Use of Hirsch Index for Measuring the Impact of IS Academic Research and Journals

This study examines the use of journal rankings and a relatively new method of measuring impact of research as a surrogate of scholarly impact: the Hirsch Index (Hirsch 2005). Journal rankings are a very important exercise in academia since they impact tenure and promotion decisions. Current methods employed to rank journal influence are shown to be subjective. We propose that the Hirsch Index be adopted as a more objective journal ranking method. To demonstrate the results of using the Hirsch Index, it is applied to the “pure MIS” journals ranked by Rainer and Miller (2005). The authors find substantial differences between the scholar rankings and those obtained using the Hirsch index. This provides weak support for the current journal ranking system but also suggests that other factors are at play.