Journal of Borderlands Studies· 2026Q1
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Memories of Editorship and the Internationalization of the Journal of Borderlands Studies
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
The Journal of Borderlands Studies (JBS) evolved from a US-Mexico focus to a leading international journal through strategic editorial decisions that broadened scope, encouraged interdisciplinary work, and fostered a global author community.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- JBS shifted from a primary focus on the US-Mexico border to a broad international scope.
- Editorial decisions actively broadened the field of border studies.
- The journal encouraged comparative and interdisciplinary scholarship.
- JBS fostered an increasingly international community of authors, reviewers, and readers.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
The Journal of Borderlands Studies (JBS) has evolved from a small regional journal devoted primarily to the United States–Mexico borderlands into one of the leading international journals dedicated to the study of borders and borderlands. This autoethnographic account offers a historical analysis of that transformation from the perspective of an editor who participated in many of the changes it describes. Drawing upon the complete publication history of the journal between 1986 and 2018, the article examines how editorial decisions contributed to broadening the scope of border studies, encouraging comparative and interdisciplinary scholarship, and fostering an increasingly international community of authors, reviewers, and readers. While the field of border studies underwent a Kuhnian transformation throughout this history, each generation of editors inherited the work of its predecessors while preparing the journal for those who would follow. In that sense, the history of the journal is one of collective stewardship, illustrating how academic publishing contributes to the growth of an international scholarly community.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: History and Philosophy of Science
History and Philosophy of ScienceArts and Humanities