Journal of Contemporary History


The Journal of Contemporary History is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the study of history in all parts of the world since the end of the First World War. It was established in 1966 by Walter Laqueur and George L. Mosse. Originally published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson it was purchased by Sage Publications in 1972. The editors-in-chief are Richard J. Evans and Stanley Payne.

Content and scope

The journal publishes scholarly articles, review articles and book reviews, covering a broad range of historical approaches including social, economic, political, diplomatic, intellectual and cultural, on every country and region of the world within living memory, from 1918 to the present day. The journal normally publishes at least 1 special issue per volume, either arising from a supported conference or from an externally submitted proposal.
Since 2008, the journal has included reviews of individual books, in addition to review articles covering a range of books within the compass of a single critical essay.

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in Scopus and the Social Sciences Citation Index.

Reception

The journal has been described as "an excellent international publication". The Times Literary Supplement has described it as "one of the outstanding learned journals of history in the English-speaking world."
According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2018 impact factor of 0.769, ranking it 22nd out of 95 journals in the category "History".

Conference grants

The journal funds conferences in any field of contemporary history, defined as history within the memory of some persons now living. Other than this, there is no restriction of field, area or period. Up to £4000 is awarded to fund each conference. Normally only one conference is funded each year. The papers are normally published in a special issue of the journal, unless rejected by the editors.

Prizes

The journal has since 2006 awarded two annual prizes in honour of its founding co-editors George L. Mosse and Walter Laqueur. The author of the best article published in the journal is awarded the Walter Laqueur Prize of US$2,500. The George L. Mosse Prize is awarded to the best article by a previously unpublished author, and is US$2,000.