ABS JOURNAL LIST 2015 IS OUT TODAY!!!

Oh Em Gee the wait is finally over. The updated all important ABS journal ranking is out today.

Except that the website is currently crashed because of a hack. Jeez some journals must be pissed. Always have to tread carefully around academic egos.

Online soon hopefully... (clicks refresh for the 20th time).

Research Playlist

Do you scribe in silence or prefer to work whilst humming along to a soundtrack? Walking along our corridor, there is a healthy mixture of the two. Personally, I favour the latter. The long hours of my thesis were made more bearable by background noise. No matter how many times I had to type the words 'sustainability' and 'peripherality', I knew that Pete Waterman had had to write 'baby' very many more.  
However, there are a few rules to stick to unless you intend to finish up writing a love song rather than a lecture.  

1. Keep it upbeat. Research is often lonely, editing frustrating, and literature tedious. Simultaneous Leonard Cohen might just be what pushes you over the edge and into consultancy for McKinsey.

2. Rhythm is everything. You're mind will be too occupied for complex lyrics and melody trying to figure out what Bourdieu is saying to appreciate the subtleties of Lennon. A research soundtrack needs to be more of a thudding metronome, counting down the hours until the next conference submission deadline. With this in mind, Katy Perry's roar is just as valid as Steve Earle's social commentary.  

3. Is ethnography jazz? No. But my colleagues got a four star paper out of this tenuous link, so arguably listening to music is educational. Fingers crossed a well connected professor writes an article on whether social constructivism is reading the Guardian on the toilet whilst eating ice cream, and I am sorted.   

4. You can't go wrong with Dolly Parton. Her wholesome advice will pep you up when journal editors thank you for trying with all the contempt of a teenaged Hollister sales assistant. Her writing dedication (at least one song per day) ought to inspire you when you can no longer face transcribing more of your idiotic voice talking over interviewees. And her steely pragmatism beneath a nice, upbeat, disarming exterior, is a good role model for fieldwork. Wigs and rhinestones probably help somewhere along the line too. 

5. Dancing around the house/office alone in daytime is acceptable, even I would suggest, compulsory. It is one of the perks of academia to be working odd hours, venues, and with only voices in your head for company. Take them for a dance to Billie Jean. You'll feel better afterwards. 

So bearing these rules in mind, here is my suggestion for your research playlist. Snap on those headphones, give them a go, and I'd enjoy hearing your own suggestions: 

• Kylie Minogue, Can't Get You out of my Head: Perfect cheery background noise that doesn't need any brainpower. 
• Mozart, Barber of Seville: They play Mozart to cows to make more milk. Might produce more research questions as well. Worth a try. 
• Lady Gaga, Do What You Want: Hear what really bad writers block sounds like.
• Lily Allen, 22: Ethnography as song.  
• Bruce Springsteen, We Take Care of Our Own: Critique as song. 
• Freres Morvan, Plinn ton Double: A lifetime of political activism, and of recording, recreating, stimulating and celebrating the cultural traditions and crafts of Brittany.    
• Emmylou Harris, Wrecking Ball: She can do dirge like no other. This is especially soothing when reviewers get back to you after you apparently sent them an A4 smeared with excrement rather than that months long carefully crafted PDF had meant to. 
• Dionne Warwick, Don't Make me Over: To the supervisor who insists on you using their favourite methodology, even though covert observation may not be possible with a class of schoolchildren. To the conference attendee who wants to tell you off during Q&A for not being them. To the reviewer who has dismembered your work. 
• Stevie Wonder, Superstition: It is impossible to sit still through this. Put it on, get out of your seat, dance like hell for three minutes. A healthy body is a healthy mind. 
• Iggy Pop, The Passenger: Just a good song. 

If these aren't really your thing; just copy whatever the Piazza Centre Management have on their CD player. Whenever I walk to and from work from the bus station their playlist really cheers me up. Motown, Carly Simon, Beach Boys, Vogue, Superstition, Paperback Writer; somebody in there has good pop taste. The exterior might be grim, but I'd rather hang here than most nightclubs. And judging by the jigging hips outside Card Factory, plenty of people agree.

Huddersfield Pizza Centre; grim looks, great playlist:

Journal Rankings

If like me you are waiting with baited breath for the new ABS journals ranking list to be debuted, you probably need to get out a bit more. Take up a hobby. There is some good hiking around Huddersfield.
It is not long now though. The new list is released on February 25th. Very exciting.

In the meantime, it is worth remembering that ranking is not everything when considering a journal. There are many interesting specialists out there and a lot of good quality papers turn up if you keep an open mind when searching. An interesting alternative guide to journal ratings I have just been made of is the SCImago journal and country rank. The website is clear and interactive. Some useful insights come up from it. A look through my own field shows some broad similarities with the old ABS list, but also some significant differences that do seem to better reflect my experiences as a reader. It will be interesting to see if the updated ABS list correlates more closely. Either way it is an interesting tool for identifying journals in your field. Would recommend.