And some academics in the UK throught the RAE was problamatic. We can just be content that the UK has yet to introduce this method of assessment to Geography.
It is important to appreciate that this method has been common in Business Schools for some years. I have sat on selection panels for some posts in Business Schools and have been amazed by the reliance placed on the list of approved weighted journals. The contribution and the ideas no longer matter, but the place of publication become all important. In some Business Schools they even reward academics who publish in the top ten journals with a one off salary supplement of C£1000 per paper.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jon Swords
Sent: 30 July 2009 10:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Australian ERA Metrics
What a fascinating list and set of descriptors. I wonder how the editors of the Journal of Economic Geography must feel about their journal's absence.
Good news for institutions with members on discipline panels, however. They won't be losing their academics for nearly as much time during the assessment as there will be no need to read anyone's submissions; a quick tally of entries against the master list and job done. In fact, why not just get a computer to do all the work?
Jon
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Bissell
Sent: 30 July 2009 09:16
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Australian ERA Metrics
Whilst full implementation of the Australian ERA is from 2010, only the Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences (PCE) and Humanities and Creative Arts (HCA) lists have been finalised at present.
The Environment and Planning journals currently feature in the finalised HCA list under "Urban and Regional Planning" as follows:
A* Environment and Planning A
A Environment and Planning B: Planning & Design
B Environment and Planning C: Government & Policy
B Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
(see http://www.arc.gov.au/xls/hca_journals_unique.xls)
I should also mention, the list in my original message is taken from the *Draft* list - as many of the Human Geography journals are not listed under the HCA list (see here http://lamp.infosys.deakin.edu.au/era/)
The *draft* list puts each of the Environment and Planning journals as A*. When the final Social Science lists are released, their status will hopefully be reflected here. But I'm not sure whether the same journal can be represented in multiple lists AND given a different ranking .... Would be great if someone in the know could advise (I'm new to Australian academic and trying to get my head around it...)
The generic rankings are described as follows. Apparently Antipode is an "important outlet for the work of PhD students and early career researchers."
A* (top 5%)
Typically an A* journal would be one of the best in its field or subfield in which to publish and would typically cover the entire field/subfield. Virtually all papers they publish will be of a very high quality. These are journals where most of the work is important (it will really shape the field) and where researchers boast about getting accepted. Acceptance rates would typically be low and the editorial board would be dominated by field leaders, including many from top institutions.
A (next 15%)
The majority of papers in a Tier A journal will be of very high quality. Publishing in an A journal would enhance the author’s standing, showing they have real engagement with the global research community and that they have something to say about problems of some significance. Typical signs of an A journal are lowish acceptance rates and an editorial board which includes a reasonable fraction of well known researchers from top institutions.
B (next 30%)
Tier B covers journals with a solid, though not outstanding, reputation. Generally, in a Tier B journal, one would expect only a few papers of very high quality. They are often important outlets for the work of PhD students and early career researchers. Typical examples would be regional journals with high acceptance rates, and editorial boards that have few leading researchers from top international institutions.
C (next 50%)
Tier C includes quality, peer reviewed, journals that do not meet the criteria of the higher tiers.
(http://www.arc.gov.au/era/tiers_ranking.htm)
Full details of how indicators are arrived at: http://www.arc.gov.au/era/indicators.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter Thomas
Sent: 30 July 2009 17:21
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Australian ERA Metrics
If you look online at the list for Cultural studies you can see that
'Fibreculture', which I believe is an online open access journal, and has
been ranked A*. It was ranked as a C in the draft. Apparently upgraded
after some lobbying for it.
'Borderlands' another online open access journal was ranked a B.
So I think online open access journals can have a place, if somebody is
shouting loud enough for them in the process.
There does seem to be some bizarre rankings given to some of these
journals. Unless we go down the metrics line this process will always be
subjective to a certain degree. I wonder how 'rigourous' this ranking
process was? Anybody in the know? Australian specific journals seem to be
coming out consistantly high throughout this whole process. What does this
mean for the reach of Australian academia in the long term?
A shame that Environment and Planning D has been placed in two other
categories but not human geography.
Peter
On Thu, July 30, 2009 7:33 am, Lawrence Berg wrote:
> David,
> Thanks for posting this to the CGF. It is interesting to see this list,
> as
> much as for what it leaves out as for what it includes (and how it ranks
> them in relation to each other). As an editor of ACME, an open-access
> journal with an impact factor ranking us about 22nd, or in the middle of
> the
> Geography pack (albeit an unofficial one, since we do not submit ourselves
> to ISI rankings), it¹s interesting to see that no open access journals are
> included in this list. If the list stays the same as it is now, it seems
> that Australia will be moving in the opposite policy direction to many
> other
> states like Canada and the USA. In these places, scholars are being
> required by national granting councils to publish at least some of their
> findings in open-access venues. Even more interestingly, almost every
> journal in the Australian list is published by commercial, for-profit,
> publishing houses. As I note in a critical essay on Geographical
> Publishing
> that¹s coming out in the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography
> (ironically, published by a giant corporate publisher), corporate
> publishers
> have been making significant profit increases year-on-year because of
> their
> captive market and because of their extensive use of free academic labour
> (further subsidized by state-funded universities and state-funded research
> grants). The list of journals that you have provided us with suggests to
> me that in Australia the commercial publishers will gain a stranglehold on
> publishing because their journals are required publication venues under
> the
> ERA. Hopefully, there will be some push-back from Australian academics.
