Museum and Society

Museum and Society has moved its publication processes to Open Journal Systems (OJS). See the latest issue, sign up, or submit.

Introduction

Museum and Society (M&S) is an independent peer-reviewed journal which publishes new writing and research by academics and museum professionals about museums in their social contexts. The journal is both international in scope and at the cutting edge of empirical and theoretical research. Our objective is to explore the museum-society relationship in all its variety by encouraging research that represents the broad spectrum of the social sciences (anthropology, economics, educational studies, human geography, social psychology, and sociology) as well as relevant historical, scientific, and humanistic studies. M&S is interested in how museum practice (past and present) resonates with social issues and problems. In addition, we are interested in how high quality and innovative arguments on museum-centred topics contribute to and perhaps resolve debates within the disciplines themselves. Practitioners and academics such as historians and philosophers with an interest in our vision for museum studies and practice are also invited to join the conversation. 

As a journal, we are committed to diversity in every facet of our work: in selecting editors and reviewers; in publishing articles by a wide variety of authors on a range of appropriate topics; and in seeking a broad readership. We take active measures to achieve these goals. For instance, we conduct research and reach out across our international networks to find reviewers, contributors, and editors. We may offer mentorship to authors from populations and regions that are under-represented in the journal, though ultimately, all articles must go through our rigorous review process. We do not offer translation services, but whenever possible, we assist non-native English speakers to bring promising work to publication. In sum, we aim to balance our adherence to a rigorous review process with a dedication to removing the structural and systemic barriers that often characterize academic publishing.

Museum and Society was launched in March 2003 by Gordon Fyfe, Kevin Hetherington, and Susan Pearce. The journal is a successor to the series New Research in Museum Studies which was published by Athlone Press from 1990 to 1997.

Museum and Society normally appears three times a year (March, July, November), though occasionally extra issues may be published, and is open access (pdf, 392kb) and free to all individuals and institutions. However, we request that users who wish to take advantage of the free access facility register with us first. Those wishing to receive e-mail updates on forthcoming volumes, events and associated publications may also wish to register.

Museum and Society adheres to the principles and guidelines set out by COPE. The journal follows ethical guidelines (pdf, 415kb) for scholarly editing, research and writing, and secures and maintains high academic standards in relation to authorship (pdf, 226kb).

Museum and Society will publish articles covering a wide range of social science, humanities and practitioner research including:

• Museums in society
• Museum practice, funding and management
• Conservation
• Collecting and collections
• Museums, identity and difference
• Museums and social inclusion
• Audience research
• Access provision and practice
• Museums and education
• Politics and display
• Heritage studies
• History of museums/collections
• Government policy and museums
• Reviews of temporary exhibitions
• Book reviews

We welcome submissions of articles and reviews in these and related areas of museum research. All articles submitted to the journal are peer reviewed (pdf, 389kb) before being considered for publication. Submissions must comply with the requirements set out in the Notes for contributors.