Business School Research: Measuring Value Contribution Through Citations of Journals in Patents

Academic research from business schools should be relevant and rigorous; however, business school research has often been criticized for its lack of value and relevance to business. In addition, business schools have been asked to assess the impact of faculty research. This paper examines citations of journals in patents to assess one dimension of that value, relevance, and impact. In particular, this paper analyzes the number of patents that cite specific journals focusing on eight business disciplines, as an alternative approach for assessing this one dimension: patentable research. In addition, this paper uses citations of journals in patents to assess the leading journals in these eight disciplines.