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About
In print since 1971, the American Indian Culture and Research Journal (AICRJ) is an internationally renowned multidisciplinary journal designed for scholars and the general public. The premier journal in Native American studies, it publishes book reviews, literature, and original scholarly papers on a wide range of issues in the fields of history, anthropology, geography, sociology, political science, health, literature, law, education, and the arts. It is published by the American Indian Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Focus and Scope
The American Indian Culture and Research Journal welcomes unsolicited article and commentary submissions, solicited book reviews, and proposals for special issues. Please note that we no longer publish literature or poetry, unless they are proposed as part of special issues. The AICRJ accepts scholarly essays and commentaries pertaining to the research and vitality concerning Indigenous peoples across the Americas. While most of the essays we have previously published concern the Indigenous peoples of North America, we aim to expand to include topics across the hemisphere.
Please note that we do not accept fiction or poetry, unless this content has been curated by special issue guest editors. We may consider essays that include literary analysis in some part, particularly when in service to a scholarly thesis beyond the scope of fiction. All content besides book reviews is peer reviewed.
By “scholarly essay,” we mean those analytical essays which critically draw from and contribute to the contemporary scholarship on Indigenous Studies methods and theories. By “contemporary scholarship,” we mean that our journal’s scholarly essays critically engage (not simply reference) those methods and theories in the field of Indigenous Studies published within the last eight years.
In contrast to this scholarship, our published “commentaries” may take the form of how-to articles, still uninterpreted case studies, opinion pieces from situated Indigenous perspectives that may provide insights for scholars and/or other Indigenous communities. We think of commentaries as being less concerned with drawing from and contributing to contemporary scholarly literature, though they may do so. We make further distinctions bewteen scholarly essays and commentaries here.
Feel free to reach out to our Editor-in-Chief for any clarifications.
In our Reviews, we primarily feature reviews of scholarly books, though we also welcome reviews of films and exhibitions (from the most recent two years) that feature or impact the vitality of Native peoples.
Our content specifically concerns American Indian and Indigenous issues. While we primarily focus on scholarship across North America, we will consider essays that cover Indigenous scholarship across the Americas. We are not accepting submissions that only cover Indigenous matters outside of the Americas; some content, whether the scholarly literature or comparative studies, must include Indigenous content from the Americas.
We do not charge submission or publication fees.
We do not rely on presubmission approvals or acquisitions.
You do not need to contact us before submitting your essay on eScholarship.
*Please read our Statement on Ethics before submitting to confirm that you fully understand the implications of using AI, ChatGPT, and our approach to identity shifting as it pertains to claims of Indigenous identity.
Submission Checklist
- Include cover page indicating:
- whether the manuscript is an essay or commentary (see Policies on our homepage for descriptions of each);
- the manuscript’s scholarly significance;
- the word count (maximum 10,000), including notes and works cited;
- that the manuscript has not been previously published and is not under review elsewhere;
- that the author(s) is (are) the sole copyright owner(s) of the manuscript.
- Include bio of two to three sentences (please see our section on Ethics on our homepage for a discussion on identity shifting);
- Include a list of five to ten keywords. Keywords could be tribal/nation, geographic area/state, methods, theories, concepts, academic fields, etc.;
- Include 250-word abstract (note that these will only be allowed to change once during the revision process, if accepted);
- Follow Chicago Manual of Style format, latetst edition, using "Documentation I" style;
- All notes are endnotes, which should be formatted electronically and auto-numbered; do not include a bibliography or notations to bibliographic references within the body of the article;
- Ensure that URL links in endnotes are active;
- Secure permissions for images, if applicable.
Copyright Notice
The following is an agreement between American Indian Culture and Research Journal (the Journal) and the submitter (the Author), governing the work currently being submitted, including the primary contribution as well as any supporting materials such as an abstract, data sets, media files, figures, or tables created by the Author and any co-authors (the Submission).
