Comments on: Competition: The New Games and Culture Journal

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 16:52:19 +0000

Jesper, it’s unlikely that you’ll find a guidebook that specifically states “paper is better than web,” but Ian is right – generally speaking, the US academy places a higher value on different kinds of publications, with print at the top. Peer-review is certainly one aspect, but there remains a broad bias that since print publications require an increased revenue commitment on the part of a publisher, they tend to hold greater weight. I’m talking about the humanities – I have no idea about the sciences.

Again, it varies from institution to institution, because private schools can do what they want, and public schools follow state, not federal, mandates and regulations (and I’m sure even schools in the same state vary greatly).

This isn’t to say that such *should* be the case. Nor does it suggest an unwillingness from scholars to support web-based publications. Only by showing the value of web-based distribution models, such as what Game Studies offers, do these attitudes get challenged and, eventually, changed.

By: ErikC

ErikC — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 15:44:36 +0000

In Australia for DEST purposes (ie to get a publication rating) are the following requirements..

the journal is listed in one of the Institute for Scientific Information indexes (www.isinet.com/journals)
the journal is classified as “refereed” in Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory (Volume 5 – Refereed Serials) or via Ulrich’s web site http://www.ulrichsweb.com
there is a statement in the journal which shows that contributions are peer reviewed and from the editor..

I would also be very interested in the US system.
NB Australian Universities also need proof of full refereeing of a paper before they fund travel to conferences.

By: jesper

jesper — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 08:06:30 +0000

I’d like to see a statement from a tenure committee saying that paper is the criteria.

We have been discussing getting a publisher to print the journal as well, but so far we have been unconvinced that there was sufficient added value in doing this.

By: joebloggg

joebloggg — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 06:57:01 +0000

If *paper* were the issue, why not just print out each issue of Gamestudies on paper? The real issue is the appearance of paper, i.e. page numbers instead of a url in your list of publications. Should beasy to fox.., eh, fix.

By: Ian

Ian — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 01:49:04 +0000

Jesper: If only there were a guidebook. American tenure is a very political structure and sadly receptivity to different publication venues varies from institution to institution and even program to program. Some universities stop the review at the departmental level if it is not approved; others send it up the chain. There are a multitude of factors, and indeed we spend whole days every year talking about the tenure review process and how to plan for it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Game Studies is necessarily going to be discredited by American P&T review boards, but some more conservative departments or institutions still haven’t approved of web journals, so to speak. It really depends heavily on the situation.

By: Nicholas Glean

Nicholas Glean — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 19:50:56 +0000

In the UK getting your work in peer-review journals is extremely important to all academics. Some journals are considered more prestigious than others. So from a UK point of view, not that I can speak for the whole UK, a printed journal would be a better place to get work out in the present system!

By: jesper

jesper — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 10:17:37 +0000

Ian: Do individual universitites have individual criteria, or is there some set of guidelines that are available somewhere?
Danish universities just tend to count “peer review” in my experience, but I have heard about list of journals that are considered worthy in both Norway and the UK.

By: Nicholas Glean

Nicholas Glean — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 09:29:51 +0000

I think if a field or discipline is going to grow it needs to open itself up to others to participate. If I look at other disciplines do they only have one journal, of course not. Yes I can understand the concern if both the journal and the website are going to be covering the same areas. However, at this early stage may be we should give things time before we all get alarmed!

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 20:10:06 +0000

Jesper: unfortunately, the format of the journal does make a difference to high-level P&T review boards in the states. Peer reivew is absolutely a requirement.

American tenure is a conservative institution and it will take many more years for web-based journals to have the same general credibility as print ones. I wish it were different.

By: jesper

jesper — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 16:50:19 +0000

Ian: I don’t think any tenure track description lists “paper” as a requirement. The requirement is peer review, no?
That’s what’s supposed to be great about being a free peer-reviewed journal anyway.