Developing a quality ranking for history journals in Australia

Abstract

In 2010, the Excellence in Research for Australia assessment programme developed a controversial ranking of journals that was used as a proxy for the quality of the articles in those journals. The ranking was later abandoned because of serious practical and principled problems. The demand for ranking continues, however, from researchers and university managers. For Humanities disciplines, ranking has advantages over citation analysis, especially in assessing recent work. This article discusses the emergence of journal ranking in Australia, especially as it has affected the discipline of History, and concludes by outlining how a ranking might responsibly be carried out. Show more