TheMarketForIdeas

Time has shown patience toward the Amfiteatru Economic journal.

Since September 1999, when, emerging from a circle of intellectuals from Buzău (academics, journalists, and economists), and at the initiative of Professor Sandu Costache and Professor Vasile Dinu, the Amfiteatru Economic journal was founded within the University College of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies in Buzău, until October 2025, nearly 26 years have passed. Let us call them “the first 26”.

The journal is a highly specialized niche media product, ultra-professionalized, as any scientific periodical should be. In an increasingly demanding and competitive environment, through the national absorption of international standards, the journal has not only confirmed but also exceeded even the most generous expectations. This sentiment is captured with sincerity by Laurențiu Tăchiciu, the journal’s deputy editor-in-chief, in the volume Amfiteatru Economic – Year XX (2018): “I did not witness the birth of the journal, but I believe that its founders, Professors Vasile Dinu and Sandu Costache, did not anticipate the path that the publication would one day follow.” Indeed, today, Amfiteatru Economic stands as the highest-ranked academic journal in Romania in the field of economics and business administration, firmly positioned within the international mainstream of scientific publications.

The journal underwent a pioneering phase and a profound restructuring in terms of its “openness to the world” during its first decade of existence. Gradually, it was indexed in several national and international databases, accredited by the National Council for Scientific Research in Higher Education, and ultimately classified in Category A, after progressing through Categories D, C, B, and B+ (a development that also prompted the creation of its official website: https://amfiteatrueconomic.ro/).

However, the most important achievement was the creation and consolidation of a circle of friends – far more than editors in the strictly “technical” sense – who would carry the journal’s most demanding responsibilities. The founding premise was that meaningful work is accomplished alongside friends: carefully chosen individuals, knowledgeable and deeply committed. And we found them. These individuals became, in some cases without even knowing one another personally, a collective – the invaluable element without which nothing that Amfiteatru Economic represents today would have been possible: its editorial team. Acting, and continuing to act, as a community of intellectuals bound together – despite their diverse personalities – by strong values and sincere professional interests, they enabled the journal, in November 2008 with issue no. 23, to be indexed in the Thomson Reuters – Web of Science database (now Clarivate Analytics Web of Science) as well as in the prestigious Scopus database (Elsevier B.V. Bibliographic Databases). These platforms calculate scientometric indicators, the most significant being: JIF (Journal Impact Factor), CiteScore, JCI (Journal Citation Indicator), SJR (SCImago Journal Rank), AIS (Article Influence Score), the quartile ranking (Q), the H-index, and others.

According to the 2024 Journal Citation Reports, the journal’s scientometric indicators, as indexed in the Web of Science Clarivate Analytics database, as well as those reported by Scopus Journal Metrics, are presented in the following tables:

The value of these scientometric indicators has positioned the journal among the leading publications in the field of economics at the international, regional, and national levels, as follows:

As part of the responsible work carried out by the editors of Amfiteatru Economic journal, a series of shortcomings – both conceptual and, even more prominently, methodological – were identified and addressed. These challenges are frequently (although not exclusively) encountered by young researchers in the process of designing, writing, and editing scientific articles on various topics within the fields of economics and business administration. Building on the identification of these issues during the process of preparing scientific articles for publication, a group of three editors developed a methodological guidebook entitled Conceiving, Writing, and Publishing a Scientific Article: An Approach within the Context of Economic Research. The volume is the synergistic outcome of the experience gained from working to bring numerous manuscripts to their best publishable form. It highlights the essential aspects involved in developing a scientific article that is interesting in content and attractive in form, thus increasing its chances of being accepted and published in a prestigious, mainstream academic journal. In its first edition, published in 2016, the book received the distinction of Best Book in the Field of Economics Published in Romania, awarded by the Association of Economics Faculties in Romania (AFER). In its second edition, published in 2017, received the “Victor Slăvescu” Award of the Romanian Academy.

