Purpose

– The objective is to describe the “ethnocentricity” (i.e. geographical affiliation of editor(s), editorial board(s), editorial review board(s) and author(s)) of selected journals in services management.

Design/methodology/approach

– The sample is restricted to the examination and comparison of five top journals in services management during a six‐year period. In total, the content analysis consisted of 1,189 articles.

Findings

– The authors contend that there is in part a troublesome and challenging “ethnocentricity” in some of the examined journals.

Research limitations/implications

– The impact of “ethnocentricity” is underestimated in the examinations of academic journals in the field of services management. It is an important issue that needs to be raised and discussed in literature, due to the paradigmatic influences that it may have on the journal and its characteristics – in extension, the journal ranking and the journal quality.

Practical implications

– The authors provide some suggestions, all of which are troublesome to implement. If done, it has to be done progressively and it will take time to not lose the current editorial scope and success of the journal.

Originality/value

– This paper fills a knowledge gap in the literature by examining specific aspects of the “ethnocentricity” of “top” journals in the particular area of services management.