NERCRD Research Achievements

[last updated June 10, 2021]

NERCRD recent research has been used at the highest levels of the federal government

The 2019 Economic Report of the President (pdf) cited three scientific papers written by NERCRD and collaborating researchers. One examines the economic conditions of Rural America during the current administration. The other two focus on the determinants of self-employment and its effects on the local economy. Learn more about the report and research cited here.

NERCRD research has been cited in groundbreaking studies on the economic mobility of Americans

The NERCRD social capital data collection is widely recognized as the standard measure of social capital for use in economic analyses, and it has proven to be a valuable resource for the research community, with more than 660 citations (Google Scholar). For example, it was used in work by the Equality of Opportunity Project, a research team led by economists from Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. That research was featured on the National Bureau of Economic Research website. The report, titled “Where is the land of opportunity? The geography of intergenerational mobility in the U.S," was written by Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Patrick Kline, and Emmanuel Saez.

NERCRD's own research on intergenerational mobility has also gained considerable attention. A Penn State News story about our research on human capital and intergenerational mobility struck a chord with readers on Reddit—more than 3,400 comments were logged on the post, and more than 57,000 Reddit users “upvoted" it, signaling that the topic resonated with them.

NERCRD research has appeared in highly ranked general science or interdisciplinary journals

Under the leadership of Stephan Goetz, NERCRD has published more than 100 peer-reviewed studies, in interdisciplinary journals such as Research Policy, Social Science and Medicine, and PLoSOne and in leading disciplinary journals such as Food Policy, International Journal of Production Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Economics, Economic Development Quarterly, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Small Business Economics, Journal of Labor Economics and Transportation Research Record. Goetz has also authored or co-authored 24 book chapters and edited five books. He was recognized for his contributions to both research and outreach efforts with the 2015 Outstanding Public Service through Economics Award from the Northeast Agricultural and Resource Economics Association.

Journal impact factor of journals in which NERCRD Research has been published (see definitions below)

Definitions (compiled by Yuxuan Pan):

Impact Factor: “A journal impact factor is a calculation based on a two-year period and is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the JCR year by the total number of articles published in the two previous years. An impact factor of 2 means that, on average, the articles published one or two years ago have been cited two times." (Source: University of Michigan Library Resource Guides) 

5-Year Impact Factor: “The 5-year journal impact factor is the average number of times articles from a journal published in the past five years have been cited in the chosen JCR year." (Source: University of Michigan Library Resource Guides)

Immediacy Index: “The immediacy index is the average number of times an article is cited in the year it is published. It is a way of determining the "hot topics" in a discipline." (Source: University of Michigan Library Resource Guides) 

Citable items: “are those items that comprise the figure in the denominator of the Journal Impact Factor calculation. These items are those identified in the Web of Science as an article, review or proceedings paper and are considered the substantive articles that contribute to the body of scholarship in a particular research field and those most likely to be cited by other articles. Other forms of journal content, such as editorial materials, letters, and meetings abstracts, are not considered as citable items." (Source: Clarivate Analytics)

% Articles in citable items: “The % of Articles in Citable Items emphasizes a journal's original research by calculating the percentage of articles that count toward the total Citable Items. For example, in 2013, Nature has 829 articles and 28 reviews for a total Citable Items of 857. 96% of the Citable Items are original research." (Source: Clarivate Analytics)

H5-index: “It is the largest number h such that h articles published in [the past 5 years] have at least h citations each". Thus, an H5-index of 60 means that that journal has published 60 articles in the previous 5 years that have 60 or more citations each." (Source: American University Scholarly Research Impact Metrics)

Acceptance Rate: “The number of manuscripts accepted for publication compared to the total number of manuscripts submitted in one year. The exact method of calculation varies depending on the journal. Journals with lower article acceptance rates are regarded as more prestigious." (Source: University of Missouri Library Guides)