a/b: Auto/Biography Studies enjoys an international reputation for publishing insightful and thought-provoking scholarship on autobiographies, biographies, life narratives, biofiction, autofiction, and identity studies. Drawing from a diverse global community of scholars, the editors of a/b publish essays that further the discourse on historic and contemporary forms of self-narration across genres, modalities, and disciplines.
For over thirty-five years, the journal has pushed conversations in the field in new directions and charted innovative paths in narrative analysis.
The journal accepts submissions of scholarly essays (6,000 to 9,000 words) and review essays (4,000 to 6,000 words) as well as proposals for special issues, essay clusters, and forums. Special issue, essay cluster, and forum proposal guidelines are available. All submissions should be firmly grounded in the conversations and theoretical frameworks of auto/biographical studies.
The editors also accept submissions for two reoccurring segments of the journal: “The Process” and “How Would You Teach It?” These are shorter (4000 to 6000 words), self-reflexive sections that highlight specific issues in methodology and pedagogy, respectively.
If you are interested in reviewing a book or submitting a book for review, please contact our Book Reviews Editor, Christopher Hogarth, at [email protected].
The journal uses Chicago Manual of Style (17th Edition) as our citation style and cannot accept submissions that do not adhere to this format.
a/b does not publish nonfiction narrative writing (such as personal memoirs) or academic studies that engage primarily with quantitative data and empirical research. We are unable to accept submissions that have not been copyedited prior to submission, are not an appropriate length, or are unedited chapters from a dissertation or thesis.
Submissions that do not adhere to journal guidelines will be returned to the author without peer review reports or notes from the editors.
Please read the Instructions for Authors for full information on how to submit your essay, including formatting and utilizing images and digital components, procuring rights to reprint copyrighted material, and the a/b style guide.
a/b: Auto/Biography Studies publishes online first so essays that have been accepted, copyedited, and proofread may be published digitally before being collected in a print issue.
Peer Review Policy Submissions are initially evaluated by the editorial team and, if found suitable for further consideration, are then reviewed by independent, anonymous peer reviewers. Peer review is doubly anonymized.
The Autobiography Society a/b: Auto/Biography Studies is the official journal of The Autobiography Society (a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization). Society membership includes an individual subscription to the print journal and access to its full online archive. Membership is £22/€29/$35 annually. Contact [email protected] for more information.
The Society sponsored the 2013 conference, “Auto/Biography across the Americas: Reading beyond Geographic and Cultural Divides,” that led to the formation of the International Auto/Biography Association - Americas Chapter (IABA Americas). We continue to sponsor the regional IABA Americas conferences, contribute to the global IABA conferences, and award two annual prizes: The Hogan Prize for an outstanding essay published in a/b: Auto/Biography Studies and the Timothy Dow Adams Award to support historically underrepresented and emerging scholars.
Endorsements
"a/b: Auto/Biography Studies is an international leader in the scholarship of life narrative. It is so often the first 'port of call' for academics, students, and writers working this field. a/b is truly transnational in its approach to auto/biography studies and always innovative in the new subjects and forms it includes. The journal is well known for supporting emerging scholars as well as showcasing the work of the discipline's leading scholars."
– Kate Douglas, Author of Contesting Childhood: Autobiography, Trauma and Memory and co-editor of Trauma Texts.
"a/b: Auto/Biography Studies has been a leading venue for studies on all aspects of autobiography for a quarter-century. As life narrative becomes increasingly a focus of international conversations, its wide-ranging essays will be a rich resource and a spur to further innovative scholarship and dialogue." – Julia Watson, Co-author of Reading Autobiography: A Guide to Interpreting Life Narratives and co-editor of Before They Could Vote: American Women's Autobiographical Writing, 1819-1919; Interfaces: Women, Autobiography, Image, Performance;Women, Autobiography, Theory: A Reader;Getting a Life: Everyday Uses of Autobiography; and De/Colonizing the Subject: The Politics of Gender in Women’s Autobiography.
Journal metrics
Usage
49K annual downloads/views
Citation metrics
0.8 (2023) CiteScore (Scopus)
Q1 CiteScore Best Quartile
0.967 (2023) SNIP
0.176 (2023) SJR
Speed/acceptance
9 days avg. from submission to first
decision
50 days avg. from acceptance to online
publication
29% acceptance rate
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors
who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication.
