Political Science: Influential Journals and Books

Journals

There are three main measures of the prestige and influence of journals. 

• What reputation does a journal have in a survey of researchers in the discipline?
• How often is a journal is cited? 
• How often is a journal cited if calculated recursively, giving more weight to citations in journals that are themselves frequently cited?

Each of these measures is applied in one of the articles linked below.

Bear in mind that political theorists and qualitative researchers are more likely to cite and be cited by books rather than articles.  This means that formal and quantitative research will rank more highly in many of these measures, but this is quite possibly due to format of publication rather than quality.  See below for help finding influential books.

Carter, David, and Arthur P. Spirling. 2008. Under the influence? Intellectual exchange in political science. PS: Political Science & Politics 41(2): 375-378.

Giles, Micheal W. and James C. Garand. 2007. Ranking political science journals: Reputational and citational approaches. PS: Political Science & Politics 40: 741-751.

McLean, Iain et al. 2009. "Comparative journal rankings: A survey report."  Political Studies Review 7(1): 18-38.

Books

Perspectives on Politics, a journal of the American Political Science Association, reviews books in all sub-fields four times per year.

APSA, and its sections, annually name best books in over thirty different sub-fields and categories.  The APSA Book Awards lists all of the awards and links to past winners.

Review Articles

 Annual Review of Political Science, 1998-present  Each year, this publication publishes literature reviews of specific topics in American politics, comparative politics, political theory, and international relations.  These articles highlight the most prominent books and articles, from classic to contemporary, in a current debate, making them a good place to begin your research.