Why submit to the Journal of the History of Collections?

The Journal of the History of Collections (JHC) is dedicated to the investigation and documentation of all aspects of collecting activity. Its interests range as far back as the earliest Renaissance cabinets and beyond – both medieval and Roman period collections have received attention in the past. No limit is set on more recent practice, so that essays on later twentieth-century collectors have featured regularly. The range of subject-matter treated in the Journal is equally catholic: the earliest universal collections and those that came to engage with more specialized subject areas receive equal attention. Indeed, it is a fundamental tenet of editorial policy that papers in whatever specialized discipline should be presented in a manner that renders them accessible to the whole readership – widespread in terms both of geography and of subject interest – and are not addressed to a single community.

From its inception the Journal has sought to provide a platform from which researchers can speak to each other across disciplinary boundaries: it is well known that the mechanisms of collecting and classification developed in natural history, for example, came to influence practices amongst collectors and curators in the fine arts and in ethnography, hence every opportunity is taken here to illustrate and to illuminate the common ground that exists between all those whose researches were founded on material collections. More theoretically oriented papers on the history and theory of museums and museum practice are likely to be better placed elsewhere.

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Global Readership

The Journal of the History of Collections is the most comprehensive source available on a subject of increasing interest and study. More than 3,400 institutions have access to JHC worldwide (including almost 1,000 in the developing world), and over 1,000 contacts will be notified when your paper publishes online.

Readers with an interest in ethnography, natural sciences, archaeology, the history of medicine, decorative arts, the social history of museums and galleries, the collecting and display of painting and sculpture – all will find rewarding reading here, often in areas that might not normally come to their attention.

Reputation

• More than thirty years of publication have already rendered the journal an important resource in the history of a range of subjects from antiquarianism to zoology, augmented in more recent years by the facility to publish extensive online appendices of archival material and background data on which published texts have been compiled.

• A diverse and experienced editorial board will support the international reach of your work.

Rapid editorial process

A rapid turn-round time for all articles is ensured by online publication in the first instance; papers appear in printed form as soon as circumstances allow. The entire archive of more than thirty years of publication (including associated online appendices) is accessible in searchable form to subscribers.

Range of Content

JHC publishes a variety of content including articles, book reviews, and Special Issues, such as Early Modern Collections in Use. The journal also publishes Virtual Issues, such as Collecting the Decorative Arts and North American Ethnography in European Collections.

Open Access

The Journal of the History of Collections offers authors the opportunity to publish their work open access – learn more about open access options. Find out if you can publish open access in the journal for free as part of your institution’s inclusion in a read and publish agreement with Oxford University Press.

Article metrics

Article-level metrics, including usage, citations, and Altmetric scores are available for all articles published in the journal, allowing you to understand the reach of your research, and the attention it is receiving online.

Innovative digital publishing

Your article will be on our Oxford Academic platform, which provides a comprehensive suite of features and capabilities for authors. Oxford Academic is easy to use, allowing readers to discover and explore your content from any device. It has been developed using award-winning technology to meet the community’s research needs. There is powerful faceted searching across text and images, downloadable content to enable offline use, and static DOIs and social tools so that readers can share and discuss your article easily. Readers can also use their own accessibility tools and software, as we continue our work to adhere to evolving accessibility standards, including the World Wide Web Consortium guidelines.

Ready to submit?

Read our author guidelines for more information on publishing with the Journal of the History of Collections, including how to prepare your manuscript, then visit our online submissions site to submit your research.