One of the key things to realize about the SSCI Impact Factors is that they are based on citations in other journals that are members of the SSCI!!! NOT from all journals. Hence, the history of success of most North American journals is that the senior ones are more likely to be in the SSCI combined with the prevalence of lower impact North American based journals in the SSCI. Worldwide it is both less likely the senior journals are in the SSCI and if they are in the SSCI it is less likely that lower impact journals are also in the SSCI. Both of these factors contribute strongly to the dominance of the American three accounting journals in impact factors.

But recently more and more non-American journals have been joining the SSCI. With that brings a wider diversity of types of research that is reported on and cited in those journals. In particular I note that the Critical Trio as I like to call them (AAAJ, CPA as well as the more centrist AOS) are, effective next year, ALL members of the SSCI. Given the huge number of citations AAAJ and CPA generate for AOS, despite the short term downward drift of AOS in the two year impact factor that looks large on the surface, seems likely to be transitory shock as capital markets folks might say. Note that AAAJ has only be in the SSCI for two years and CPA starts in 2015. Given AOS’s current high 5 year impact factor (still number 2 among all accounting journals) and given the added numbers that will be coming in from AAAJ and CPA over the next three to five years, AOS is definitely a candidate for being the big winner this year.

Tomorrow another likely big winner is discussed!