Rotten at the top: a different form of inaccessibility among top economics journals
Abstract
Academic research increasingly depends on the accessibility of digital material hosted online. We investigate hyperlink accessibility across the top five economics journals over a ten-year period and find that 52% of external hyperlinks are no longer accessible, a phenomenon known as link rot. An additional 25% of active hyperlinks no longer lead to the originally cited material. This decay undermines the transparency of research and poses challenges to maintaining the integrity of the academic record.
Fields of Study & Subjects
scientometrics and bibliometrics research
Web visibility and informetrics
Academic Publishing and Open Access
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Applied Economics Letters
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Pages
- 1–6
- Publication date
- 18 June 2026
- Language
- EN