However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s
quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it
should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to
support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside
other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its
readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In
addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and
never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year
and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six
months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated
annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of
the following metrics
(find out why).
Usage:
the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users
of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the
nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
Impact Factor*:
the average number of citations received by articles published in the
journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science
Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI),
Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources
Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
Impact Factor Best Quartile*:
the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation
Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
5 Year Impact Factor*:
the average number of citations received by articles in the journal
within a five-year window.
CiteScore (Scopus)†:
the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over
a four-year period.
CiteScore Best Quartile†:
the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1
= 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
SNIP
(Source Normalized Impact per Paper):
the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation
potential in the field.
SJR
(Scimago Journal Rank):
Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the
number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
From submission to first decision:
the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the
journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a
first decision in the last six months.
From submission to first post-review decision:
the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the
journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review.
Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last
six months.
From acceptance to online publication:
the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to
online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published
in the last six months.
Acceptance rate:
articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous
calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
Editor Dr. Lisa Ortiz-Vilarelle - The College of New Jersey
Associate Editor Eva C. Karpinski - York University - Toronto
Digital Content Editors Emma Maguire - James Cook University Elizabeth Rodrigues - Grinnell College
Book Review Editor Christopher Hogarth - University of South Australia - Adelaide
Managing Editor Nicole Stamant - Agnes Scott College
Consulting Editors Laura Beard - University of Alberta Eric D. Lamore - University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Michael Lackey - University of Minnesota
Editorial Assistant Ana I. Roncero-Bellido - Lewis University Jada Grisson - The College of New Jersey
Editorial Interns Katie Katella - The College of New Jersey Jack Lafleur - The College of New Jersey Alex Card - The College of New Jersey Aniela Erwin - The College of New Jersey Catherine Hom - The College of New Jersey Isabel Lindsey - The College of New Jersey
Founding Editors Timothy Dow Adams, William L. Andrews, Joseph Hogan, Rebecca Hogan, and Barbara Sher
Editorial Board Lynn Z. Bloom - University of Connecticut - Storrs G. Thomas Couser - Hofstra University Martin Danahay - Brock University Kate Douglas - Flinders University Paul John Eakin - Indiana University William H. Epstein - University of Arizona Leigh Gilmore - Wellesley College Alfred Hornung - Johannes Gutenberg University Cynthia Huff - Illinois State University Arnold Krupat - Sarah Lawrence College Laura Laffrado - Western Washington University Philippe Lejeune - University of Paris - Nord Françoise Lionnet - Harvard University Nancy K. Miller - The Graduate Center, CUNY Joycelyn K. Moody - University of Texas at San Antonio Rose Norman - University of Alabama - Huntsville Felicity Nussbaum - University of California - Los Angeles Roger J. Porter - Reed College Julie Rak - University of Alberta Sidonie Smith - University of Michigan at Ann Arbor Tom Smith - Penn State - Abington Julia Watson - The Ohio State University Kari J. Winter - SUNY Buffalo Hertha D. Wong - University of California - Berkeley
Abstracting and indexing
Abstracted/ Indexed in: MLA International Bibliography; SCOPUS; ERIH Plus - European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Open access
a/b: Auto/Biography Studies is a hybrid open access journal that is part of our Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.
Why choose open access?
Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
Rigorous peer review for every open access article
Article Publishing Charges (APC)
If you choose to publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis.
For over thirty years, The Autobiography Society (TAS) has provided a forum for scholarship on autobiography, biography, life narrative, and identity studies, while encouraging scholars, students, and practitioners to explore the praxis between life narrative and interdisciplinary and multimodal studies.
The society publishes the journal, a/b: Auto/Biography Studies, three times a year as its primary means of expanding the scholarly discourse on life narratives in all its forms. The journal is dedicated to publishing academic essays analyzing life narratives that grow from a theoretical framework of auto/biography studies as well as exploring narrative collection and/or construction in its reoccurring segment, The Process. a/b enjoys an international reputation for publishing the highest level of peer-reviewed scholarship and draws from a diverse community of global scholars to publish essays that further the scholarly dialogue on historic and contemporary auto/biographical narratives.
In addition to publishing the journal, the society convenes scholarly programs such as the 2013 international academic summit, Auto/Biography across the Americas: Reading beyond Geographic and Cultural Boundaries, at which the International Auto/Biography Association (IABA) – Chapter of the Americas was founded. The society also supports featured speakers at the global and regional IABA conferences and is the sponsor of the annual meeting of the MLA Division on Autobiography, Biography, and Life Writing.
