If you’ve been reading this blog for quite some time, you may remember that back in September 2016, I put together a guide to peer-reviewed Canadian history scholarly journals.My goal in creating this guide was to respond to frequent student questions about how to determine whether a source they were using for their paper was in fact peer-reviewed. Several students have specifically requested a list of journals that frequently published Canadian history material as a useful tool.
Creating additional guides for other areas has been at the back of my mind ever since. I even got a request for one on medical history that I totally intend to get to one of these days. But as is so often the case, other issues took precedence, and before I knew it, it was June 2019. I had been throwing around the idea of creating a guide for journals covering North American history before 1800-1850. But as anyone who specializes in this area knows, trying to define the parameters of such a list is a potential nightmare. When I was discussing this with Keith Grant, Stephanie Pettigrew, and Daniel Samson, Stephanie raised the idea of a crowdsourced a list. Basically, we would provide the spreadsheet, and would encourage folks to help fill it in however they would like. And so, a new project was born! And don’t worry, we will be coming out with the guide soon, along with a lengthy discussion about why it’s so hard to define.
So with that preamble, we would like to introduce you to our brand new project, a crowdsourced list of history journals! We are inviting all historians, history professionals, and other scholars to help us create a database of sorts of journals that publish scholarly articles relating to history. Our goal is to provide a tool for anyone who is considering publishing their work, and is searching for the best place to send it. With that in mind, we’ve included categories that should be helpful, like topical, geographical, and chronological focus, whether there is a paywall, and who publishes the journal. Here’s what it looks like:
We’ve already gotten the list started for you. We’re envisioning folks filling it in casually over the summer, maybe while trying to avoid working on their manuscript. 😉 If you’re interested in participating in this project, you can go here to edit the Google Doc directly. If you would liked to be listed as a contributor, make sure to add your name to the second tab, which you can find at the bottom of the screen.
This is a bit of an experiment, since we’ve never done anything quite like this. But we’re crossing our fingers and will report back in the Fall!
Sorry about this week’s blog post being so short! I’m busy marking all of my final essays and exams, so I haven’t had much time for writing. But nevertheless, we are excited about this project, and hope you will help create what should be an excellent resource! If you are excited about this project, please consider sharing this blog post on the social media platform of your choice. And don’t forget to check back on Sunday for a brand new Canadian history roundup. See you then!
Leave a Reply