Published twice a year in assocation with the University of Liverpool, The Journal of Beatles Studies is an Open Access journal, co-edited by Holly Tessler (University of Liverpool) and Paul Long (Monash University).

It is the first journal to establish The Beatles as an object of academic research, and publishes original, rigorously researched essays, notes, as well as book and media reviews. Its inaugural issue was published in September 2022.

The journal aims are: to provide a voice to new and emerging research locating the Beatles in new contexts, groups and communities from within and beyond academic institutions; to inaugurate, innovate, interrogate and challenge narrative, cultural historical and musicological tropes about the Beatles as both subject and object of study; to publish original and critical research from Beatles scholars around the globe and across disciplines.

The Journal of Beatles Studies establishes a scholarly focal point for critique, dialogue and exchange on the nature, scope and value of The Beatles as an object of academic enquiry and seeks to examine and assess the continued economic value and cultural values generated by and around The Beatles, for policy makers, creative industries and consumers. The journal also seeks to approach The Beatles as a prism for accessing insight into wider historical, social and cultural issues.

The journal elicits peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary articles encompassing scholarship about, but not limited to:

• The Beatles as academic object
• The historical moment of The Beatles
• The music of the Beatles, including issues of composition, recording, performance, reception and interpretation
• Beatles fandom and communities
• Social identities and The Beatles
• Beatles geographies
• The legacy of The Beatles
• Cultural value and The Beatles
• The Beatles as heritage object
• The global Beatles
• Beatles historiography
• Mediation of The Beatles
• Beatles pedagogies
• Economics of The Beatles
• Archiving and collecting The Beatles
• Sustaining The Beatles

Call for Editorial Board members
The Journal of Beatles Studies invites applications for Editorial Board members. We welcome applications from academics and researchers globally, particularly encouraging those from under-represented groups and those who might aid in reaching beyond the Anglophone world.

For more details on the role, please visit the full Call for Editorial Board members.

Print copies
A paperback edition of The Journal of Beatles Studies is available to purchase:
Volume 3, Issue 2 >
Volume 3, Issue 1 >
Volume 2, Issues 1 and 2 >
Volume 1, Issue 1 >

Code of Conduct
LUP is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards. We therefore ask that all contributors and reviewers adhere to the COPE Core Practices, including COPE's Position Statement on Authorship and AI Tools. More info can be found on the COPE website.

Abstracting and Indexing
Journal of Beatles Studies is abstracted and indexed in Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Co-Editors
Holly Tessler, University of Liverpool
Paul Long, Monash University

Editorial Board
Robert Adelson, Conservatoire de Nice-Université Côte d'Azur
Matthew Bannister, Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec)
Francesco Brusco, University of Salerno
Allison Bumsted, Austin Community College
Martin Cloonan, University of Turku
Jake Cowan
Kathryn Cox, Liverpool Hope University
Julián Delgado, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes/Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche
Duncan Driver, University of Canberra
Richard D. Driver, McLennan Community College
Karen Duchaj, Northeastern Illinois University
Bethany Easton, University of Cumbria
Christine Feldman-Barrett, Griffith University
Stephen Glynn, De Montfort University
Mark Goodall, University of Bradford
Oliver Gruner,University of Portsmouth
Terry Hamblin, SUNY Delhi
Mike Jones, University of Liverpool
Olivier Julien, Sorbonne Université
Ari Katorza, Rimon - the School of Music/Reichman University/Sapir College
Arthur Lizie, Bridgewater State University
Amy McGrath
Phillip McIntyre, University of Newcastle, Australia
Richard Mills, St. Mary's University
Chris Shaw, Host & Producer of I Am The EggPod
Colleen J. Sheehy, Ph.D., Independent Scholar, Writer, and Curator, Minneapolis, MN
Paul Thompson, Leeds Beckett University
Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen, University of Iceland
Vanessa Amalia Dalpizol Valiati, Universidade Feevale
Ben Winsworth, University of Orléans

The Journal of Beatles Studies is an open-access, online journal publishing peer-reviewed articles drawn from leading interdisciplinary and international research on the subject of the Beatles encompassing criticism, historical and textual scholarship, legacy and influence.

The journal aims to bridge the gap between the study of the Beatles across disciplines such as musicology, cultural studies, history, sociology, music and creative industries, and fan studies, providing a focal point outlet for research undertaken to the very highest standards from around the world. Without privileging any particular critical approaches, methodologies, or theories, the journal welcomes all contributions that throw light upon the Beatles, their works, world, in their time and through to the present day.

In addition to publishing articles of original scholarship, the journal also offers performance and exhibition reviews covering productions from around the globe, reviews of recent books, blogs and podcasts as well as a dedicated section for critical debates and state-of-the-field surveys.

Articles can be on any aspect of the Beatles’ music, history or career, but should be written in English for a non-specialist readership, engage in critical scholarship and debate and be contextualised within an appropriately academic context. We particularly encourage contributions from writers from underrepresented groups including (but not limited to): women, people of colour, the Global South, the LGBTQI+ community and emerging scholars.

Articles submitted for consideration should be around 6000-8000 words in length and should be emailed to the permanent editors. Although we are happy to accept submissions on a rolling basis, to be considered for publication in Issue Four, please ensure your work reaches the editors by no later than 31 August 2023. Please note all articles will be subject to peer review and submission of work does not guarantee publication.

To submit a paper or discuss a draft or potential submission please contact the Co-Editors:
Holly Tessler, University of Liverpool and Paul Long, Monash University at [email protected].

Please click here for the journal's style guide.
(If you include supplementary figures with your article, please also provide alt text. For more information, see our guide to alt text.)

Submit here >

Language Editing Services
Liverpool University Press partners with Enago to offer English editing services to authors around the world. Enago's service can help to improve the quality of manuscripts submitted to the journal, especially authors for whom English is not the first language. Please see here for more information.

Publication Fees
The Journal of Beatles Studies is a fully Open Access journal, published in association with the University of Liverpool. There is no Article Publishing Charge for authors and all articles are published under the author's choice of Creative Commons license - CC BY, CC BY-ND, or CC BY-NC-ND.

More information on publishing Open Access with Liverpool University Press can be found on our Publishing Open Access Journal Articles page, which includes the Open Access Journal Article Contributor Agreement. This agreement outlines the agreed terms, whilst confirming that authors retain all rights in and to the article.

Peer Review Policy
All articles published in the journal (including in any special issues) are subject to peer-review by objective experts in the field, prior to the acceptance by the journal editor(s). The journal employs a double-anonymous review (anonymity strictly observed between author and reviewer).

For further information on the ethics we ask our journal editors, authors, and reviewers to adhere to, please visit LUP’s Code of Conduct.

Click here to visit our Author Marketing Toolkit.

The Journal of Beatles Studies is a fully Open Access journal, published in association with the University of Liverpool.

There is no Article Publishing Charge for authors and all articles are published under the author's choice of Creative Commons license - CC BY, CC BY-ND, or CC BY-NC-ND.

More information on publishing Open Access with Liverpool University Press can be found on our Publishing Open Access Journal Articles page, which includes the Open Access Journal Article Contributor Agreement. This agreement outlines the agreed terms, whilst confirming that authors retain all rights in and to the article.

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