> Best wishes,
> Lawrence
> --
> Lawrence D. Berg, D.Phil.
> Co-Director, The Centre for Social, Spatial & Economic Justice
> Graduate Coordinator, Human Geography
>
> Community, Culture and Global Studies
> University of British Columbia
> 3333 University Way
> Kelowna, BC, Canada, V1V 1V7
> Voice: +1 250.807.9392, Fax: +1 250.807.8001
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> WEB: http://www.chrdi.org/ldb/index.html
>
> Editor: ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies
> http://www.acme-journal.org
>
> Co-Leader: BC Disabilities Health Research Network
> http://www.dhrn.ca
>
>
> On 29/07/09 9:01 PM, "David Bissell" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> In the context of continuing debates in the UK on the RAE/REF (and
>> following
>> from the excellent article by Richards et. al recently published in
>> Area),
>> list members might be interested in the metrics system currently under
>> review
>> in the Australian context. The ŒExcellence in Research for Australia¹
>> (ERA)
>> initiative will use a combination of metrics and Œexpert review¹. One of
>> these
>> indicators is a discipline-specific tiered journal ranking system.
>> Whilst the
>> ŒHuman Geography¹ list is yet to be finalised, the provisional list is
>> below
>> with journals ranked from C to A*.
>>
>> Clearly some significant implications for research and dissemination
>> practiceŠ
>>
>> A* Annals of the Association of American Geographers 0004-5608
>> A* Body and Society
>> A* Economic Geography 0013-0095
>> A* Environment and Planning A 0308-518X
>> A* Environment and Planning B-Planning & Design 0265-8135
>> A* Environment and Planning C
>> A* Environment and Planning D-Society & Space 0263-7758
>> A* International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 0309-1317
>> A* Journal of Rural Studies 0743-0167
>> A* Progress in Human Geography 0309-1325
>> A* Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 0020-2754
>> A Applied Geography 0143-6228
>> A Area 0004-0894
>> A Australian Geographer 0004-9182
>> A Canadian Geographer-Geographe Canadien 0008-3658
>> A Cities 0264-2751
>> A Community Development Journal 0010-3802
>> A Environment and Behavior 0013-9165
>> A European Urban and Regional Studies 0969-7764
>> A Geoforum 0016-7185
>> A Geographical Research 1745-5863
>> A Journal of Urban Affairs 0735-2166
>> A Political Geography 0962-6298
>> A Professional Geographer 0033-0124
>> A Regional Studies 0034-3404#
>> A Theory Culture & Society 0263-2764
>> A Urban Affairs Review 1078-0874
>> A Urban Studies 0042-0980
>> B Antipode 0066-4812
>> B Australasian Journal of Regional Studies
>> B Cultural Geographies 1474-4740
>> B Gender Place and Culture 0966-369X
>> B Geografiska Annaler Series B-Human Geography 0435-3684
>> B Geographical Analysis 0016-7363
>> B Geographical Journal 0016-7398
>> B Geography 0016-7487
>> B Geojournal
>> B New Zealand Geographer 0028-8144
>> B Papers in Regional Science 1056-8190
>> B Social & Cultural Geography 1464-9365
>> C Boletin de la Asociacion de Geografos Espanoles 0212-9426
>> C Children and Society 0951-0605
>> C Children Youth and Environments
>> C Children's Geographies
>> C Education and Urban Society 0013-1245
>> C Eurasian Geography and Economics 1538-7216
>> C EURE-Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Urbano Regionales 0250-7161
>> C Geographical Review 0016-7428
>> C Geographische Zeitschrift 0016-7479
>> C Habitat International 0197-3975
>> C Journal of Geography 0022-1341
>> C Journal of Urban Analysis 0091-1909
>> C Journal of Urban Technology 1063-0732
>> C Mitteilungen der Osterreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft
>> C Mobilities 1745-0101
>> C Post-Soviet Geography and Economics 1088-9388
>> C Scottish Geographical Journal 0036-9225
>> C Scripta Nova-Revista Electronica de Geografia y Ciencias Sociales
>> C South Australian Geographical Journal 1030-0481
>> C Urban Geography 0272-3638
>> C Urban Interest 0192-4974
>> C Urban League Review 0147-1740
>> C Urban Life 0098-3039
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ___________________________________
>> Dr. David Bissell
>> School of Social Sciences | Research School of Social Sciences
>> The Australian National University
>> ACT 0200, Australia
>>
>> Tel +61 2 6125 4209
>> Email [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> Web www.davidbissell.com <http://www.davidbissell.com>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
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