''The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies'' is a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

covering the field of

Pagan studies Pagan studies is the multidisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of modern paganism, a broad assortment of modern religious movements, which are typically influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of premodern ...

including historical, sociological, and anthropological studies dealing with

contemporary Paganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

and other forms of

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

religion. Since 2004 the journal has been published by Equinox Publishing and the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

is Chas S. Clifton (

Colorado State University–Pueblo Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) is a public university in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Colorado State University, Colorado State University System and a Hispanic-serving institution, Hispanic-Serving Institut ...

). The journal was established as a scholarly but not fully peer-reviewed publication in 1996 by Fritz Muntean and Diana Tracy with the subtitle ''A New Journal of Neopagan Thought''. In 2001 the production of the journal was put on hiatus, as Muntean stepped down as editor, to be replaced by Clifton when it resumed publication, this time as a fully peer-reviewed academic publication and with its current subtitle.

History

The idea for ''The Pomegranate'' was initially developed by Fritz Muntean, a graduate student in

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

in Canada, who started the venture with his friend Diana Tracy, who was then living in Oregon in the United States. Clifton 2004. p. 5. Initially naming their work ''The Pomegranate: A New Journal of Neopagan Thought'', the stated intention of the publication was to "provide a scholarly venue for the forthright and critical examination of Neopagan beliefs and practices". From 1996 to 2001, Muntean published 18 issues of ''The Pomegranate'' on a quarterly basis, gaining a growing readership as time went on, particularly after Muntean and Tracy introduced the journal to the assembled members at the third Nature Religions Scholars Network (NRSN), a group which met in conjunction with the annual San Francisco meeting of the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a profess ...

. Muntean eventually decided to move on from his work as editor of ''The Pomegranate'', leaving that position to be occupied by Clifton. Together, Muntean and Clifton searched for a new publisher, in 2003 eventually signing an agreement with Equinox Publishing. Under Clifton's control, the journal's subtitle was changed to ''The International Journal of Pagan Studies'' and it adopted a peer review structure for the papers which it published. Clifton 2004. p. 6.

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in

Religious and Theological Abstracts Religious and Theological Abstracts is a database that indexes many religious and theological journals and other literature. In 2005, one ''Guide to Research'' described it as a "popular reference" , covering more than 600 periodicals in most m ...

Arts & Humanities Citation Index The Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), also known as Arts and Humanities Search, is a citation index, with abstracting and indexing for more than 1,700 arts and humanities academic journals, and coverage of disciplines that includes s ...

Current Contents ''Current Contents'' is a rapid alerting service database from Clarivate, formerly the Institute for Scientific Information and Thomson Reuters. It is published online and in several different printed subject sections. History ''Current Contents ...

/Arts & Humanities, and

Academic Search Premier Academic Search is a monthly indexing service. It was first published in 1997 by EBSCO Publishing in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Its academic focus is international universities, covering social science, education, psychology, and other subjects. P ...

and other EBSCO databases.

References

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