Welcome to our quarterly Journals UPdate where you can get all the news surrounding journals at the University of Illinois Press. The “UP” in the title of this blog series is a nod to our pride at being a university press, part of a great community of scholars sharing knowledge across many disciplines. For our first piece of news, we’ve released our 2025 Journals Catalog, so we’re all ready to welcome in the new year!
Now, let’s dive into this year’s third quarter to see what else was happening with our Journals…
Special Issues
- “Folklore Studies and Disabilities,” guest edited by Anand Prahlad. Journal of American Folklore Volume 137, Issue 545.
American folklorists have, at least since the 1980s, been concerned with relationships between folklore and disability, and that concern has been expressed in a number of ways. The articles in this issue address this topic by exploring neurodivergent folklore and autistic masking, the importance of plain language in asking for research consent from people with intellectual disabilities, COVID-19 politics and ableism, disability and the non-human world, caregiving, and much more.
- “Political Crisis and Transitions in Roman Historiography of the Imperial Age,” guest edited by Claudio Buongiovanni, Victoria Emma Pagán, and Chiara Renda. Illinois Classical Studies Volume 48, Issue 1-2.
This special issue on Political Crisis and Transitions in Roman Historiography of the Imperial Age aims at critically investigating the representation that Latin historians of the Imperial Age, both Pagan and Christian, offer about significant moments of crisis or political transition in Roman history, and about their protagonists, their evolution, and their consequences. The temporal scope of the collection is thus necessarily broad; the papers proceed chronologically from Livy to Augustine, taking into consideration the crises and transitions along the way.
- “Precontact- and Contact-Era Metro Chicago,” guest edited by Clare Tolmie. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology Volume 49, Issue 1.
Issues 1 and 2 of Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology Volume 49 present recent archaeological research on precontact and postcontact communities in the Chicago area. The articles in the first issue, the precontact- and contact-era archaeological record, beginning with the complex landscape and an introduction to the archaeological sequence of the region, as well as current research by the Field Museum of Natural History and the impacts on the descendants of precontact communities. Other articles shed additional light on the later precontact period utilizing new information gleaned from past archaeological research, recent fieldwork, or new analytical techniques or provide reinterpretations of data.
- “Postcontact-Era Metro Chicago,” guest edited by Clare Tolmie. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology Volume 49, Issue 2.
The articles in the second issue examine new research on the postcontact period, including the archaeology of communities underrepresented in the historical record, such as the African American sites in Bronzeville and Maywood, Chinatown, a factory town that impelled the labor movement, prisoner of war camps, neighborhoods inhabited by people with lower socioeconomic status and those that are repositories for and caretakers of the deceased.
- “Black Appalachia,” guest edited by Wilburn Hayden, Jr. Journal of Appalachian Studies Volume 30, Issue 1
Black Appalachians, Black Appalachian groups and families, Black Appalachian institutions, and Black Appalachian experiences were and are formed in Appalachia. Their history and presence originated from the earliest days of White colonial settlers’ theft of Indigenous lands. Over the centuries, Black folks through birth, migration, lived residence, and heritage have contributed to the molding and shaping of the region.
Blogs
This summer, we experienced some big editorial transitions for our journals. Check out our two blog posts introducing Tracie Costantino, the new editor of Journal of Aesthetic Education, and Glenn LaFantasie, the new editor of Journal of Abraham Lincoln Association, featuring Q&As with the incoming editors.
Plus, it was also a time of change for all of us in the Journals department at the University of Illinois Press! Clydette Wantland, our longtime Journal Manager, retired and Jeff McArdle, former Associate Journals Manager, took over her position. We featured them both in a blog post, reflecting on the history of the UIP Journals program and the exciting future under Jeff’s leadership: New and Retiring Journals Managers Q&A.
Looking to read some free articles? We put together three journal specific reading lists with articles that are rotating in and out of being freely available throuhgout the year.
