Important changes to how SCF is published

Studia Celtica Fennica is changing its format in two important ways. Firstly, starting with the 2020 issue, SCF will be exclusively online. Secondly, SCF will move to a rolling publication schedule which means that articles can be published as soon as they have been through peer review and copy editing. As we have seen in recent months, the need for material that is accessible wherever and whenever to everyone is of utmost importance for the production and dissemination of high-quality scholarship. The decision was made last year to make SCF completely Open Access for all readers, a change which has been met with a great deal of enthusiasm by readers, libraries and contributors. Along with many other journals in the humanities, we have also found that our publications are accessed in far greater numbers online, especially as many universities and public libraries throughout the world now include a link to our website and all past issues in their online catalogues. As editors we want to focus our energies on continuing to grow the journal in this direction and to raise the profile of SCF through recognition by various bodies within the humanities, as we believe that this best serves our contributors and readers.

The decision to move away from a print journal format has also been made specifically with our authors in mind. As an online journal, we can publish articles faster, enabling our contributors to have their work published as soon as it has been through our stringent peer-review and copy-editing process. All articles will still be part of a journal issue, have DOIs and ‘look’ like the articles previously published in the print journal. However, each article will be published on our website once it is ready, with the entire issue being completed at the end of the calendar year. We hope that this will in particular benefit early career scholars and others who need evidence of having produced quality peer-reviewed publications at a faster rate during the job application process.

The move to an online format also brings with it a change to our annual deadline for articles, as we now can accept and publish articles and book reviews on a rolling basis throughout the year. Our submission process otherwise remains the same and we look forward to reading future pieces from both returning and new authors.