EPAT awarded A* in recent rankings

Educational Philosophy and Theory (EPAT) has been awarded an A* rating in the Australian Research Council's ERA journal list for 2010. 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.

Excellence in Research for Australia

The Australian Research Council maintains and develops the system of assessment for government in consultation with the National Health and Medical Research Council, and with advice from the Department of of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. It is known as the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative.

ERA reflects the Australian Government's commitment to a transparent, streamlined, approach for evaluation of the excellence of research undertaken in Australia's universities, using readily available information where practical.

ERA assesses excellence across the full spectrum of research activity. It measures both the extent of research activity and the quality of the work.

The ERA rates over 19,500 unique peer reviewed journals, of which over 300 journals are in the field of Education. Approximately 5% of these are selected for the A* category. Educational Philosophy and Theory is in the A* band along with other outstanding education journals.

The Ranking System

Each journal has a single quality rating and is assigned to one or more disciplines defined by the Field of Research. Indicators of research quality includes an analysis of ranked research publications according to four broad bands A*, A, B, C defined as follows:

• Quality of the papers A* (the top 5% of journals)
  Typically an A* journal would be one of the best in its field or sub field in which to publish and would typically cover the entire field/sub field. 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.

• Quality of papers A (next 15% of journals)
  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 they have something to say about problems of some significance. Typical signs of an A journal are lower acceptance rates and an editorial board which includes a reasonable fraction of well known researchers from top institutions.

• Quality of papers B (next 30% of journals)
  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.

• Quality of papers C (the final 50% of journals)
  Tier C includes quality, peer reviewed, journals that do not meet the criteria of the higher tiers.

For further information, check out the website of the Australian Research Council.