Launch of New Journal of Islamic Art

Edinburgh University Press is proud to announce the launch of a major new journal that will build upon EUP’s long-established reputation in the field of Islamic studies. It will take its place as the only European journal devoted exclusively to topics related to the art and architecture of the Islamic world, and will therefore complement existing journals covering Islamic material culture and Islamic archaeology. The field it covers has grown exponentially in the last twenty years, with increasing numbers of active scholars, permanent academic positions, and far more PhD programmes. Yet the number of dedicated journals has not increased, making it more and more difficult for scholars at all levels to publish outstanding research in a leading subject-specific journal. This increasingly wide gap between demand and supply highlights the need for a new top-flight journal in the field.

The Journal of Islamic Art and Architecture embraces a broad chronological scope from the 7^th to the 19^th century but not generally thereafter; modern Islamic art is a separate and highly specialised field with its own outlets for publication. This peer-reviewed journal, with its two issues per year, aims to encourage and promote the study of art and architecture from across the Islamic world in its widest sense. Published papers will reflect a wide range of scholarly perspectives, a diversity of approaches, and the full chronological and geographical scope of the field. It will be dedicated to publishing in English the most intellectually rigorous and original papers by scholars from across the world.

Issues will appear in hardback form (244x172mm) in April and October and contain a range of articles up to 8,000 words per article, with up to 20 colour images each, with a typical total of some 64,000 words and 128 pages. Following standard EUP practice, there will be no transliteration apart from distinguishing ‘ain from hamza. The individual price for each volume will be around £50 for a print and online subscription. The aim is to create a leading journal, with articles of major significance which together demonstrate a wide diversity of material and approaches. In addition to studies of traditional media and regions, innovative and ground-breaking research that addresses new or unusual material, areas and approaches will be included in the journal.

The Editorial Board will consist of the founder editor (Robert Hillenbrand) and three lead editors: a managing editor (Richard McClary) and two associate editors (Francesca Leoni and Yusen Yu). This editorial board will decide on journal strategy and act as executive decision-makers. An international  advisory board will aid commissioning and perform peer-review tasks. The journal will have a designated permanent copy/desk editor.

Considering the large volume of submissions expected, all potential authors will be required to submit abstracts of up to 250 words. That length will enable them to set out the core content of their proposed article, and will also demonstrate their capacity to write clearly and to structure their material. Our emphasis on initial abstracts is intended to speed up the winnowing process and to save editorial time and energy. But it will leave the editors room, via a comments box on a carefully designed assessment form, for commentary and feedback. This will ensure that authors will receive feedback, including reasons for rejection, for both abstracts and full text submissions.

The three lead editors will act as gatekeepers to select articles which will constitute the primary peer review process, with support as required from the advisory board. The lead editors will issue a call for abstracts every six months and usually work at least one issue in advance. The three lead editors, having considered the abstracts submitted, will then select a number of articles to be submitted in full for peer review, considering carefully the number of articles required per issue.

Peer review for each short-listed article will be anonymous, allowing the journal to be indexed as an academic journal and listed on key Indexing sites such as Web of Science. The peer review process will be managed by the managing editor and the two associate editors, with input from members of the advisory board as required, and anonymity will be retained by submissions first going to the journal administrator, who will anonymise them and add them to a drive that the editors can access.  A rubric form will be supplied to all peer reviewers, in order to streamline the process and avoid delays in peer-reviewing.

This announcement doubles as the first call for abstracts. We invite these to be sent to jiaa.submissions@gmail.com by the closing date of March 1^st 2024. The intention is that the first issue will appear in August 2025.