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1. Introduction
Logistics as an industry and academic discipline has experienced revolutionary growth and development during the past century. Innovations from the first half of the twentieth century such as the steam engine and containerization significantly changed the industry by reducing the costs to distribute goods ([39] Grawe, 2009). In the past two decades, advancements in information technology and processes such as barcoding, electronic data interchange, and cross-docking ushered in tremendous change beyond the efficient movement of goods. The result has been an evolution of the discipline from a transportation focus to a strategic, competitive differentiation focus ([45] Kent and Flint, 1997).
Since its initial publication in 1990, the International Journal of Logistics Management (IJLM ) has documented this evolution of logistics practice and thought. IJLM 's inaugural article, by Bernard J. La Londe and James M. Masters (1990), not only highlighted the state of practice in 1990, but also presented a compelling picture of how the logistics environment would change in the upcoming decade; including prescient propositions on the increasing importance of logistics decision making to corporate strategy, the revolutionary role of information visibility, and the need to consider behavioral aspects of business relationships.
As IJLM has now accumulated over two decades of publications, it is appropriate and timely to assess its publication record with regard to evolution in content, research methodologies, and contribution by authors, institutions, and country. Previous studies in the discipline have reviewed the body of published research in their respective journals (e.g. [6] Carter and Ellram, 2003; [20] Crum and Poist, 2011; [68] Miyazaki et al. , 1999; [36] Georgi et al. , 2010) with the purpose of providing insight for contributing authors regarding how to improve the quality of published research as well as provide a view of future research directions. Consistent with the purpose of those studies, we ask specifically:
- How has IJLM 's publications changed in content, methodologies, and contribution in the past 20 years?
- How might it inform our view of future research opportunities in IJLM ?
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. First, we review IJLM 's history and impact as a leading journal in logistics and supply-chain management. Second, we present the results of our content analysis...