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The purpose of this study was to understand the practice of separating implications into separate sections or sub‐sections in scholarly articles that report empirical research in social sciences. Using a stratified random sampling strategy, I selected 120 articles from 40 journals in the field of management available via the Social Sciences Citation Index. I analysed the articles using qualitative content analysis that was guided by two research questions: (1) do journal articles include implications as an independent component? and (2) What guidance do journal editors provide about the presentation of implications in article submissions? The results show that 72% of articles separated implications into a section or sub‐section whilst the remaining 28% integrated them into other main sections. Of the first group, three quarters of authors separated implications into sub‐sections of the Discussion section and one quarter presented them as independent main sections that followed the Discussion. Several patterns related to the range, length, order, and type of implications sections and sub‐sections emerged. The results also showed that only 4% of journals mention implications in their guidelines for authors. Journal editors could use the results of this study to discuss the importance of implications to the journal strategic development, articulate their position on the article structure, and audit their guidelines. Researchers might use the study results to improve their article structure and, hence, increase chances of receiving positive editorial decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates journal self‐citation trends between 1975 and 2017. The research sought to answer whether articles that include journal self‐citations are more highly cited, if they affect the journal impact factor, and whether such articles are more relevant to their journals' content than others. We analysed approximately 24,000 active journals indexed in the Web of Science from 1975 to 2018 and found that, over time, whilst overall citations have increased dramatically, the percentage of journal self‐citations has reduced. Although self‐citations to recently published articles has increased since 2004, self‐citations also seem to have a decreasing effect on impact factor. High‐impact journals self‐cite recent publications more than lower‐impact journals but also cite recently published content more frequently than lower‐impact journals. There is a positive citation effect on articles that include journal self‐citations, and these appear more related to the current content of that journal based on the relatedness of references. Journal self‐citation can therefore be seen as a useful indicator to determine whether an article is a good fit for a journal and of interest to its readers. It may also contribute to higher visibility and impact of an article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]