Journal of Public Affairs Education 393

In comparison to previous research to develop a ranking system within public administration, this work aims to differentiate itself on the basis of its methodological inputs. This ranking system, in an attempt to determine productivity, quality, and overall impact, included criteria used by the Thompson Reuters Journal of Citation Reports and its editorial staff. The rankings we generated include both domestic and international universities and represent multiple departments at the institutional level contributing to the scholarship in the field of public administration. Ranking and indexing within the field of public administration, and other related disciplines, is a highly debated and controversial topic for the field and its classification. Any given ranking system will have obvious inherent limitations and subjectivity concerning the outcomes on an academic level. Previous studies, as well as this one, have within their design and methodology both positives and negatives that lend to this controversy and debate. Concomitantly, there is a need to focus on institutional quality and research productivity in public administration for a variety of rea-sons: (a) the focus of research as a priority in academia; (b) emergent autonomy and recog-nition of public administration as a separate field with semi-autonomous or organizationa