About the Journal

Aim and Scope

Vietnamese and Global Buddhist Studies (VGBS) is a peer-reviewed, open-source journal that seeks to increase and contribute to the scholarly discussion in the field of Buddhist Studies, with special but not exclusive emphasis placed on Buddhist Studies within Vietnam and the Vietnamese diaspora.

Contributions are accepted from scholars and practitioners in a variety of disciplines across all aspects of the major schools of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana) and their varying sect, and topics may be situated within either the Vietnamese or broader global contexts of Buddhism, Buddhist Studies, or related fields of inquiry. Appropriate topics include, inter alia:

  • History;
  • Art and architecture;
  • Ethics;
  • Theory and philosophy;
  • Practice and methodology;
  • Monasticism;
  • Chaplaincy;
  • Education;
  • Representations in popular culture;
  • Cross-cultural and interfaith relations. 

 

While VGBS accepts and encourages submissions on all aspects of Buddhist Studies from all parts of the world, it has special interest in Vietnamese Buddhist Studies. Examples of potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • The histories, theories, philosophies, and practices of the various schools, traditions, and sects of Buddhism in Vietnam;
  • The interactions and relationships among the various schools, traditions, and sects of Buddhism in Vietnam;
  • The interactions and relationships of the various schools, traditions, and sects of Buddhism with the indigenous traditions and religious systems within Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and the broader global context;
  • Challenges facing Vietnamese Buddhism in the 21st century, both within Vietnam and larger global communities;
  • The field of Vietnamese Buddhist Studies as a discipline of scholarship.

 

Submission Types

 

VGBS publishes three types of articles in two tiers. Please see the following for specifics when submitting manuscripts:

 

Tier I: Peer Reviewed

  • Scholarly Articles: Scholarly articles analyze a topic or practice in detail, while also situating that topic or practice, conclusions, and relevance within the broader scholarly literature. These articles are peer reviewed and held to the highest standards of quality and rigor. Scholarly articles are typically between 3,000 and 8,000 words, but limits are not exact. 

 

Tier II: Non-Peer Reviewed

  • Reviews: VGBS accepts reviews of a variety of media, including but not limited to: popular and scholarly monographs, and popular and scholarly films. The goal of these reviews is to situate the media within the broader scholarly conversations of Buddhism and Buddhist Studies. Reviews are reviewed by the editorial board, and decisions for inclusion are made on quality and thoroughness. Reviews are typically between 1,000 and 2,000 words, but limits are not exact.
  • Practitioner Essays: Practitioner essays are non-peer reviewed articles that seek to create or contribute to discussion by highlighting relevant topics or practices impacting Buddhist Studies, especially within an applied context (examples of practitioners include but are not limited to: clergy, chaplains, Dharma center employees, etc.). Essays are reviewed by the editorial board, and decisions are made on quality, thoroughness, and interest. While not peer reviewed, essays are held to the same standard of quality as the other types of articles. Essays are typically between 1,500 and 3,000 words, but limits are not exact. 

 

Peer Review

 

All submissions will first be vetted by the VGBS editorial team to ensure that manuscripts align with the mission, aim, and scope of the journal. If accepted, all submissions will then pass through double-blind peer review to ensure that only manuscripts of the highest quality and rigor, both in content and scholarship, are published.

Based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for transparency and best practices: The editors of VGBS “will take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others… In the event that the journal’s publisher or editor are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a published article in their journal, the publisher or editor shall follow COPE’s guidelines (or equivalent) in dealing with allegations.”

 

Publication Frequency

 

To shorten the amount of time between submission and publication, VGBS accepts submissions at any time throughout the calendar year, and - if accepted - articles will be made electronically available as soon as possible. In certain circumstances, VGBS will create special issues with specific themes, and for these, calls for proposals and hard deadlines will be issued.

 

Open Access Policy

 

VGBS is an open-access journal hosted by IU Libraries through IUScholarWorks, the open-access repository of Indiana University. Authors and readers may submit and read articles without charge or the expectation of purchase. It is the hope of the editors of VGBS that these practices may contribute to a more equitable, ethical, and sustainable model of scholarly publication, while also ensuring that all people interested in the topics and articles published by VGBS are freely accessible to all international communities. Thus, in the spirit of supporting greater, unfettered global exchange of knowledge, users may access, download, print, and distribute content as needed.

 

Copyright Notice

 

Authors retain copyright of their works and grant Vietnamese and Global Buddhist Studies (VGBS) the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License, (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) 4.0 International, allowing others to share the work with proper acknowledgement and citation of the work's authorship and initial publication in VGBS. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. posting to an institutional repository or publishing it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in VGBS.