Assessing the impact of JIBS as an interdisciplinary journal: A network approach

In this editorial, we assess the cross-disciplinary connections of JIBS by examining its citation network, which spreads across no less than 36 disciplines or fields. Using a citation network of 166 citing and 645 cited journals, we investigate JIBS’ interdisciplinarity using the intermediation and integration approaches of network analysis. Our analyses of citation patterns for a 12-year time period (2001–2012) suggests that JIBS is helping bridge disciplines that do not often otherwise talk to each other – a task of critical importance for new knowledge creation. We also find that JIBS is enabling integration of knowledge from a diverse set of disciplines in comparison to other prominent leading management journals.