Journal of American Folklore

Submissions

JAF: A Global Quarterly welcomes innovative content. Each issue includes pieces of varying lengths and formats grounded in the scholarship, methods, and theoretical approaches from the disciplinary perspective of folklore.

In its commitment to inclusion, equity, and social justice, JAF welcomes contributions that critically engage issues associated with race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, ability, religion, and citizenship.

Please contact the editors if you have ideas for unconventional formats.

Articles

• Long Essays that present significant research findings and theoretical analyses from the disciplinary perspective of folklore. Length: 8,000–14,000 words, including abstract, notes, and bibliography. Articles should begin with a 50- to 75-word abstract summarizing essential points and findings and keywords from the AFS Ethnographic Thesaurus.
• Short Essays from the disciplinary perspective of folklore narrower in scope that focus on a single issue of definition, interpretation, method, or practice. Length: 3,000–5,000 words, including abstract, notes, and bibliography. Essays should begin with a 50- to 75-word abstract summarizing essential points and findings and keywords from the AFS Ethnographic Thesaurus. 

Perspectives

Each issue typically includes one or more shorter pieces from the disciplinary perspective of folklore that are flexible and open to format. Submissions in this section are blind peer reviewed, though exceptions can be made if peer review is not appropriate. Authors interested in submitting a perspectives piece are encouraged to communicate with the editorial team. Some options include:

• Commentaries: short essays in dialogue with topics raised in earlier articles.
• Interviews: interviews with professional or cultural practitioners relevant to the field, or transcripts of conversations between 2–3 experts around a specific topic.
• Dialogs: Two or more short essays curated to engage with a critical question, method, or theoretical debate.
• Profiles: A profile of an individual or a project significant to the field.
• Engaging the Past: Republication of essays previously published in JAF that deserve renewed attention. This column was created in recognition that scholarship by authors of color, women, and other marginalized groups do not always receive the attention they deserve. In addition, at times, there is renewed interest in debates or materials from past publication that makes republication valuable. We invite contributors to suggest articles for republication with the option of writing an essay in dialog with the original piece. We also invite review essays of past publication(s) (without publishing the original article).
• Creative work: Creative work in printable formats (e.g., written, photos, comics, etc.) that is grounded methodologically and/or theoretically within the field of folklore. Please contact the editors if you have ideas for creative work content or format.

Book Reviews

Book Review Editor: Mintzi Auanda Martínez-Rivera, The Ohio State University, martinez-rivera.2@osu.edu

To submit books for review, mail two copies to:

Mintzi Auanda Martínez-Rivera
Department of English
421 Denney Hall
164 Annie & John Glenn Ave
Columbus, OH 43210 USA

Featured and Reviewed Projects

This section is an opportunity to review or showcase audio recordings, exhibits, festivals, films/videos, events, performances, and digital resources produced by or of interest to folklore practitioners and professionals. Contributions can be written by producers of a project or by third parties.

Photo essays and other creative formats are welcome.

To contribute, please contact the appropriate editor below prior to submitting.

• Digital Media Review Editor: Constance Bailey, Georgia State University, cbailey71@gsu.edu
• Exhibit and Event Review Editor: B. Marcus Cederström, University of Wisconsin–Madison, cederstrom@wisc.edu
• Film and Video Review Editor: Guillermo de los Reyes, University of Houston, jdelosreyes@uh.edu
• Music and Sound Review Editor: John B. Fenn III, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, jofe@loc.gov

Obituaries

Please contact the Editors if you wish to write an obituary.

Review process

• Submissions are evaluated first by the JAF editorial team.
• If found appropriate, they are sent for “double blind” review to two (or more) referees.
• Outside reviews may take anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
• When a decision has been made on whether to accept or reject a manuscript, authors are notified via email.
• Acceptance is outright or contingent on the completion of revisions.
• Rejection is outright or with the option of revision and resubmission for a new evaluation.
• The editorial team reserves the right to reject or return for revision any material submitted on the grounds of inappropriate subject matter, quality, or length.