Publishing in the ERA era

Abstract:

Internationally, there is a move by governments to assess research outputs according to quality. Central to this is the ranking of journals. The most ambitious exercise is the Australian Research Council's current exercise to rank over 19,500 academic journals. This exercise is being keenly observed by a number of governments, and most academics. These changes have the potential for major change in the way academics will choose a publication outlet for their research. The consequences of those decisions could be far reaching for individual journals, especially unranked journals, and for conferences. Responding to this new assessment regime can either be fragmented and driven by market forces, or driven by a strategic understanding of the new regime and ensuring that changes improve publishing opportunities and rankings. This panel session brings together Australian and New Zealand publishers and members of editorial boards of large and small IS journals, and researchers in this field to develop some strategic perspectives.