How international are the top academic journals? The case of marketing

The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of international involvement in the editorial boards and content of the leading journals of the marketing discipline to investigate a reported bias against non‐US material.

The research employed two approaches: editorial board and content analysis of ten leading marketing journals, and interviews with an expert panel of senior marketing academics.

The top journals of the marketing journal were found to have low levels of international involvement, with high proportions of both US authors and data, and US membership of editorial boards. The editorial board analysis also revealed institutional links with journal boards, and a network of overlapping membership between the editorial boards. The expert panel provided divergent views on reasons for the USA dominance, but the board analysis seemed to best fit with the suggestion of networks of scholars who are naturally inclined to favor research that fits their world view.

To improve publishing success under the current status quo, scholars can emulate the favored (US) research approach and writing style; network with the “right” people; or raise a new research paradigm to dominance. Journal editors can increase the diversity in editorial boards to encourage international involvement in their publications.

The research combines traditional empirical investigation with qualitative input via an expert panel to provide new insight into barriers to global dissemination of scholarly research.