Journal ranking should depend on the level of aggregation
arXiv:1904.06300 · doi:10.1016/j.joi.2019.100975
Abstract
Journal ranking is becoming more important in assessing the quality of academic research. Several indices have been suggested for this purpose, typically on the basis of a citation graph between the journals. We follow an axiomatic approach and find an impossibility theorem: any self-consistent ranking method, which satisfies a natural monotonicity property, should depend on the level of aggregation. Our result presents a trade-off between two axiomatic properties and reveals a dilemma of aggregation.
arXiv comment10 pages, 2 figures