The Altmetrics Hot 100: What Are the Most Influential Articles in Criminology and Criminal Justice?

• Published date: 01 August 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10439862231170949
• Author: Jessica Corey,Whitney Sanders
• Date: 01 August 2023

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862231170949

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2023, Vol. 39(3) 405 –428

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/10439862231170949

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Article

The Altmetrics Hot 100:

What Are the Most Influential

Articles in Criminology and

Criminal Justice?

Jessica Corey1 and Whitney Sanders1

Abstract

Citation counts have commonly been used to measure “influence” of criminal justice

and criminology (CCJ) scholars and articles. However, citation counts do not reflect

influence outside of academia and thus may not be the best way to determine the

true impact of scholarly work. This study uses the Altmetrics Attention Score (AAS)

to measure which CCJ articles are the most influential in CCJ. Results demonstrate

how AAS affects the ranking of “top” articles relative to the typical citation count

measures. Implications for future ranking studies are discussed.

Keywords

altmetrics, scholarly influence, article rankings

Introduction

Academic ranking studies have been used across scientific disciplines as a barometer

to measure prestige and research productivity. Such studies abound within criminol-

ogy and criminal justice (CCJ). With few exceptions, they rank peer-reviewed journals

(Barranco et al., 2015; DeJong & St George, 2018; Roche et al., 2019), the articles in

the journals (Graham et al., 2019), the scholars who write the articles (Cohn et al.,

2014, 2020; Cohn & Farrington, 1994, 1998, 2007, 2012; Orrick & Weir, 2011), and

academic programs in general (Davis & Sorensen, 2010; Steiner & Schwartz, 2006).

The typical metric used is citations. It is important, however, to consider influence

1University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jessica Corey, School of Economic, Political & Policy Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas,

Richardson, TX 75080, USA.

Email: Jessica.Corey@utdallas.edu

1170949CCJXXX10.1177/10439862231170949Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeCorey and Sanders

research-article2023

406Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 39(3)

beyond academia, which is not necessarily captured with citations. Our study adds to

this body of research by analyzing the most influential CCJ articles using an altmetric

aggregator, the “Altmetric Attention Score” (AAS; https://www.altmetric.com/about-

our-data/the-donut-and-score/).

We begin with a review of the main types of ranking studies published in CCJ, follow

with a discussion of previous research, and then outline our methodology. Using Cohn

and colleagues’ (2020) definition of scholarly influence as “. . .the importance of a given

scholar to the discipline, as well as to the impact that a given work has on subsequently

published research in the field” (pg. 361), we analyze the influence (via the AAS) of a list

of what we define as the top 100 CCJ peer-reviewed journal articles. We conclude with a

discussion of how to move forward in evaluating and ranking scholars and academic

work in the CCJ field, with a focus on altmetrics in lieu of citations.

Ranking Methodologies

The first main type of ranking study in CCJ ranks peer-reviewed journals (Barranco et

al., 2015; DeJong & St George, 2018; Roche et al., 2019). Ranking studies analyzing

peer-reviewed journals typically use the “Impact Factor” measure. The Impact Factor is

a common measure used to calculate the frequency with which the average article in a

given journal has been cited in a particular year. It is calculated every 2-year period,

specifically by dividing the number of times articles were cited by the number of articles

that are actually citable (Measuring Your Impact: Impact Factor, Citation Analysis, and

other Metrics: Journal Impact Factor (IF), n.d). Annually, Clarivate Analytics publishes

the Web of Science Journal Citation Report. This report provides the rankings of peer-

reviewed journals in the science and social science disciplines.

Based on a journal’s impact factor ranking, it may receive increased prestige and

notoriety. In CCJ, six journals consistently rank highly. In criminology specifically,

they are Criminology (CRIM), the Journal of Quantitative Criminology (JQC), and the

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency (JRCD). At the same time, Justice

Quarterly (JQ), Journal of Criminal Justice (JCJ), and Criminal Justice and Behavior

(CJB) are often among the highest-ranked in criminal justice. Several ranking studies,

including work by Cohn and Farrington (1994), have used these six journals, due not

just to their rankings but also because they are heavily CCJ-oriented. Subsequent

research has taken a similar approach (Barranco et al., 2015; DeJong & St. George,

2018; Orrick & Weir, 2011; Roche et al., 2019; Sorensen, 2009). Other CCJ journals

often include works covering criminology, criminal justice, and other social science

topics (e.g., behavior, psychology, and political climate), but the six journals refer-

enced above concentrate primarily on CCJ research.

Besides journals, scholars are also ranked using ratings compiled by other scholars

in the field, by the number of awards and acknowledgments received by scholarly

organizations, and by the number of citations in peer-reviewed journals and other

indexed publications (Cohn & Farrington, 1994). For nearly three decades, ranking

studies have been conducted ranking scholars in the CCJ field, resulting in the ele-

vated status and influence of various scholars (Cohn et al., 2014, 2020; Cohn &

Farrington, 1994, 1998, 2007, 2012; Orrick & Weir, 2011).