Impact of the special issues in sport management and sociology journals

ABSTRACT

Rationale/purpose

There is a lack of evidence of the impact of the special issues (SIs) published in sport management and sociology journals compared to “normal” issues, as well as the differing impacts of different SIs. This review analyses the impact of the SIs published in these journals over the 2014–2020 period.

Design/methodology/approach

Two analyses were conducted based on Scopus data: “raw” and “relative” (SI cites divided by journal cites outside the SI). 205 SIs were identified, of which 180 had a CiteScore.

Findings

SIs are more impactful than “normal” issues, in particular when they have an appropriate focus (broad enough but not too diluted). Besides, the mix between reviews and esports appears particularly impactful, as exemplified by the reviews published by Sport Management Review in 2018.

Practical implications

A SI has a higher impact if it has an appropriate focus on a trendy topic and includes reviews.

Research contribution

The review evidences the impact of the SIs in sport management and sociology journals.

KEYWORDS:

• Impact
• special issues
• sport management
• sport sociology
• Scopus CiteScore

Acknowledgements

The author thanks an anonymous reviewer and the editor in charge of the paper for their useful feedback, as well as Manchester Metropolitan University for its support with this research. All errors are his own.

Disclosure statement

The author acknowledges that he is Associate Editor of the journal.

Notes

1 CiteScores in t are released early May in t+1. This means that the CiteScores 2021 should be known early May 2022.

2 An alternative approach would have been to divide by the cites generated by the journal per article outside all the SIs published over the period under consideration, i.e. the cites generated by the “normal” issues of the journal per article. However, data about all the SIs published in 2011, 2012 and 2013 would have been needed since they affect the CiteScores 2014 (2011-2014), 2015 (2012-2015) and 2016 (2013-2016). Their collection would have been extremely time consuming for a limited added value compared to the approach chosen here.

3 There are actually 12 management and 10 sociology journals, but also 3 communication / media, 3 law, 2 marketing, 1 analytics, 1 development, 1 economics / finance and 1 policy journal. The rationale for the choice of the journals selected was to cover any sport journal relevant to sport management and sociology degrees and the units offered in such programmes. The full list of SIs is available as Appendix 2 in Scelles (2020). However, it must be noted that 11 additional SIs were identified since then:

• “Name, Image, and Likeness” edited by Madison Martin and Will Lindsey in Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law in 2020;

• “Physical Education and Sport in Indonesia – Perspectives from 2020” edited by John Saunders in International Sports Studies in 2020;

• “Player Tracking Data in the National Football League (NFL)” edited by Michael Lopez in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sport in 2020;

• “Sport and Documentary” edited by Travis Vogan and CL Cole in Journal of Sport and Social Issues in 2020;

• “The Future of Sports Media in the Digital Age” edited by Jennifer L. Harker and Michael L. Mirer in Journal of Sports Media in 2020;

• “Organizing the World Cup: Organization, heritage and failing bids (1930–1998)” edited by Philippe Vonnard, Clément Astruc, Lorenzo Jalabert D’Amado and Nicola Sbetti, and “Soccer Under Authoritarian Regimes” edited by Jean-Michel De Waele and Alina Trif, both in Soccer & Society in 2020;

• “Advances in Sport Management” edited by Anna Gerke and Birnir Egilsson in Sport, Business and Management in 2020;

• “Gender, Physical Education and Active Lifestyles: Contemporary Developments and New Challenges 2” edited by Annette Stride, Anne Flintoff, Hayley Fitzgerald, Scarlett Drury and Ruth Brazier in Sport, Education and Society in 2018;

• “Eric Dunning: A Tribute” edited by Dominic Malcolm and Ivan Waddington, and “SportsWorld V: The Evolving SportsWorld: Sports and Physical Activities in the Time of COVID-19” edited by John Nauright and Sarah Zipp, both in Sport in Society in 2020.

4 Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science, Case Studies in Sport Management, Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, Journal of Applied Sport Management, Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, Journal of Sports Media and Marquette Sports Law Review are not on Scopus.

5 Acronyms for journals from now on, full names in Appendix.