German philosophy journals?

[rdngtvt]

I know (really I know) that publications are not required for admission to top PhD programs, and even that some people advise against publishing early. So don't worry about that. But I would like to bolster my application for next round, however possible.

Does anybody know of decent journals that publish history of philosophy articles, especially classical German philosophy (Kant, Hegel) in English?

I know of Kant-Studien, Kantian Review, Kant Studies Online, Hegel Bulletin, Journal of the History of Philosophy (and other general history journals), Archiv fur Geschichte der Philosophie, and that's about it.

The problem is that these that I know of are pretty heavy-hitting: attracting top scholars, extremely competitive, and whatnot. Are there any professional journals (not graduate journals) in this area that a budding German philosophy scholar might submit to? 

(And also general thread for journal questions I guess, for those with different interests)

Edited February 14, 2016 by rdngtvt

[thehegeldialectic]

Are you an undergraduate, or do you have a masters?

 

Edited February 14, 2016 by iunoionnis

[Cromulent Flurp]

You’d think that publications would be really impressive for committees. I worked out that only 3% of students at top programmes had publications before or during the first year of their PhD, and of course many of those were in obscure journals. But in fact it (and the quality of your writing sample) matters much less than things like what institution you come from, I think.

I published two of my undergraduate essays, one, which I used for my writing sample, in one of the top three or four ethics journals, and the other in a leading applied ethics journal. I worked out that less than 1% of students at top programmes had publications in journals as highly ranked as those I published in before starting their PhD.

I used the same writing sample last year, when it was at the R&R stage, and got in nowhere. This year so far I’m 1a/4r, the acceptance being from my safety school, and am waiting on 5 programmes that are as or more prestigious than the ones I’ve been rejected from. I have the feeling that at prestigious programmes writing samples only count in deciding between people coming from other top institutions.

Having said that, I might not have even had that one acceptance without my publications, so they may still help; but I don’t think a top programme will consider a published writing sample as being a big deal compared to a writing sample that isn’t of publishable quality, unless you’re coming from another top programme.

Of course, this is guessing. And yes, I am a little bitter at the moment. My safety school is good though, so I'm only intermittently bitter.

Edited February 14, 2016 by Cromulent Flurp

[MVSCZAR]

34 minutes ago, Cromulent Flurp said:

You’d think that publications would be really impressive for committees. I worked out that only 3% of students at top programmes had publications before or during the first year of their PhD, and of course many of those were in obscure journals. But in fact it (and the quality of your writing sample) matters much less than things like what institution you come from, I think.

I published two of my undergraduate essays, one, which I used for my writing sample, in one of the top three or four ethics journals, and the other in a leading applied ethics journal. I worked out that less than 1% of students at top programmes had publications in journals as highly ranked as those I published in before starting their PhD.

I used the same writing sample last year, when it was at the R&R stage, and got in nowhere. This year so far I’m 1a/4r, the acceptance being from my safety school, and am waiting on 5 programmes that are as or more prestigious than the ones I’ve been rejected from. I have the feeling that at prestigious programmes writing samples only count in deciding between people coming from other top institutions.

Having said that, I might not have even had that one acceptance without my publications, so they may still help; but I don’t think a top programme will consider a published writing sample as being a big deal compared to a writing sample that isn’t of publishable quality, unless you’re coming from another top programme.

Of course, this is guessing. And yes, I am a little bitter at the moment. My safety school is good though, so I'm only intermittently bitter.

I'm neither published nor from a prestigious school and I think I'm doing quite well. So I'm not sure if the top school is really such a thing. If I had to guess what the committee is going on, I'd guess it's my writing sample and my rec letters. 

[thehegeldialectic]

I didn't think it was possible to publish in "leading" journals as an undergraduate. I published two papers as an undergraduate in student-run journals and delivered one at an undergraduate conference. I've got one more still under review.

My writing sample was from my honors thesis, which I hoped would be my ticket in. For one school with a shorter requirement, I submitted an unpublished paper that won a department award.

 

Edited February 14, 2016 by iunoionnis

[philosophe]

I completely agree with Abendstern. It's extremely difficult for *professional* philosophers to publish papers at excellent journals. Getting a paper into some obscure journal won't help, and in fact may hurt you later in your career.  Take that time and effort and polish polish polish your writing sample.

Edited February 15, 2016 by philosophe

[Cromulent Flurp]

On 2/14/2016 at 11:03 AM, iunoionnis said:

I didn't think it was possible to publish in "leading" journals as an undergraduate. I published two papers as an undergraduate in student-run journals and delivered one at an undergraduate conference. I've got one more still under review.

My writing sample was from my honors thesis, which I hoped would be my ticket in. For one school with a shorter requirement, I submitted an unpublished paper that won a department award.

 

It's certainly possible, as I did it twice. (Leading journals in the relevant areas, that is.) I didn't publish them *when* an undergraduate, I published them during my Master's, but they were written before my Master's. One was an essay, the other a section of an essay. I wrote them during my Honours year, which in the non-US country I'm in counts as graduate, but I'm told by American faculty is equivalent to the fourth year of a US BA. (BAs here are three years.)

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by Cromulent Flurp

[p.s.regis]

There are some good journals that regularly publish Kant and German Idealism you are leaving out--European Journal of Philosophy, Philosophers Imprint, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, plus I would look at Mind, Ergo, Phil. Review, History of Philosophy Quarterly, Philosophy and Public Affairs etc. I think the more important point is that if you don't feel like the paper you have is suitable for any of the journals you or I have mentioned (plus a few others, of course) I am not exactly sure why you want to publish it. Admissions committees aren't bowled over by the mere existence of publications, and you may very well regret having a publication in a not particularly good venue or that you don't think represents your best work.