The Visibility Premium: Article Order and Citations

Kok, Chun Chee;Lippi, Francesco;Becker, Sascha
(2026) , 21 pages

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Authors
  • Kok, Chun CheeUCLouvain
    Author
  • Lippi, Francesco
    Author
  • Becker, Sascha
    Author
Abstract
We exploit a natural experiment to identify the causal effect of the order in which articles appear within a journal issue on citations. Using data on 1,456 articles published in the Economic Journal between 2010 and 2024, we find that articles appearing earlier in an issue receive substantially more citations throughout the sample period. Articles ranked 7-9 receive 20% fewer two-year citations than those ranked 1-3, with effects growing to 28% over five years. Between December 2015 and February 2025, the journal switched from chronological to alphabetical ordering, allowing us to disentangle rank (visibility) effects from alphabetical (name) effects. Analysis of views and downloads confirms a visibility mechanism, with important implications for editorial practices.
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Kok, C. C., Lippi, F., & Becker, S. (2026). The Visibility Premium: Article Order and Citations (LIDAM Discussion Paper CORE 2026/07). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/276230