About the Journal

Focus and Scope

The Arctic faces many challenges, and so do researchers attempting to understand it. It is not desolate and bare, but a complex and versatile social and natural environment. Therefore, in order to come to an understanding of it, we need multifaceted research that can shed light on various aspects of humans’ attempts to make a sustainable living and create meaning in a constantly changing northern environment, in the past and in the present—and possibly also in the future. This includes, for example, studies of art and literature, conflict and security, diseases and health, economy and industry, education and information, energy production and technology, ideology and politics, indigenous and human rights issues. The purpose of the Journal of Northern Studies is to be a venue for such diverse research.

Because the Arctic faces many acute and complex challenges, the Journal of Northern Studies particularly invites interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary contributions. Our hope is that the research published in our journal will help to promote a sustainable future for human society. Therefore, we also encourage contributions from early-career scholars and PhD students which might lead us in new and unexplored directions. We warmly welcome guest-edited special issues on themes that fit the journal’s scope and aim, investigated from the perspectives of a variety of disciplines.

History of the Journal

The Journal of Northern Studies started in 2007 as a collaboration between Umeå University and the Royal Skyttean Society, Sweden’s youngest and northernmost Royal academy, with the purpose of meeting the demand for cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary research on northern issues. This collaboration continues to this day. For a couple of years (2022–2024) four more universities in northern Finland, Norway and Sweden helped financing the journal through the alliance Arctic Five.

Open Access and Peer Review Policy

The journal has been published electronically, with open access, since 2018. Printed copies of certain issues can be ordered at a cost. Contributions to the journal are subject to a single-blind peer review process involving a minimum of two independent reviewers per manuscript. In addition to scholarly articles, the journal also contains a review section and a section with reports and information on issues of relevance for Northern Studies.

The texts published in Journal of Northern Studies from 2024 are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY-NC-ND. This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. For individual articles, a CC BY license may be negotiated, if, for example, the research funding body of the project demands it.