About the Journal

The Journal of Global Buddhism has been established to promote the study of the globalization of Buddhism, both historical and contemporary, and its transnational and transcontinental interrelatedness. We publish research articles, special issues (special focus sections), discussions, critical notes, review essays and book reviews, as detailed in our Author Guidelines.

The JGB is published entirely online. In all other respects, it functions as a traditional scholarly journal.

The Journal of Global Buddhism interprets "global" in a broad geographic and sociological sense, but with a particular focus on developments in industrialized, non-Asian countries. The primary subjects considered by the journal include:

  1. Historical Studies
  2. Transnational Studies
  3. Issues in the Development of Buddhist Traditions
  4. Case Studies and Biographical Studies
  5. Survey Results and Their Interpretation
  6. Research Bibliographies
  7. Theoretical and Methodological Studies

Historical Studies

Major historical investigations of Buddhist development with a focus on Western countries; developments within individual Buddhist traditions concentrating on historical trends in Western Buddhism.

Transnational Studies

Comparative studies in the development of Western Buddhism; area studies and their interconnectedness; concerns for de-territorialization of locality.

Issues in the Development of Buddhist Traditions

Investigation of membership determination; ethnicity; Buddhist practice(s); democratization; adaptation and acculturation; ecumenical movements; future trends.

Case Studies and Biographical Studies

Investigations of individual Buddhist groups(s); multiple studies of Buddhist communities within Buddhist traditions and sectarian divisions; studies of leading figures in modern Buddhism, reflecting both Asian immigrant and Western convert communities; studies of leading figures in modern Buddhism, reflecting both Asian immigrant and Western convert communities.

Survey Results and Their Interpretation

Empirical findings resulting from individual investigations; results from journal-sponsored surveys.

Research Bibliographies

Inclusive, broadly based, comprehensive bibliographies; case-specific tradition-based bibliographies; country-specific bibliographies; issue-oriented bibliographies.

Theoretical and Methodological Studies

Transcultural transplantation of Buddhist traditions: models and systematizations; images, projections, and idealizations of Buddhism; politics of representation; the impact of globalization; examination of approaches to the study of global Buddhism, such as diaspora studies.

Open to all authors:

Journal of Global Buddhism is committed to openness and inclusivity in scholarly publishing without author-facing charges for reading or publishing. We welcome submissions from all authors, regardless of their institutional affiliation, geographical location, or academic status. Submissions only must align with the aims and scope of the journal and meet the required quality standards once the reviewing process is completed.

Community-owned:

Journal of Global Buddhism is owned by Society for the Study of Global Buddhism, a public institution/organisation dedicated to advancing research and scholarship. The journal’s ownership and governance structure reflect its mission to support open and accessible academic publishing. We confirm that any commercial service providers involved in our operations only deal with service-related aspects of journal publishing. All content-related aspects of publishing, such as submission, peer review, acceptance, publication frequency, and scope of the journal, are controlled by the editors / the owners of the journal.