About the Journal

The AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom publishes scholarship on academic freedom and on its relation to shared governance, tenure, and collective bargaining. The journal, published by the organization most responsible for defining academic freedom, appears annually in an online-only format. See our editorial policy for general guidelines about submissions. We release a call for papers each fall.

Faculty Editors

2021–present (Volumes 13–14): Michael C. Dreiling and Pedro García-Caro, University of Oregon
2020–21 (Volume 12): Rachel Ida Buff, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and S. Ani Mukherji, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
2017–20 (Volume 9–11): Rachel Ida Buff, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
2015–17 (Volumes 7–8): Jennifer H. Ruth, Portland State University
2014–15 (Volume 6): Michael Bérubé, Pennsylvania State University
2013-14 (Volumes 4–5): Ashley Dawson, the Graduate Center, City University of New York
2010-13 (Volumes 1–3): Cary Nelson, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Staff Editor

Kelly Hand

Editorial Assistant

Austin Rhea

Contact us at [email protected].

Editorial Board

Cary Nelson
University of Illinois
Founding Editor

Ernst Benjamin
Past AAUP General Secretary

Anita Levy
AAUP Associate Secretary

Henry Reichman
California State University, East Bay

Ellen Schrecker
Yeshiva University

Journal of Academic Freedom Editorial Policy

Submission of an essay (including by invitation) does not guarantee its acceptance; the Journal of Academic Freedom is under no requirement to accept any submission. Submissions should not include defamatory statements or raise other significant legal concerns. Promotion or criticism of candidates running for office within the AAUP or in local, state, or national elections is not allowed in the journal; neither is misrepresentation of AAUP policy.

The Journal of Academic Freedom discourages the following:

• Submissions primarily devoted to specific ongoing disputes involving individuals and their colleges or universities, except in cases of national significance. In such cases, submissions should focus on the wider implications and lessons.
• Submissions that are primarily focused on another national higher education group or union.
• Submissions primarily devoted to specific ongoing disputes involving individuals and AAUP entities including chapters, conferences, or affiliates. However, productive self-reflection and critique of an AAUP entity’s successes and failures are welcome.
• Submissions of material previously published elsewhere. Such submissions must be clearly marked as previously published material.

The Journal uses the seventeenth edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. Authors should anticipate that accepted articles will need to use citations following Chicago's "author-date" system.*

Electronic submissions of no more than 5,000 words should be sent by the submissions deadline for each call for papers to [email protected] and must include an abstract of about 150 words. Submissions sent to other email addresses, including those for the staff and faculty editors, will not be considered formal submissions. Review details of the current call for papers and submission guidelines prior to sending articles for consideration. If you do not receive acknowledgment of your submission within a month, please follow up with a separate email (without an attachment) to [email protected].

The journal's ISSN number is 2153-8492.

*We are transitioning to this citation system for volume 13 and subsequent volumes. We had previously noted a preference for the "notes and bibliography" style, and the first twelve volumes of the Journal include articles that use both systems.