{"id":5394,"date":"2017-08-29T16:23:15","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T20:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/?p=5394"},"modified":"2017-08-29T16:23:15","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T20:23:15","slug":"big-milestone-for-jsr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/2017\/08\/big-milestone-for-jsr\/","title":{"rendered":"Big milestone for JSR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This is a guest article by\u00a0Denise M.\u00a0Fireng,\u00a0Center for Service Leadership<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Academic research is a deep vein of insights for business. The best research inspires further academic inquiry, and as the new ideas move into the practice of business via the popular press, textbooks, classrooms and executive education, research proves itself a well-spring of innovation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-777 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/15315_05JSR07_Cover.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"198\" \/>In June, the Journal of Service Research (JSR) was ranked No. 4 among all business journals, based on the number of times its articles had been cited in subsequent scholarship over a two-year period. That means the JSR is not only a source of the best original work\u2014it also contributes building blocks for the formation of future ground-breaking ideas.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-652 size-thumbnail alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mary_Jo_Bitner_SX_2014-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/>The news came just as Center for Services Leadership Director Mary Jo Bitner was wrapping up four years as editor of the journal. \u201cThis is the role of relevant, academic research: to focus on new, important topics and develop new knowledge around those topics,\u201d Bitner said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Impact Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to the ranking, JSR articles were cited by other scholars an average of 6.8 times in 2014 and 2015, a jump of about 4 points for the period that Bitner was at the helm. Citations &#8212; the number of times the paper is cited by others, post-publication\u2014are an important measure of the influence of a particular piece of research. Only three other business journals, all of them more general in content, collected more citations. That means JSR is one of the most influential journals around right now.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5428 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/JSRImpactFactorImage-1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>The high marks are a testament to the quality of the work published in JSR \u2014 its rigor and relevance. Bitner was only the fourth editor of JSR, which was founded 1998 to provide a U.S.-based research journal focused on service. As a young researcher, she was one of the first to explore new ideas and theories for managing service organizations. Many of the ideas first published by her and other academic service researchers on concepts such as service quality, customer satisfaction, service encounters, self-service, servitization, co-production and others are now widely used by managers to build value for customers and profit for their firms.<\/p>\n<p>As research flourished, it became clear that service was relevant to all enterprises and all parts of the firm, and by the time JSR was founded, the need for a cross-disciplinary journal reflecting the ubiquity of service in the economy was evident.<\/p>\n<p>The quarterly JSR has benefitted from strong leadership from its inception, starting with founding editor Professor Roland Rust and followed by Professors Parsu Parasuraman and Katherine Lemon. Bitner was no exception. During her tenure, she instituted a multi-step review process executed by associate editors chosen from among the leaders of the discipline. The review process yields a set of detailed critiques for every article considered for publication, even those that eventually do not make the cut. This deep vetting insures that the strongest research gets published: no surprise that other researchers cite the work in downstream papers. But it also helps researchers become better at what they do.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, Bitner said, JSR has a reputation for being developmental. She routinely received letters from authors whose papers were accepted after several rounds, thanking her for the constructive reviews that helped them improve. And, she even received thank you letters from authors whose papers were rejected, noting how their work was stronger thanks to the process and the detailed reviews.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes sense \u2013 it is the Journal of Service Research,\u201d she said. \u201cIn a way, we were providing a service to authors, and by being constructive we were helping to build the field.\u201d Bitner explains that a number of factors drove the rise in citations. Service is now a defining characteristic of the U.S. economy, and as such is the focus of a lot of research and special sections in other journals. If a paper is about service it is likely to cite a JSR article. Many, including a paper led by W. P. Carey Marketing Professor Amy Ostrom about research priorities in the field, are among the most frequently cited in the discipline.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Road Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2611 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/profile-mike-brady_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/profile-mike-brady_1.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/profile-mike-brady_1-144x144.jpg 144w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>Michael Brady of Florida State University took the reins as editor on June 1. \u201cThe journal is in great hands with Mike,\u201d Bitner said. The transition has enabled her to shift focus back to her own research, on branded service and on authenticity as it relates to employees, brands and customer expectations. The National Customer Rage Study, produced by the Center for Services Leadership in partnership with Customer Care Measurement &amp; Consulting, will also occupy her time this fall.<\/p>\n<p>(This blog post is also featured on the CSL Blog here: <a href=\"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/services-leadership\/2017\/08\/08\/top-echelon-journal-of-service-research\/\">https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/services-leadership\/2017\/08\/08\/top-echelon-journal-of-service-research\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a guest article by\u00a0Denise M.\u00a0Fireng,\u00a0Center for Service Leadership Academic research is a deep vein of insights for business. The best research inspires further academic inquiry, and as the new ideas move into the practice of business via the popular press, textbooks, classrooms and executive education, research proves itself a well-spring of innovation. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5394"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5429,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5394\/revisions\/5429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servsig.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}