The Journal is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to readers or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.
1. As consideration for publication in the Journal, the Author grants the Journal the following rights:
1.1. A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free right to publish, reproduce, publicly display, publicly perform and distribute the Work in perpetuity throughout the world in all means of expression by any method or media now known or hereafter developed; and
1.2. A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free right to license others, including databases or printing vendors, to do any or all of the above on a non-exclusive basis.
2. The Author warrants that:
2.1. The Author is the author of the Submission, or is authorized to act on behalf of the author(s) and copyright holder (if different from the author(s)), and has the power to convey the rights granted in this agreement.
2.2. If the Submission has multiple authors, the other authors are identified in the Submission, and the Author will inform the other authors of the terms of this agreement.
2.3. Any textual, graphic or multimedia material included in the Submission that is the intellectual property or work of another is identified and cited in the Submission.
2.4. If the Submission reproduces any material that is the intellectual property of another, the Author has received permission to publish that material in the Submission, or the material is being incorporated based on an informed, reasonable, and good faith application of fair use
2.5. The Submission is the original work of the Author(s). To the best of the Author’s knowledge, it does not contain matter that is obscene, libelous, or defamatory; it does not knowingly violate another’s right of privacy, right of publicity, or other legal right; does not contain false or misleading statements; and is otherwise not unlawful.
2.6. The Submission has not been previously published, and is not pending review elsewhere. If this is not the case, the Author will provide the Journal with information about the other locations where the Submission appears or is pending review. Prior distribution of a Submission does not mean a Submission will not be considered for publication; the Journal is primarily concerned with other appearances in similar publications.
2.7. If the Author is a student, the Author agrees to share their work and waive any privacy rights granted by FERPA or any other law, policy or regulation, with respect to the Submission, for the purpose of publication. If the Author has any student co-authors, the Author will obtain a signed copy of this agreement from those co-authors.
2.8. The Submission complies with all relevant Journal policies and submission guidelines provided on the Journal’s website at the time of submission, including any policies on conflict of interest, informed consent, human and animal rights, or appropriate content.
3. Indemnification
The Author will indemnify and hold the Journal harmless against loss, damages, expenses, awards, and judgments arising from breach of any of the above warranties.
4. Author’s Rights and Obligations
4.1. Nothing in this agreement constitutes a transfer of the copyright by the Author. As such, the Author retains all rights not expressly granted herein, including but not limited to, the right:
4.1.1. To reproduce and distribute the Submission, and to authorize others to reproduce and distribute the Submission, in any format;
4.1.2. To post the Submission in an institutional repository or the Author’s personal or departmental web page.
4.1.3. To include the Submission, in whole or in part, in another work.
4.2. If the Author distributes the Submission on another website or in another publication (as described above), the Journal will be cited as the source of first publication.
5. Rights for Readers
The Journal and the Author agree that the Submission will be distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), or other later version of the same license, that allows others to copy, distribute, translate, adapt, and build upon the Submission, as long as they provide appropriate credit to the author(s) and do not use the Submission for commercial purposes. Anyone who uses or redistributes the Submission under this license must indicate any changes that were made, must link to the license, and cannot imply that the author(s) endorse them or their use. More information about this license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
6. Termination
The Author agrees to the terms of this agreement for the Submission being considered for publication. If the Submission is declined, this agreement is terminated.
Peer Review
This journal operates a double anonymous peer review policy. Submissions are initially reviewed by the editorial leadership. The senior editor then sends submissions to at least two outside reviewers who make recommendations. Based on these recommendations, the editor-in-chief makes final decisions for acceptance and/or revision, and the editorial team shepherds articles to final publication. Book reviews are entirely supervised by the book review editor. More detail about the process can be seen under the Submission Guidelines tab on the home page of the journal.
Licences
The following licences are allowed:
- CC BY-NC 4.0
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Publication Cycle
This journal is published three times per year: April 4th, August 4th and December 4th.