The Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies is designed to promote the academic study of religion at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The journal is affiliated with the Religious Studies Program at Utah State University. Our academic review committee includes professionals from universities throughout the Intermountain West specializing in the religions of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Mormonism, as well as specialists in the fields of Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology of Religion.
The first issue of the Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies is slated for electronic publication in the summer of 2009. The second issue will be published the following Winter.
The journal is unique in three ways:
1. The IMW Journal is entirely student run with an academic review board consisting exclusively of scholars in the field. The staff consists of USU students. Though student editors participate in screening submissions, membership in the academic review board is limited to professional scholars.
2. The IMW Journal seeks submissions from students throughout the Intermountain West. Whereas the vast majority of undergraduate or graduate journals limit submissions to their respective universities, the IMW Journal actively promotes the study of religion throughout the region. The journal is enhanced through diversity. The university and program is promoted via the journal's outreach efforts.
3. The IMW Journal takes full advantage of the benefits of electronic publishing. Publications enhance any young scholar's curriculum vita. Students are limited to the number of semesters they are eligible and able to submit their research to journals in order to meet the deadlines of graduate school applications. The journal publishes materials on an ongoing rather than a periodic basis, eliminating any backlog between acceptance and publication. It is conceivable that an article could be submitted and published electronically within one semester.
Another advantage the IMW Journal has in producing a quality product is the active participation of Dr. Charles Prebish, the Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University. Dr. Prebish is the founding editor-emeritus for the Journal of Buddhist Ethics, the first online peer-reviewed journal in Religious Studies. Dr. Prebish has agreed to advise the Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies, instructing and counseling the editors in a successful student initiative.
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