Handelsblatt Ranking and Journal Quality: A Cautionary Note

I provide a brief discussion of the Handelsblatt ranking by focusing on its journal quality weights. I summarize the methodology underlying journals’ prestige measure, which is derived from their citation networks, and discuss its strengths and shortcomings. Although I agree that Handelsblatt ranking provides a great service to the profession, that same profession needs to be rather careful not to overemphasize the journal quality weights.