Journal rankings: do they matter?

In this article, Dickson examines whether journal rankings matter in actuarial science.. Dickson argues that it is better to have a high ranking than a low one It is also an achievement for a relatively new journal to achieve the same ranking as more established journals that have published some very important papers over the years. One effect of journal rankings is that many researchers initially submit their papers to highly ranked journals. In fields where there are huge numbers of researchers, this can lead to large numbers of submissions (and very high rejection rates). Dickson concludes that whether journal rankings matter depends on your perspective.