degrees can help tailor your education to specific career goals while considering factors like cost, program duration, and accreditation.

Best Scientists Contributing to This Journal