Reducing the Matthew Effect on Journal Citations through an Inclusive Indexing Logic: The Brazilian Spell (Scientific Periodicals Electronic Library) Experience

Abstract

The inclusion of scientific journals in prestigious indexers is often associated with higher citation rates; journals included in such indexers are significantly more acknowledged than those that are not included in them. This phenomenon refers to the Matthew effect on journal citations, according to which journals in exclusive rankings tend to be increasingly cited. This paper shows the opposite: that the inclusion of journals in local indexers ruled by inclusive logic reduces the Matthew effect on journal citations since it enables them to be equally exposed. Thus, we based our arguments on the comparison of 68 Brazilian journals before and after they were indexed in the Scientific Periodicals Electronic Library (Spell), which ranks journals in the Brazilian management field based on local citations. Citation impact indicators and iGini (a new individual inequality analysis measure) were used to show that the inclusion of journals in Spell has probably increased their impact factor and decreased their citation inequality rates. Using a difference-in-differences model with continuous treatment, the results indicated that the effect between ranking and inequality declined after journals were included in Spell. Additional robustness checks through event study models and interrupted time-series analysis for panel data point to a reduction in citation inequality but follow different trajectories for the 2- and 5-year impact. The results indicate that the indexer has reduced the Matthew effect on journal citations.