Trends in Theory Building and Theory Testing: A Five-Decade Study of theAcademy of Management Journal
Top Cited Papers
- 1 December 2007
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Academy of Management in The Academy of Management Journal
- Vol. 50 (6), 1281-1303
- https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.28165855
Abstract
We introduce a taxonomy that reflects the theoretical contribution of empirical articles along two dimensions: theory building and theory testing. We used that taxonomy to track trends in the theoretical contributions offered by articles over the past five decades. Results based on data from a sample of 74 issues of the Academy of Management Journal reveal upward trends in theory building and testing over time. In addition, the levels of theory building and testing within articles are significant predictors of citation rates. In particular, articles rated moderate to high on both dimensions enjoyed the highest levels of citations.This publication has 142 references indexed in Scilit:
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