Journal of Folklore Research

Journal of Folklore Research
Title	Journal of Folklore Research
Discipline	Folklore studies
Language	English
Editor	Reginald Byron (historical; current editors vary)
Publisher	Indiana University Press (historical), Michigan State University Press (current)
Country	United States
Frequency	Quarterly
History	1948–present
Issn	0022-8443

Journal of Folklore Research is a peer-reviewed academic periodical established in 1948 that publishes scholarship on traditional expressive culture, narrative, ritual, belief, performance, and material culture. The journal has hosted contributions by and about figures associated with the development of folkloristics in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and has engaged with institutions and events that shaped twentieth- and twenty-first-century cultural studies. Over its history the journal intersected with moments connected to Harvard University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, and University of Pennsylvania as authors and editors moved among those institutions.

History

The journal was founded in the aftermath of World War II, in a period that included intellectual exchanges among scholars affiliated with Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Princeton University, and University of Oxford. Early editorial leadership included scholars whose careers linked to centers like Indiana University Bloomington and organizations such as the American Folklore Society and the Folklore Society (UK). In subsequent decades the journal reflected shifting paradigms influenced by scholars associated with University of California, Los Angeles, University of Texas at Austin, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan, and Cornell University. International contributors connected the journal to networks centered on Universität Leipzig, University of Edinburgh, University of Helsinki, Humboldt University of Berlin, and University of Toronto.

The journal’s development intersected with disciplinary debates involving practitioners linked to Edward Sapir-influenced circles, interpreters of Bronisław Malinowski, and proponents of structural approaches associated with Claude Lévi-Strauss and later reflexive methodologies from scholars at Indiana University Bloomington and University of California, Berkeley. Institutional changes in publishing involved presses such as Indiana University Press and later Michigan State University Press, reflecting broader shifts among academic publishers like Routledge, Cambridge University Press, and Oxford University Press.

Scope and Content

Articles address topics ranging from oral narrative, proverb, and legend studies to performance theory, material culture, ritual practice, and expressive traditions linked to places such as New Orleans, Istanbul, Seoul, Lagos, and Mexico City. Contributors have examined traditions associated with communities represented in research hubs like Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, British Museum, and archives at Dartmouth College, Vanderbilt University, and The Newberry Library. The journal has published research on individuals and movements tied to figures such as Zora Neale Hurston, Alan Lomax, Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, and Mikhail Bakhtin, and on cultural phenomena connected to events like the World's Columbian Exposition and the Pan-African Congress.

The periodical integrates ethnographic reports produced in field contexts in regions including Appalachia, Andalusia, Bengal, Bali, and Sápmi, while engaging theoretical lines influenced by scholars at University of California, Santa Cruz, Duke University, and Rutgers University. It regularly features book reviews addressing monographs published by academic houses such as University of Chicago Press, Indiana University Press, and Berghahn Books.

Editorial Structure and Peer Review

Editorial leadership has included editors and advisory board members connected to institutions like Michigan State University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, and University of Virginia. The journal employs a peer-review system drawing anonymous referees from networks that include faculty at Brown University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Ohio State University, University of Washington, and University of British Columbia. Editorial decisions reflect engagement with methodological traditions shaped by contributors from New York University, Princeton University, and University of Chicago.

Special-issue guest editors often hail from research centers such as the Folklore Institute (Indiana University), the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and university programs at University of Pennsylvania and University of Texas at Austin, facilitating cross-institutional review and collaborative curation.

Publication Details and Access

Published quarterly, the journal’s publishing arrangements have involved partnerships with presses including Indiana University Press and Michigan State University Press. Institutional subscriptions and library holdings span collections at Library of Congress, Harvard University Library, British Library, New York Public Library, and major university libraries such as Yale University Library and University of California Library systems. The journal is available in print and in electronic formats through academic distribution networks used by JSTOR-subscribed institutions and university consortia in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Access policies have evolved with digital initiatives that intersect with platforms maintained by organizations like HathiTrust, Project MUSE, and national research libraries in countries including Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is indexed in major bibliographic services and citation indexes utilized by scholars at University of Toronto, McGill University, National University of Singapore, University of Tokyo, and Australian National University. Indexing repositories include databases that serve researchers affiliated with Scopus-subscribed institutions, citation tools used by faculty at Oxford University, Cambridge University, and Stanford University, and subject-specific lists consulted by members of the American Folklore Society and the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore.

Impact and Reception

Scholars from departments at Indiana University Bloomington, University of California, Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, and Rutgers University cite the journal in debates over narrative theory, poetics, and performance. Reviews and historiographic essays in venues like The Journal of American Folklore, Ethnography, and Cultural Anthropology have noted the journal’s role in shaping research agendas associated with figures such as Victor Turner, Alan Dundes, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, and Richard Dorson. The journal’s influence is evident in syllabi at institutions including University of Michigan, Duke University, and Columbia University.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

The journal has published influential articles and themed issues on topics connected to movements and locales such as the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, European folklore revival movements, and festival studies centered on events like Carnival of Venice and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Notable contributions have engaged with archives and collections at Library of Congress, studies of field recordings associated with Alan Lomax, and ethnographies connected to figures such as Zora Neale Hurston and Franz Boas. Special issues have been curated by scholars linked to Indiana University, Michigan State University, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of British Columbia addressing themes like performance theory, sound studies, and heritage politics.

Category:Folklore journals