The Jewish Quarterly Review

The Jewish Quarterly Review is an English-language, quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. Its subject area is broad and interdisciplinary, encompassing the history, literature, religion, thought, culture, and intellectual life of Jewish communities and traditions. The journal is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. The journal was established in London in 1889 by Israel Abrahams and Claude G. Montefiore. Its creation reflected the growth of modern Jewish scholarship associated with Wissenschaft des Judentums, the nineteenth-century movement that applied historical, philological, and critical methods to the study of Jewish texts, institutions, and history. The publication also served as an English-language counterpart to the French Revue des études juives, an important earlier venue for modern Judaic scholarship. In 1910, the journal was transferred to Pennsylvania's Dropsie College, an institution that played a major role in the development of American Jewish scholarship and that ultimately became part of the institutional history leading to the University of Pennsylvania's Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. This transition connected the journal to a major American center for Judaic research and helped establish its continuing place within the scholarly infrastructure of Jewish studies. The Jewish Quarterly Review is recognized as the oldest English-language journal devoted to Judaic scholarship. Its principal offering is the scholarly journal itself: issues contain research articles that undergo peer review, together with other forms of academic contribution associated with the study of Jewish history, texts, religion, and culture. The journal serves researchers, university instructors, students, libraries, and institutions working across Jewish studies and neighboring humanities disciplines. Distribution has developed from a traditional print periodical into a hybrid scholarly publishing presence. The journal is available through digital research platforms including Project MUSE and JSTOR, extending its reach to academic libraries and individual researchers internationally. According to the cited reference material, the journal is open access as of 2026, a change that increases public and scholarly access to its contents while preserving its role as a specialist research publication. The journal is currently edited by David N. Myers of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Natalie Dohrmann of the University of Pennsylvania. Its publishing relationship with Penn Press and its institutional association with the Katz Center position it as an academic rather than a mass-market media brand. Its long publication history, specialist editorial identity, and continuing digital availability are central to its reputation.

The Jewish Quarterly Review began in London in 1889, founded by Israel Abrahams and Claude G. Montefiore. Its emergence belonged to a wider transformation in Jewish intellectual life: the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement had encouraged scholars to examine Jewish history, literature, religious traditions, and textual transmission using modern historical and philological methods. The new journal provided an English-language venue for this developing field and functioned as an English counterpart to the French Revue des études juives. From its beginning, the publication was more than a general-interest periodical. It was designed as a scholarly forum for research into Judaism and Jewish civilization, helping connect academic work in Britain, continental Europe, and the English-speaking scholarly world. Its continued publication made it one of the durable institutional records of the development of modern Judaic studies. A major institutional transition occurred in 1910, when the journal was brought to Pennsylvania's Dropsie College. Dropsie was an important center for Jewish learning and research in the United States. The move gave the journal a durable American academic base and linked its future to the professionalization and expansion of Jewish studies in North American universities. The institutional lineage associated with Dropsie later became connected to the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the following decades, The Jewish Quarterly Review retained its specialist identity as a peer-reviewed journal while Jewish studies expanded into an increasingly interdisciplinary field. Research represented by the journal can address Jewish texts and interpretation, religious history, intellectual history, literature, communal life, and broader questions of Jewish culture. Its intended audience includes scholars, graduate students, university teachers, research libraries, and readers in adjacent humanities disciplines. The journal's publishing model has also adapted to changes in scholarly communication. In addition to its established periodical form, its contents are distributed electronically through Project MUSE and JSTOR. These platforms make the journal discoverable and accessible within the digital library systems used by universities and research institutions. The cited reference material states that the journal is open access as of 2026, representing a further development in the circulation of its scholarship. The journal is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press for the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. Its current editors-in-chief are David N. Myers of UCLA and Natalie Dohrmann of the University of Pennsylvania. This combination of university-press publishing, center sponsorship, and specialist editorial leadership reflects the journal's continuing role as a research institution in publication form. Today, The Jewish Quarterly Review is identified as the oldest English-language journal of Judaic scholarship. Its significance rests not on consumer branding or commercial scale but on longevity, scholarly specialization, editorial continuity, and the preservation and dissemination of research in Jewish studies. Its history spans the movement from nineteenth-century European Jewish scholarship to contemporary, digitally distributed and increasingly accessible academic publishing.

• 2026

  Open-access status reported

  [1]The Jewish Quarterly Reviewen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material identifies the journal as open access as of 2026.

• 1910

  Transferred to Dropsie College

  [1]The Jewish Quarterly Reviewen.wikipedia.org

  The journal was brought to Pennsylvania's Dropsie College, creating a long-term institutional connection with American Judaic scholarship.

• 1889

  Journal founded in London

  [1]The Jewish Quarterly Reviewen.wikipedia.org

  Israel Abrahams and Claude G. Montefiore established The Jewish Quarterly Review as an English-language journal for modern Jewish scholarship.

• Digital distribution through scholarly platforms

  [1]The Jewish Quarterly Reviewen.wikipedia.org

  The journal became available online through Project MUSE and JSTOR.

A scholarly, English-language journal positioned as a durable and authoritative venue for peer-reviewed research in Jewish studies, with an interdisciplinary scope and a global academic readership.

• Peer-reviewed academic journal · 1889

  The Jewish Quarterly Review

  The core and defining offering is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal covering Jewish studies. It publishes specialist research concerning Jewish history, religion, literature, texts, thought, and culture. The journal's interdisciplinary scope places it within the humanities and religious-studies research ecosystem, while its long history gives it a distinctive role in English-language Judaic scholarship. Content is distributed in print and through online scholarly platforms, including Project MUSE and JSTOR.

• 1910

  Move the journal to Dropsie CollegeStrategy

  Background

  The journal's founders had created an English-language venue for modern Jewish scholarship in London. In 1910, its institutional base was shifted to Pennsylvania's Dropsie College.

  Action taken

  The publication was brought under the institutional setting of Dropsie College, linking it to a major American center for Judaic research.

  Aftermath

  The move established a long-term American academic connection that forms part of the institutional lineage leading to the University of Pennsylvania's Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.

  Source

• Expand scholarly distribution through digital platformsStrategy

  Background

  Academic journals increasingly distribute content through digital library and research platforms in addition to conventional publication channels.

  Action taken

  The Jewish Quarterly Review became available through Project MUSE and JSTOR.

  Aftermath

  Digital indexing and access extended the journal's reach among academic libraries, researchers, and students internationally.

  Source

1. 1The Jewish Quarterly Reviewen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Jewish Quarterly Review official websitejqr.pennpress.org