When Spencer Fluhman became editor-in-chief of the Mormon Studies Review in 2013 he envisioned a periodical that would “track what is now a vibrant, varied, and international academic engagement with Mormon institutions, lives, ideas, texts, and stories.”As promised, its review essays, book reviews, and roundtable discussions have chronicled and assessed the developing field of Mormon studies, offering readers a comprehensive venue capturing discussions of current scholarship on Mormonism.Five volumes into his editorship, Fluhman says the Review has built considerable goodwill for the Institute, for BYU, and for Mormon Studies.“MSR has gathered LDS scholars and almost an equal number of non-LDS scholars together in dynamic exchanges on a range of topics,” Fluhman said. “The number of women, people of color, and scholars from varied religious backgrounds reflects the diversity of the modern American and international academy. In its diversity, scholarly standards, and the quality of its broad intellectual engagement, it is a critical meeting place for scholars of the LDS tradition.”Fluhman said part of the Review‘s uniqueness pertains to its intended audience. While BYU already produces several publications for a wide Latter-day Saint audience, such as BYU Studies Quarterly and Religious Educator, the Institute was eager to fill a void where audiences in the academy were concerned. The Review places Mormon studies within larger contexts and speaks to scholars across relevant disciplines.To help extend the Review‘s reach, the Institute is excited to announce a new publishing partnership with the University of Illinois Press.Beginning with volume six, the Mormon Studies Review will be published by the University of Illinois Press for the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. Editorial direction and oversight remains at the Maxwell Institute, while the University of Illinois Press will handle production, subscription, and distribution duties—including placing the Review in JSTOR, one of the largest digital repositories of scholarly periodicals in the world.As the Review‘s reach expands, our hope is that scholarship on Mormonism will become ever more vibrant. More information about subscriptions is forthcoming. In the meantime, we invite you to browse through our past issues to either remind yourself of, or to become acquainted with, what the Review has offered thus far.
Rachel Cope is managing editor of the Mormon Studies Review and an associate professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. She received a PhD in American History (with an emphasis in women’s history and religious history) from Syracuse University