A truly remarkable example of intellectual friendship was embodied by the Amfiteatru Meetings. As the visibility and scientific prestige of the journal grew, and also due to the positive feedback enjoyed by the aforementioned methodological guidebook in academic circles, the editors of Amfiteatru Economic were invited by several business and economics faculties in Romania and abroad, to participate in a series of workshops and debates centred on a broad and generous topic: “Good Practices in Scientific Writing”. These events brought together a large and diverse audience: academics, undergraduate students, masters’ students, and doctoral candidates. In this context, the Amfiteatru Economic team highlighted a series of issues essential for producing high-quality scientific articles, such as: (i) the characteristics of the scientific writing style; (ii) the structuring of a scientific manuscript; (iii) the orderly and, above all, correct presentation of a paper’s references (citations and bibliographic sources); (iv) methods for increasing citation rates; and (v) the process of selecting an academic journal, all addressed both in principle and through practical examples. These meetings, 20 in number, began on 13 November 2012, and the most recent was held on 27 November 2024.

An expansion of this intellectual friendship was achieved through an original and timely initiative of the Amfiteatru Economic team, undertaken together with the Union of Professional Journalists of Romania (UZPR), during the workshop entitled Scientific Writing – The Science Journalist – Scientific Press, held between 25 and 27 May 2023 in Vatra Dornei. The purpose of this special event was to foster meaningful connections between those who conduct excellence-driven research and those who disseminate knowledge to the broader public (particularly in the field of economic science). On this occasion, members of our journal’s editorial team contributed with presentations that resonated in both academic and journalistic circles.

“Scientific Writing – The Science Journalist – Scientific Press” workshop, Vatra Dornei, 25-27 May 2023

 The Amfiteatru Economic journal celebrated its 25th anniversary on 1 November 2024, in the Aula Magna of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. On this occasion, the anniversary volume entitled Amfiteatru Economic and the Collective Dimension of Intellectual Friendship was launched. In the 25 years since its establishment, the journal has demonstrated remarkable development, supported by deep collaboration between academics, researchers, and leading figures across various areas of economic inquiry. Since September 1999, when this publication was born under the guidance of Professors Sandu Costache and Vasile Dinu, in the Economic University College in Buzău, as part of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, time has stood as a generous witness to its transformations and progress. This event marked an important moment in the history of the journal, highlighting its significant contribution to the development and dissemination of knowledge in the field of economics. The event symbolized the journal’s relevance for the academic community in Romania, as well as for the international economic community. It was a celebration of the partnerships and friendships developed over time among researchers, academics, and journalists, reflecting the journal’s mission to promote interdisciplinary dialogue at the national, regional, and international levels.

A striking sign of intellectual friendship, beyond hierarchical relations or administrative responsibilities, is the consistent support offered to the journal’s editorial team by the leadership of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, and especially by its Rector, PhD. Professor Nicolae Istudor. In fact, there has been, and continues to be a genuine symbiosis between the Bucharest University of Economic Studies and the Amfiteatru Economic journal, which has resulted in the publication and citation of articles in the field of economics, as follows:

The journal has succeeded in bringing together a collective of kindred spirits, shaped by a special alchemy that has brought to the surface the “true gold” of intellectual friendship, individuals who have cultivated their profession and nurtured the journal’s growth. We live among people; therefore, we should strive to be of service through what we know how to do – in our case, through a journal – allowing deeds to prevail over words. Even though a journal publishes words, those words are, in fact, our deeds. The good we accomplish, within the climate of friendship we have strived to nurture, reflects a form of nobility of spirit that transcends material considerations, as it radiates outward into the community. By doing something beneficial for our peers, we guide them to be useful to others, in turn. In this way, we show generosity, often without fully noticing or proclaiming it.

Over our 26 years of uninterrupted activity (with quarterly issues), the Amfiteatru Economic journal has earned recognition and has reaffirmed its commitment to continuing its role as a promoter of excellence and innovation in scientific publishing. The journal has become not only a benchmark of academic research, but also an international ambassador of Romanian scholarship. Amfiteatru Economic is, undoubtedly, a reference publication that continues to inspire generations of researchers, through its scientific value and the spirit of academic responsibility it cultivates.

The Association of Faculties of Economics in Romania (AFER) awarded the Amfiteatru Economic journal the “Excellence for its entire activity” distinction, 20-23 November 2025, Predeal.

We, the team of Amfiteatru Economic journal, feel truly blessed to have had, and to continue to have, the opportunity to experience the state of intellectual friendship. It is a state that, unfortunately, few perceive or allow themselves to experience, yet one that leads, even among individuals different by nature, to that “harmonious equality” of which Pythagoras spoke. Only those endeavours that attain harmony can function and endure, as is the case with this shared project, born out of both rigor and empathy: the Amfiteatru Economic journal.

Photo source: PxHere.com.