Where Should Educational Leadership Authors Publish to Get Noticed by the Top Journals in the Discipline?

Abstract

Purpose: The current study seeks to understand which journals have been recently cited by scholars publishing in the field of educational leadership (i.e., specifically publishing in Educational Administration Quarterly [ EAQ] and Journal of School Leadership [ JSL]). Method: The researchers recorded the name and number of occurrences of journals that appeared in the bibliographies of articles published in EAQ and JSL from 2000 to 2007. The total counts for EAQ and JSL were combined to reach a final count. All journals then were rank ordered according to frequency. Findings: Five main findings were noted in the current study. First, it was found that authors who contribute to these journals tend to reference a different set of periodicals compared to those that professors of educational leadership say they actually read. Second, two of the leading journals ( EAQ and JSL) in the field of educational leadership may be reaching unique audiences. Third, of the top 25 cited journals, slightly more than one third of the articles cited in EAQ and JSL from 2000 to 2007 were published in those two journals. Fourth, 4 of the top 15 most cited journals are practitioner journals. Finally, the findings show where educational leadership authors should publish to get their work noticed by top scholars in the field. Conclusion: The current study adds a valuable factor influencing authors’ choices of journals in which to publish their work: a journal’s citation frequency. The citation patterns noted in the current article will help authors consider issues of spread and replicability when seeking suitable outlets to publish their scholarly work.