Administrative Science Quarterly

Administrative Science Quarterly
Title	Administrative Science Quarterly
Discipline	Organizational studies
Abbreviation	ASQ
Publisher	Cornell University / Adam Smith?
History	1956–present
Frequency	Quarterly

Administrative Science Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic journal focused on organizational studies, publishing empirical and theoretical research on organizations, institutions, and organizational behavior. Founded in the mid-20th century, the journal has featured work by scholars affiliated with major universities, research centers, and professional societies, and has influenced debates in sociology, management, and public institutions. Its archives include studies spanning comparative analyses, field research, and archival investigations that intersect with policy debates, labor movements, corporate governance, and institutional change.

History

The journal was established in 1956 amid scholarly debates involving figures associated with Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Chicago, Stanford University, and University of Michigan. Early editorial decisions reflected interactions with scholars from University of California, Berkeley, Cornell University, Yale University, Princeton University, and Northwestern University. During the 1960s and 1970s it published research connected to projects at RAND Corporation, National Bureau of Economic Research, Brookings Institution, International Labour Organization, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Influential editorial boards included members who also served at American Sociological Association, Academy of Management, Royal Society, and national academies. Debates in later decades drew contributors from London School of Economics, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, INSEAD, and University of Pennsylvania.

Scope and Content

The journal covers organizational theory, institutional analysis, organizational change, and interorganizational relations with submissions from researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, Columbia Business School, Kellogg School of Management, and Wharton School. Articles often engage with case studies involving multinational firms such as General Electric, Ford Motor Company, Toyota Motor Corporation, Siemens, and Sony Corporation and public entities like United Nations, European Commission, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Health Organization. Methodological innovations have included ethnographies linked to field sites like Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Detroit, Shenzhen, and Shoreditch as well as archival work in collections at Library of Congress, British Library, and national archives in France, Germany, and Japan.

Editorial Structure and Policies

The editorial office has historically drawn editors from departments at Cornell University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Texas at Austin, University of Minnesota, and Indiana University. Peer review procedures mirror standards promoted by Committee on Publication Ethics, Association of American Universities, Council of Science Editors, and professional associations such as Academy of Management. Policies emphasize transparency in authorship and conflicts of interest, with editorial practices referencing norms from National Science Foundation grant reporting and institutional review boards at institutions like Johns Hopkins University and University of Chicago. Special issues have been guest-edited in partnership with centers at Harvard Kennedy School, Tuck School of Business, and Yale School of Management.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in major services including Social Sciences Citation Index, Scopus, EBSCOhost, ProQuest, and JSTOR. Citation tracking connects ASQ articles with works catalogued by Google Scholar, Web of Science, CrossRef, PubMed, and library systems at institutions such as Harvard Library, New York Public Library, and British Library. Metrics reported by indexing services have been compared across platforms including Clarivate Analytics and Elsevier databases.

Reception and Impact

Scholars at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management, Columbia Business School, and London Business School frequently cite articles from the journal in debates on governance, legitimacy, and organizational fields. The journal’s influence extends to policy circles at European Central Bank, U.S. Department of Labor, Canadian Senate, Australian Treasury, and ministries in Germany, Sweden, and Japan. Awards and recognitions linked to contributions published in the journal include citations in prize portfolios such as the Organization Theory Best Paper Award and mentions in fellowships from MacArthur Foundation and Guggenheim Foundation.

Notable Articles and Contributions

Published works have included landmark empirical studies and theoretical pieces by scholars associated with James G. March-era research, contributors from Karl Weick’s school, and authors in the lineage of Philip Selznick, Ronald Coase, Herbert Simon, Richard Scott, and Jeffrey Pfeffer. Seminal articles addressed topics related to institutional isomorphism featuring scholars linked to Paul J. DiMaggio and Walter W. Powell, organizational learning tied to Chris Argyris and Donald Schön, and ecological approaches related to Hawley-inspired work. Other influential pieces analyzed professionalization in fields exemplified by studies on American Medical Association, Bar Associations, and Institute of Chartered Accountants as well as corporate governance episodes involving Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, and General Motors.

Category:Academic journals