About

Published twice yearly, Quaker Studies (QS) is the only double-anonymous peer reviewed multi-disciplinary journal covering all aspects of Quaker Studies.

Focus and Scope

QS is fully open access and multi-disciplinary. Research Articles and Research Notes submitted to the journal, and Book Reviews sought by the journal, typically cover the subject areas of anthropology, art, cultural studies, digital humanities, history, literature, peace studies, philosophy, research methodology, sociology, theology, and women’s studies. Beyond the stipulation that submissions should be related to Quakers or Quakerism, there is no restriction as to subject or the discipline. Our word limits and referencing systems enable submissions based on the conventions of the range of disciplines that relate to Quaker Studies. We are also open to proposals for single- or multidisciplinary special issues.

The journal aims to include the latest work in all areas of Quaker Studies and to provide news and information relevant to researchers working in Quaker Studies. Submissions of rigorous and scholarly work are welcome from all interested in the field, including independent scholars and those who have not published before. We are dedicated to supporting equality, diversity and social justice wherever we can. We welcome inquiries regarding non-traditional, though firmly scholarly, formats, as well as scholars outside the academy and those whose first language is not English. We may be able to provide additional practical support to those who have not published before or those who might wish to have English language assistance.

Journal History

QS was launched in 1996. Every copy is available open access. George Fox University (Oregon, US) hosts volumes 1—14. QS joined Liverpool University Press in 2015. The journal has been funded by the Open Library of the Humanities (OLH) since 2018, and, as of 2024, it will continue to be published open access, solely by the OLH.

All back content since 2015 will continue to be available fully open access on the journal's website.

Publication Frequency

The journal is published twice a year, in June and December.

Ideas for special issues are welcomed and will be published as part of a normal issue (see 'Special Issues' on the 'Journal Policies' page for further information).

Publication Fees

This journal is published by the Open Library of Humanities (OLH). Unlike many open-access publishers, the OLH does not charge any author fees. This does not mean that we do not have costs. Instead, our costs are paid by an international library consortium.

If your institution is not currently supporting the platform, we request that you ask your librarian to sign up. The OLH is extremely cost effective and is a not-for-profit charity. However, while we cannot function without financial support and we encourage universities to sign up, institutional commitment is not required to publish with us.

Voluntary Author Contributions

Authors who have access to institutional funds or grant funding earmarked for Open Access publication (via a research grant or through their institution's department or library)—and only those authors—are asked to use those funds to cover the publication costs for their article in QS through a Voluntary Author Contribution (VAC). The VAC is genuinely voluntary. Whether or not the author is able to contribute makes absolutely no difference to editorial decision-making on the submission. For further information please see the publisher's policy on VACs.

Citation Metrics

QS is archived and indexed according to the publisher's policy, and is tracked by certain indexing sites such as Scopus. For 2022, QS's CiteScore on Scopus was 0.2.