Presentation of the FNEGE Journal Quality List

The FNEGE, in partnership with its Scientific College, publishes every three years the Journal Quality List (JQL) of academic journals in management sciences. The previous ranking was established in 2022. The next revision will take place in 2028.

The list of scientific journals included in the FNEGE Ranking is supported by the 24 scholarly associations that are members of the Scientific College: AAIG, ADERSE, AEI, AFC, AFFI, AFM, AFMAT, AGeCSO, AGRH, AHMO, AIM, AIMS, AIREPME, AIRL-SCM, AIRMAP, ARAMOS, ARIHME, ATLAS-AFMI, GEM&L, IAS, I.P&M, RIODD, SFM, SPSG. The shared objective is to establish a categorisation:
– That reflects as accurately as possible the specificity of the research carried out by scholars working in management schools—whether public or private institutions—and more broadly in all establishments and laboratories where issues related to the management of organisations (firms, public administrations, non-profit organisations, etc.) are addressed with management sciences as the dominant lens;
– That considers the diversity of teaching, research activities, and faculty bodies within management schools, hence the inclusion of leading international journals from disciplines connected to management sciences such as economics, sociology, psychology, or more broadly the social sciences, from which management sciences frequently borrow methods or concepts, provided that these journals publish articles relevant to management sciences. These journals are therefore associated with management fields in the disciplinary classification;
– That is based primarily on criteria of scientific quality and rigour.
– That does not favour specific epistemological, theoretical, or methodological approaches, but instead reflects their diversity;
– That allows for the exclusion of predatory journals, which proliferate and devalue the production of scientific knowledge in management sciences by artificially adopting the appearance of rigorous journals, making them difficult to identify.

More fundamentally, the FNEGE ranking enables the recognition of the specific features of research published in journals from the French-speaking management science community, particularly when these journals prioritise publication in the French language. Indeed, they are disadvantaged by traditional international scientific quality and impact metrics based on co-citation, and are therefore very rarely included in foreign rankings. This is the main reason for the existence of the FNEGE ranking, which assumes the presence of unique intellectual traditions within the French-speaking management research community that would struggle to find their place in international journals, regardless of the language of dissemination.

This results in differentiated ranking methodologies for international journals and those from the French-speaking community, as well as a general cross-ranking irrespective of the journal’s origin. The FNEGE ranking also promotes continuous improvement for journals from the French-speaking community, as cross-ranking with international journals implies increasing expectations from one edition to the next. Finally, it contributes to enhancing their international visibility.

This list is intended to serve as a reference for researchers, laboratories, all institutions of management education and research, and evaluation bodies. Naturally, this list has a generic character. It is up to users to adopt and apply it according to their own needs. Furthermore, the list should not be used as an automatic tool to assess the individual quality of published articles without reading them, nor to select a publication outlet without taking into account the specific editorial policies of each journal. Young researchers in management sciences are particularly advised to use this list with moderation when choosing a publication venue, to carefully review the journal’s editorial policy, and to seek advice from more experienced scholars.

Finally, it should be recalled that articles published in academic journals represent only one form of dissemination of research activities and intellectual contributions by scholars. The FNEGE and the Scientific College acknowledge this diversity and importance through other mechanisms as well (including the labelling of books and conferences).

The 2025 ranking procedure and the perspectives for 2028 can be downloaded here: PDF