About

Focus and Scope

Medieval Sermon Studies (MSS) is an international, peer-reviewed journal published annually under the auspices of the International Medieval Sermon Studies Society (IMSSS). The journal publishes high-quality, original research with a focus on the study of medieval sermons in Latin, Eastern languages, and vernaculars. Articles in the journal place sermons in their social, literary, religious, intellectual, theological, catechetical, political and historical contexts. MSS also publishes on the theory of preaching and artes praedicandi, on the application of sermons as sources in the development of literary and cultural theory, on the reception of medieval preaching, and on research traditions in the field of sermon studies. The journal looks beyond Christian homiletic traditions to include also Jewish and Muslim traditions of preaching. While its focus is on the Middle Ages, adjoining periods, from Late Antiquity to the sixteenth and seventeenth century are also included. In addition to research articles, the journal publishes book reviews and editions of sermons, as well as the occasional report about a conference or research project. It is an essential resource not only for sermon specialists but also for researchers working in the fields of religious culture, history, theology, philosophy, and literature.

Journal History

Medieval Sermon Studies was created in 1977 as a newsletter to disseminate the yearly report of the International Medieval Sermon Studies Society. In 1988, it became a bona fide scholarly publication, appearing bi-annually until 1999. From 2003, it was published by W.S. Maney & Son Ltd., based in Leeds. The journal moved to Taylor & Francis in 2015, when they acquired W.S. Maney & Son Ltd. In 2027, with the publication of the 71st issue, Medieval Sermon Studies became a Diamond Open Access journal and part of the Open Library of Humanities.

Publication Frequency

The journal is published online as a continuous volume throughout the year. Articles are made available as soon as they are ready to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays in making content publicly available.

A limited print run of the year's volume of articles is made available towards the end of the year and marks the cap of that year’s contributions. This print run is organised by the International Medieval Sermon Studies Society. More information may be found on the Society’s website.

Collections of articles on a specific theme and coordinated by guest editors are welcomed. These will be published as part of the normal issue, under the header ‘Thematic Section’.

Publication Fees

There are no publication fees. This journal is published by the Open Library of Humanities (OLH). Unlike many open-access publishers, the OLH does not charge any author fees. This does not mean that we do not have costs. Instead, our costs are paid by an international library consortium.

Voluntary Author Contributions

Authors who have access to institutional funds or grant funding earmarked for Open Access publication (via a research grant or through their institution's department or library)—and only those authors—are kindly asked to use those funds to cover the publication costs for their article in Medieval Sermon Studies through a Voluntary Author Contribution (VAC). The VAC is genuinely voluntary. Whether or not the author is able to contribute makes absolutely no difference to editorial decision-making on the submission. For further information please see the publisher's policy on VACs.

Archiving, Indexing and Citation Metrics

Medieval Sermon Studies is archived and indexed according to the publisher's policy.