B-School Deans' Perceptions of E-Journals (Business Schools) (Report‪)‬

ABSTRACT Electronic journals are clearly now part of the landscape of intellectual, peer-reviewed journals. Given that published intellectual contributions affect faculty pay, promotion, merit and tenure, this survey of business school deans reveals that not all deans regard e-journals as meritorious as their hard copy brethren. A 25.5% response rate from the 419 deans of AACSB member institutions suggests that interest in the subject was strong. An overwhelming 84.11% of Business School Deans said that their faculty evaluation policies include criteria for rating the quality of a journal in which the faculty are publishing. Among the 90 respondents comprising the 84.11%, about 20% indicated that the format of the journal (electronic versus print) was an important factor in their rating process. 42% indicated that format was of little or no importance. Interestingly, among the respondents indicating that their business school did not rate journal quality, 93% do not consider electronic journal publications to be valid intellectual contributions. Among all survey respondents, none indicate that their business school weights electronic journals superior to print journals, but almost 32% indicate that print journals are more heavily weighted than electronic.