The Use and Valuation of Journals in Planning Scholarship: Peer Assessment versus Impact Factors

Abstract

A Web-based survey of faculty at all ACSP schools is used to assess the value peers place on various journals. The results of the survey show that two journals—the Journal of the American Planning Association and the Journal of Planning Education and Research—dominate all others in importance. The authors analyze the survey data to identify how the relative valuation of journals differs by individual faculty or institutional characteristics. The authors then test whether the journals’ importance by peer judgment is related to journal impact factors. The results demonstrate clearly there is no correlation between the two.