CFP: Digital Media and Peer Review in Medieval Studies

I usually resist Calls for Papers, since those are really only of interest to scholars, but this one seemed right up the alley of many of the Wordhoarders, so I'll break my embargo this time. If you don't know what a "Call for Papers" is, don't worry about it -- it's a scholarly thing.


Call for Papers for the 43rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 8-11, 2008, Kalamazoo, Michigan

The Medieval Academy of America Committee on Electronic Resources invites submissions to the following sponsored session:

"Digital Media and Peer Review in Medieval Studies"

Medievalists are increasingly turning to digital media both to produce new types of scholarship such as encoded texts and non-bookish digital projects (e.g. archives and interactive electronic resources) and to advance andincrease the efficiency of traditional forms of scholarship such as critical editions. There is not yet widespread agreement, however, regarding how this new work should count for academic promotion, and many scholars working in these new media find that there are few established avenues for getting their work peer reviewed. At the same time, we are witnessing rapid and widespread changes in how we use print texts (e.g. often in scanned, searchable copies), and many traditional publishers of print journals and monographs are under enormous financial pressures from declining sales and print runs, thereby further limiting access to peer review and opportunities for publication. How can we, as a community, bring scholarship, publishing, and the need for peer review into balance?

Please email abstracts (not to exceed 300 words) to Timothy Stinson (stinson@jhu.edu). Please include name, professional/university affiliation,and contact information.