If you’re looking for your next article or book to read, the following blog posts might help you find it:
Featured Top Articles
What’s been a highly read article in these journals for the past three months? Many of our journals have content on several different online platforms, so this feature section is only highlighting one top article from one platform (in most cases the Scholarly Publishing Collective, which hosts our current content).
- Italian Americana: “Following Calvino” by Joe De Quattro (Vol. XLII, No. 1-2)
- Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology: “Current Evidence Does Not Support a Hopewell Age, Provenience, or Affiliation for the Figurine Allegedly from Hopeton Earthworks or the Hopewell Mound Group”* by Michelle R. Bebber; Jeremy C. Williams; Maximilian Barczok; Metin I. Eren (Vol. 46, Iss. 2) *Open Access
- Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association*: “Abraham Lincoln’s Republic of Rules” by Owen Cantrell (Vol. 42, Iss. 2) *Note this top article is from JSTOR, which hosts archives of the journal’s content. This journal is Open Access, and you can read online free here.
- Italica: “Mothers and Daughters in the Holocaust Writing of Edith Bruck, Liana Millu, and Giuliana Tedeschi” by Jonathan Druker (Vol. 100, Iss. 1)
- The Pluralist: “John Dewey and India: Expanding the John Dewey-Bhimrao Ambedkar Story” by Scott R. Stroud (Vol. 19, Iss. 2)
- Process Studies: “Sand Talk: Process Philosophy and Indigenous Knowledges” by Julien Tempone-Wiltshire (Vol. 53, Iss. 1)
- Jazz and Culture: “JazzTok: Creativity, Community, and Improvisation on TikTok”* by D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye (Vol. 6, Iss. 2) *Open Access
- Illinois Classical Studies: “The Mockery of Madness: Laughter at and with Insanity in Attic Tragedy and Old Comedy” by Peter N. Singer (Vol. 43, Iss. 2)
- American Journal of Theology and Philosophy: “Democracy, Spirit, and Revitalization” by Walter B. Gulick (Vol. 44, Iss. 3)
- Public Affairs Quarterly: “Effective Altruists Need Not Be Pronatalist Longtermists”* by Tina Rulli (Vol. 38, Iss. 1) *Open Access
Podcasts
Have you heard? The UPside has two new journals-related episodes out now!
“Talking The Pluralist with Editor Roger Ward and Contributor Scott Stroud” features the editor of philosophy journal The Pluralist in conversation with Dr. Stroud, author of the article “John Dewey and India: Expanding the John Dewey-Bhimrao Ambedkar Story” from Vol. 19, Iss. 2. Listen to the episode here or access the transcript on our blog here.
In “Black Appalachia: Discussing a Special Issue of Journal of Appalachian Studies,” we sat down with the then Editor of the journal Rebecca Scott, the then Associate Editor Meredith McCarroll (now the current Editor!), and Guest Editor Wilburn Hayden, Jr. to discuss a new special issue on Black Appalachia, the importance of peer reviewers, an editorial transition in the Journal’s future, the difficulty of defining Appalachia, and more. Listen to the episode here or access the transcript on our blog here.
What’s Next UP?
October is jam-packed with new blog posts: keep your eyes out for posts on the Illinois Press Blog celebrating Italian American Heritage Month, Polish American Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and National Arts & Humanities Month! Plus, for International Open Access Week we will feature Dialogue and Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, our two fully open access journals, as well as an open access special issue of Public Affairs Quarterly and a recent open access article from Jazz and Culture.
Looking for more The UPside podcasts? We’ll be interviewing the editors of an upcoming Journal of American Ethnic History special issue entitled “Globalizing Irish America” will be released soon, followed by an episode celebrating the Journal of American Folklore special issue on Folklore & Disability. Check back on Soundcloud for these to be released very soon. As always, we’ll also post transcripts on our blog if you’d prefer to read the interviews.
Finally, the first of three American Philosophical Quarterly special issues on the Ethics of AI will be coming out soon, along with a blog Q&A with Luciano Floridi, the issues’ guest editor.
See you back here in a few months for the last Quarterly Journals UPdate of 2024!