Membership in The Autobiography Society
Annual membership in The Autobiography Society includes a print subscription to the scholarly journal, a/b: Auto/Biography Studies, which is published three times a year, online access to the current issue of the journal and full access to the digitized archives of a/b (starting with Volume 1, 1985 and running through the current issue), as well as access to other selected Routledge, Taylor & Francis journals.
The subscription year for all members runs from January to December. If joined part-way through the year, a subscriber’s membership will count for the current year and she or he will receive all of the journal issues published that calendar year.
Full membership(including a subscription to a|b: Auto|Biography Studies): £22, € 29, $35.
Members of The Autobiography Society enjoy the following benefits:
•A subscription to a|b: Auto|Biography Studies, including:
othree print copy issues per calendar year oonline access to the journal’s archives through Volume 1, 1985
•Access to selected other Routledge, Taylor & Francis journals
To become a member of The Autobiography Society, please contact Routledge by email at [email protected] or by telephone:
United Kingdom +44(0)20 8052 0501
United States +215 625 8900 or +1 800 354 1420.
If you would like to pay by direct debit and have a UK-based back account, please print out this page and a Direct Debit payments form (ignoring the reference section) and send to the address indicated on the form or contact us at using the above details.
Print ISSN:
0898-9575
Online ISSN:
2151-7290
3 issues per year
Proposal Guidelines: Special Issues, Essay Clusters, and Forums
The editors of a/b: Auto/Biography Studies welcome proposals for special issues, essay clusters, and forums. Proposals are typically submitted by a scholar or collaborative team that has prior experience in publishing and/or editing scholarship in the field.
Special Issues include an introductory essay contributed by the guest editor(s) and scholarly essays related to the issue theme, which are selected and edited by the guest editor(s).
Special issues may also include one or more of the following sections, decided upon together by the guest editor(s) and the editorial team at a/b:
a methodological essay for “The Process” section;
a pedagogical essay for “The How Would You Teach It?” section;
a solicited reflection;
a solicited contribution to the “What’s Next?” section—which is typically written by a senior scholar and is related to the future/s of the theme discussed in the special issue;
and/or a forum.
An Essay Cluster is a shorter version of a special issue and may contain any of the same components listed above. Typically, an essay cluster includes three to four contributions and an introductory essay contributed by the guest editor(s).
The editors of a/b define a Forum as a collection of eight to twelve shorter essays (3,000 to 4,000 words) on a single author, theme, or theory. The forum is meant to put into conversation multiple authors on a topic that is especially timely, underexplored, or would particularly benefit from such a multifaceted approach. A forum submission may be made as a standalone piece or may be incorporated as part of a special issue or essay cluster.
Proposals for special issues, essay clusters, or forums should include:
a cover letter that explains clearly and in detail the proposed topic and its significance as well as the prior experience of guest editor(s) that will allow them to undertake the proposed project;
Draft Call for Papers or detailed overview of proposed content, as warranted; and
Curriculum Vita for all guest editor(s).
All proposals for special issues, essay clusters, or forums should be submitted to the General Editor, Ricia Anne Chansky, at [email protected].
Reviews of a|b's special issue on African American Life Writing ( 27.1, ed. Eric D. Lamore) available in:
Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies - by Margarita Carretero González 'the interdisciplinary nature of this volume reveals the long and fruitful road travelled in the areas of African American autobiography and literary criticism since the eighties'
American Studies in Scandinavia - by Liz Kella 'Lamore views the current issue as forming a collective response to subsequent critiques of these early delimitations of the field, and indeed, in dialogue with earlier scholarship and theory, the volume as a whole expands the field in terms of subject matter, method, and theory'
Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies - by Ted Bailey 'a new subtle shift in direction can already be detected in the subject matter of many of the articles [in this special issue] that deal with the late twentieth and early twenty-first-century'
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The Autobiography Society and our publisher Taylor & Francis make every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content") contained in our publications. However, The Autobiography Society and our publisher Taylor & Francis, our agents (including the editor, any member of the editorial team or editorial board, and any guest editors), and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by The Autobiography Society and our publisher Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. The Autobiography Society and our publisher Taylor & Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to, or arising out of the use of the Content. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions .
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