About the Journal

Focus and Scope

The Journal for the History of Knowledge is an open access, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the history of knowledge in its broadest sense. This includes the study of science, but also of indigenous, artisanal, and other types of knowledge as well as the history of knowledge developed in the humanities and social sciences. Special attention is paid to interactions and processes of demarcation between science and other forms of knowledge. Contributions may deal with the history of concepts of knowledge, the study of knowledge making practices and institutions and sites of knowledge production, adjudication, and legitimation (including universities). Contributions which highlight the relevance of the history of knowledge to current policy concerns (for example, by historicizing and problematizing concepts such as the "knowledge society") are particularly welcome.

JHoK is affiliated with Gewina, the Belgian-Dutch Society for History of Science and Universities. It is supported by the Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Huygens Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Vossius Centre for the History of Humanities and Sciences, and the Stevin Centre for History of Science and Humanities.

The journal is explicitly global in scope. It offers a platform for publications that concern western and non-western cases, that compare western and non-western knowledge making practices or that show the connections between concepts and practices of knowledge in different parts of the globe.

Its time-span is antiquity to the present.

Publication Frequency

The journal appears online in two annual issues. One issue contains submitted research articles; these articles are made available as soon as they are ready to avoid delays in publication. The other issue is a special issue devoted to a theme within the history of knowledge compiled by guest editors. The editorial board chooses each special issue and its guest editors from proposals solicited in a call issued once a year. The deadline for submission is typically four months after the call.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. There is no embargo on the journal’s publications. Submission and acceptance dates, along with publication dates, are made available on the PDF format for each paper.

Authors of articles published remain the copyright holders and grant third parties the right to use, reproduce, and share the article according to the Creative Commons license agreement.

Authors are encouraged to publish their data in recommended repositories. For a list of generic and subject specific repositories that meet our peer review criteria, see here.

Archiving Policy

The journal’s publisher focuses on making content discoverable and accessible through indexing services. Content is also archived around the world to ensure long-term availability.

This journal is indexed by the following services:

In addition, the journal is available for harvesting via OAI-PMH.

To ensure permanency of all publications, this journal utilises Portico and the PKP Preservation Network to create permanent archives for the purposes of preservation and restoration.

If the journal is not indexed by your preferred service, please contact us or alternatively by making an indexing request directly with the service.

Annotation

The journal platform includes in-browser annotation and text highlighting options via hypothes.is. Readers will require a hypothes.is account to create annotations, and will have the option to make these public or private.

The journal only displays advertisements that are of relevance to its scope and will be of interest to the readership (e.g. upcoming conferences). All advertising space is provided free of charge and the editor and publisher have the right to decline or withdraw adverts at any point. Adverts will include a text heading to make it clear that they are adverts not related to the journal.

If you wish to propose a potential advert then please contact the editorial team. All advert images will have to be provided to the publisher.

Sponsors

JHoK is affiliated with Gewina, the Belgian-Dutch Society for History of Science and Universities. It is supported by the Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Huygens Institute, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Vossius Centre for the History of Humanities and Sciences, and the Stevin Centre for History of Science and Humanities.