Focus and Scope

Arizona Anthropologist is a graduate student run peer-reviewed journal that publishes on an annual basis. We accept manuscripts in all fields of anthropology, with the following criteria:

• Arizona University graduate and undergraduate students are eligible to submit a Research Article or Notes from the Field paper with no restriction on topic or geographical coverage.
• Students not studying at one of the Arizona Universities are strongly encouraged to submit, however, the subject matter and geographical coverage are limited to the United States Southwest and/or the United States Southern Border Region.

We solicit three types of articles:

• Traditional Scholarly Research Article, which range in length from 10-30 double spaced pages of text, not including figures, tables and bibliography. Articles that do not meet the criteria for Human Subjects Approval will not be considered for publication.
• Photo Essay, a collection of images placed in a specific order to describe the progression of events, emotions, or concepts, are a medium that is well suited to anthropological topics and fieldwork. The recommended length is ten photographs, minimum length is six. The photos should be organized into a narrative with an introduction, body and conclusion; the Photo Essay will have a clear anthropological theme. The Photo Essay can range from purely photographic work, photographs with captions to essays with accompanying photographs. The author has to be the photographer and own the copyright on all images. Contact the editor for photo release and model release forms and photo submission guidelines. As a FYI, the journal currently prints in Black and White.
• Notes from the Field, are less formal papers, focusing on aspects of fieldwork often rendered invisible in scholarly writing. Such topics include, but are not limited to, student’s experiences in adapting methodologies to specific contexts, negotiating ethical dilemmas, struggling to develop balanced and equitable representations, responding to changing field conditions, gaining access and building trust, engaging in advocacy, meeting the multiple and often conflicting expectations of different stakeholders. These thematic papers should be relatively short (5-20 double-spaced pages), avoid excessive use of citations, and be grounded in personal experience. We believe that sharing some of the difficulties encountered and lessons learned during our fieldwork will help prepare other graduate students for the experience.

Peer Review Process

When an article is first submitted to Arizona Anthropologist, the Editor in Chief determines it is eligible for publication (IRB approval if appropriate, etc.). If it passes this preliminary test, three reviewers are selected to read it, and provide feedback. We do a double-blind peer-review process, meaning that the reviewers do not know who wrote the paper and the author will not know who reviewed their work. Graduate students who are knowledgeable in Anthropology and Anthropology-related fields are recruited as potential reviewers. We typically allow one month for the reviewer to provide feedback. Reviewers for Arizona Anthropologist are asked to evaluate articles based on whether they think it is a contribution to the field or demonstrates a new or skillful application of the anthropological principles on which it is based, and accessible to researchers in any of the four fields of Anthropology.

Ideally, we seek three people to review an article:

• one person who is most likely to be very knowledgeable in the field the author is discussing,
• another person within the general sub-field,
• and then someone outside of the subfield in order to make sure the paper is understandable and potentially have relevance outside of a particular sub-field.

Publication Frequency

Arizona Anthropologist is an annual journal. We accept submissions on a rolling basis.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.