Letter from the Editor of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society

Illinois State Historical Society

Dear Friends:

We continue to receive inquiries about the status of the Journal and, particularly, its publication schedule. While I’ve shared information on this issue before but perhaps this will be helpful if you are questioned by individuals or institutions.

This is a short answer to such inquiries. Feel free to use it or, if you have more questions, please contact me: rsampson@Illinois.edu  at any time.

History

            For a variety of reasons, the Journal’s publication schedule fell behind during the past two years. Issues still appeared but not always at the expected times. In cooperation with the University of Illinois Press and the editor, book review editor, and special projects editor of the Journal, a new production schedule emerged.

The Plan

            By accelerating the preparation and production process of the Journal—without sacrificing quality—the Journal should be appearing as scheduled (the year on the cover matching the actual year) by sometime in 2023. Some issues, especially in the early going, may have less book reviews but should have at least three articles and/or one special project contribution. Book reviews take a bit longer to process. Mark Hubbard, who skillfully led the Journal for many years prior to his retirement, left his successor guest editors and me a stockpile of strong articles. Submissions continued to arrive during the interim between Hubbard’s retirement and my appointment last year. We have enough accepted articles to take us through 2023. As the book reviews come in, I’m confident we will soon be back to several in each issue.

Production Schedule for 2022-2023

Fall/Winter 2021 Combined Issue: should come off the press in July 2022
Spring 2022: projected leaving the press in October 2022
Summer/Fall 2022 Combined Issue: expected publication date December 2022
Winter 2022: expected publication February 2023
Summer 2023: projected July 2023
Fall 2023: projected 2023
Winter 2023: projected December 2023

There may be minor variations, but we are confident this schedule will succeed in addressing the problem. The Fall/Winter 2021, Spring 2022, and Summer/Fall 2022 packages are now at the University of Illinois Press. My intention is to send the Winter 2022 package to the Press by the end of July if not sooner

So, if you receive questions, please assure these individuals and institutions that the Journal is going strong, and submissions continue to come in at a rate of two or three a month.

Please let me know if I can be of assistance.

Robert D. Sampson, Ph.D.
Editor, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society