Reading the Archive is an open-access, bi-lingual, double-blind, peer reviewed online journal committed to fostering innovative research and dialogue across diverse disciplines, with history at its core. It seeks to explore the multifaceted interpretations of archival materials across disciplines. The journal is designed to allow graduate students and early-career researchers to explore and articulate their unique perspectives on archives.
The journal seeks to create an inclusive and accessible scholarly platform where emerging scholars can engage deeply with archival materials. It is particularly interested in how students perceive archives—both as physical and conceptual spaces—and what “reading” an archive means to them. Through this exploration, the journal showcases how students interact with, reinterpret, and reimagine archival content, and how these interactions influence their understanding of history and contemporary issues.
The journal encourages submissions dedicated to archives. However, the concept of the archive is not limited to colonial or state archives but includes a variety of sources, such as print, official, oral, popular, literary, visual, business, film, digital, and sonic archives held in private, institutional, public, and memory archives.
Submissions may include research articles, translations of critical historical writings, photo-essays, interviews, book reviews, review essays, critiques of films, museums, blogs, websites, seminars, podcasts, etc. Engagement with archives should be central to all submissions.
Publisher: Society for the Study of Archives
Language: English, Hindi
Article processing charges: There is no publication/ processing fee
Publication Frequency: Bi-annual (Winter and Monsoon issues published in June and December respectively)
Starting Year: 2025
Format of publication: Online
Website: https://readingarchive.janastu.org/ria/index
Submission guidelines: https://readingarchive.janastu.org/ria/author-guidelines
Editorial Policy: https://readingarchive.janastu.org/ria/editorial-policy
Review Policy: Double-blind peer review
ISSN number: The application for an ISSN number is pending with the ISSN authority
Subject Coverage: History and its allied disciplines
Copyright: Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/4.0/. Authors will hold copyright over articles published in the journal.
This Call for Cover Design is for the December 2025 issue of the journal Reading the Archive, scheduled for release in December 2025.
Read more about Call for Cover Design_Vol 1_Issue 2 (December 2025)
This inaugural issue of Reading the Archive serves as a curtain raiser for the journal, initiating focused conversations on archives and their evolving meanings in the present day. Opportunities for students to publish their research remain scarce. In response to this significant gap, the journal offers a modest platform for the publication of high-quality research in history and its allied disciplines. This humble beginning has been made possible through the support of friends and colleagues in academia, and we hope to thrive in future through the collaborative efforts of teachers and students who have generously contributed their time and energy to launch and sustain this meaningful initiative. This journal contributes to the ongoing effort to make quality research accessible through open access platforms
