The origins of research and patterns of authorship in the International Journal of Production Research

Abstract

This paper evaluates the origins of the research that has been published in the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) for the time period 1985–2010, which includes approximately 77% of all articles that have been published in IJPR since its inception. We assess the productivity of individual authors, the author’s affiliation at the time each article was published, the country the author’s affiliation is located, and the institution where the author was granted a Ph.D. degree. By analysing the countries in which author affiliations are located, we can determine which countries are having the greatest impact on defining the research published in IJPR. For international journals, it is important to publish research from an international constituency, thus maintaining one of its purposes. By analysing the affiliations of the authors as well as where the authors received their Ph.D. training, we can determine which institutions are having the greatest contributions to the research published in IJPR. We believe it is useful to consider both the affiliations of the authors and where the authors received their academic training since both are indicative of an institution’s true influence on a journal. To date, no published study has examined the individuals, institutions, and countries that have contributed to IJPR and, in particular, where the contributing researchers received their Ph.D. degrees.

Keywords:

• operational research
• operations management