For all the students heading back to school soon here is a short article that will help you keep track of assignments and make sure that you make your deadlines.

Publishing is extremely important for those who are seeking a tenure-track position at a research institution, however, it is still very important for professors at teaching institutions. Among other things, publishing will effect hiring and promotion, book deals, and speaking gigs.

So, if you have a good paper that you would like to submit for publication, where should you send it?

Well, to some extent it might depend on where you are or want to teach. If you are aiming for a confessional school then a seminary journal like Westminster Theological Journal or Biblioteca Sacra might be a good option, but if you are wanting to teach at a research institution then you should probably avoid this.

However, even if we limit ourselves to broad-audience, peer-reviewed journals, which ones are the most prestigious? Well, this depends as well.

The European Science Foundation attempted to rank various journals (using the acronym ERIH) according to a three-tiered system of: A, B, or C.  This entire enterprise has been highly criticized, most vociferously by North American scholars since their journals are underrepresented and lower-ranked than European journals.  In general I agree with this criticism and one of the most astounding results of the ranking was the assignment of a “B” rating to the Journal of Biblical Literature–on par with Expository Times, Irish Biblical Studies, and Calvin Theological Journal.  Almost every North American scholar that I have talked with thinks that JBL is the preeminent North American biblical studies journal as well as one of the very top international journals (full disclosure: I have a forthcoming article in JBL and therefore I’m pretty receptive to this line of thinking) and I certainly think it is head and shoulders above many of the “B” journals.

Furthermore, the European “Religious Studies and Theology” list doesn’t even rank very helpful journals including: Maarav, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages, and the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.  Furthermore, some confessional but still critical journals were also left out such as Bulletin for Biblical Research, Tyndale Bulletin, and HIPHIL.  (The Australians are also compiling their own list due anytime now.)

So what journal should a young scholar send his or her article to?  The ERIH list is a good place to start, but I would take their rankings with a grain of salt and I would expand the scope of journals you consider a bit wider.  However, I would not cast your net too wide.  If it is a fantastic paper go for top-tier journals and personally I would never consider a journal that was not indexed by ATLA since other scholars will never find your work as they search during their own researching which means that you won’t be cited, etc.

What are your thoughts on the ERIH list?  What advice do you have to young scholars?

Jim Getz has a nice roundup of posts related to successfully getting through the SBL meeting.

Most people think that conferences are about the papers. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

You can get the papers and read them after the conference–the reason why you spend so much time and money going to a conference is: 1) to build, develop and maintain personal relationships and 2) to have fun.  I’ve included a couple things to help you accomplish these goals. 

Click here for the pdf document, Conference Commando, from Keith Ferrazzi to help you make the most out of establishing relationships at the conference.  Secondly, here is a map I’ve created to help you get started in identifying some places to have fun and also grab some coffee or food with a colleague.  Do some advance prep work and establish yourself as the go-to-guy/girl when colleagues want to know where to grab a bite to eat, get some coffee, or where they can buy an extra shirt that they forgot to pack–you’d be surprised how little things like this can greatly expand your network…

If you’re going to SBL I’d love to meet you in person.  But, contact me quickly because my schedule is filling up fast.

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I’m a big fan of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.  I was very excited to hear that the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Orchestra will present some of his music at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral.  If you’re in Cincinnati on Nov. 11, check it out.

It’s one month until SBL Boston. This means that it’s not too late to start thinking about how to pack most efficiently so that you can bring back all the books you buy without breaking your back or having to pay extra airline luggage fees. Here is a site that I have found helpful–onebag.com. If you’re going to be in Boston, I hope to see you there. But now, I’ve got to get back to packing strategy…

John Stackhouse, et al, have assembled a helpful post that provides some guidance to (primarily) masters level religion students who are considering pursuing a PhD.

If you are interested in pursuing a PhD and/or if you aspire to a life in academia, Graham Twelftree, Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Regent University, has assembled a nice list of valuable resources for you.  Check it out.  The topics include: being a student, writing skills, the dissertation, publishing, career/getting a job, and life in academia.

Summer is the time when scholars write.  Most scholars write poorly.  Read Orwell’s essay on how-to-write well so that your publications pop like the fireworks over the East River on July 4th.

A local Cincinnati design company produces a sweat-shop free t-shirt with this cool graphic that illustrates 50 ways you can help conserve the planet. Not only is it a pretty neat design, but it might spark some conservation conversation.