Banner Image Source Original image held by the Harvard-Yenching Library
of the Harvard College Library, Harvard University

Submission Instructions

HJAS uses Editorial Manager (EM), an online manuscript-managing system, to invite, submit, track, and review manuscripts. You must have an EM account in order to submit to HJAS. To create or access your account, follow the instructions on the HJAS EM home page at https://www.editorialmanager.com/hjas/default1.aspx

Geographic Coverage

HJAS publishes original scholarly articles and in-depth reviews on books about East Asia as well as the Tibetan- and the Altaic-speaking peoples of Inner Asia. We publish about the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia only when and where they were under Mongol, Manchu, or Chinese rule. We do not publish on other regions, including Vietnam and Southeast Asia, except as part of the Sinitic Cosmopolis. We do not publish about West Asia or South Asia. Please review recent issues to see our current coverage.

Disciplinary Coverage and Audience

HJAS publishes the highest-quality scholarship in a multidisciplinary forum that includes premodern and modern literature, art history, and religious studies; digital humanities; premodern history and social science; and modern history and humanistic social science through the mid-twentieth century. We do not publish security studies.

We seek analytically rigorous articles that place specialized research findings in a broader context for scholars working across East and Inner Asia. Articles must make an argument for an original point about new research that is engaging both to specialists and to nonspecialist scholars in East and Inner Asian studies. When selecting articles for publication, the editors consider the strength of the scholarship, the quality of the argument, and the clarity of the methodology. Even the most narrowly focused contribution must speak in some way to an academic audience beyond a small community of specialists. The presentation of new factual information alone is not sufficient grounds for publication.

Citation Practice

Citational diversity is a priority for HJAS. Studies show endemic undercitation of the scholarship of women and people of color (see, for example, this Inside Higher Ed op-ed and this annotated bibliography of gender bias in academia from LSE scholars). In that spirit, HJAS asks reviewers to consider whether authors have engaged with all relevant scholarship, including work by women and in Asian languages. 

Special Issues

HJAS occasionally publishes clusters of articles that present focused and vibrant debate on specific topics. The editors welcome inquiries about special issues on focused topics.

For more specific instructions, see