Voprosy Jazykoznanija

Voprosy Jazykoznanija (Russian: «Вопросы языкознания», English: Topics in the Study of Language) is the principal linguistic scientific journal of Russia, published under the guidance of the Department of Historical and Philological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It has been issued since January 1952 and appears six times a year. The journal publishes theoretical articles in Russian and English across all branches of linguistics, as well as reviews and book notices. Its editorial office is located in Moscow. The journal was founded in the aftermath of the well-known 1950 discussion on questions of linguistics. Its first editor-in-chief was Academician V. V. Vinogradov, who held the post until his death in 1969. After a brief period without an editor-in-chief, Academician V. M. Zhirmunsky became acting editor-in-chief from the last issue of 1970 but died in January 1971. During 1969–1970 the journal was effectively managed by N. I. Tolstoy, then its executive secretary. In the 1950s and 1960s, Voprosy Jazykoznanija established a reputation as the best theoretical linguistic journal of the USSR, open to representatives of all scientific trends of the time and relatively free from the dogmatism of the prevailing ideology. The situation changed sharply from 1971, when Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences F. P. Filin became editor-in-chief and the editorial board was almost completely renewed. Alongside Filin, R. A. Budagov and V. Z. Panfilov largely determined the journal's theoretical position. This period was characterized by intensified ideologization: articles sharply critical of contemporary Western linguistic theories and of Soviet linguists who did not share the conservative positions of the journal's leadership began to dominate. Under the banner of "Marxist linguistics," the journal effectively defended traditional comparative-historical linguistics of the 19th and early 20th centuries, while structural methods, formalization of linguistic descriptions, and attempts to build synchronic theories of language received sharply negative assessments. After Filin's death in 1982, Academician G. V. Stepanov became editor-in-chief (1983–1986). The change of leadership did not mean fundamental changes in the journal's position, but it tried to avoid both overt ideological discussions and "sharp" topics. Many authors for whom cooperation with the journal had become impossible in the previous decade began to appear in its pages again. After Stepanov's death, his deputy, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences V. M. Solntsev, served as acting editor-in-chief for about a year and a half. From 1988, Academician T. V. Gamkrelidze became editor-in-chief; from 1994, Academician N. I. Tolstoy; from 1997, Academician O. N. Trubachev; from 2002, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences T. M. Nikolaeva; and from 2016, Academician V. A. Plungian. This period was marked by radical changes in the composition of the editorial board, coinciding with changes in society, the de-ideologization of the journal, and the gradual restoration of its authority in Russia and abroad. At present, Voprosy Jazykoznanija still enjoys the reputation of the leading Russian linguistic journal. Since 2017, the journal has published some articles and reviews in English. The journal has been indexed in the international bibliographic database Scopus since 2009 and in the Web of Science (Emerging Sources Citation Index of Core Collection) since 2016. It is also included in the RSCI and in the Russian Science Citation Index on the Web of Science platform. The editorial board includes scholars such as Academician V. M. Alpatov, I. M. Boguslavsky, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences N. B. Vakhtin (deputy editor-in-chief), M. D. Voeikova, V. Z. Demyankov, D. O. Dobrovolsky, A. F. Zhuravlev, P. V. Iosad (UK), Academician N. N. Kazansky, V. I. Kimmelman (Norway), G. I. Kustova, Academician A. M.

Voprosy Jazykoznanija was founded in 1952, following the well-known 1950 discussion on questions of linguistics. Its first editor-in-chief was Academician V. V. Vinogradov, who led the journal until his death in 1969. After a brief period without an editor-in-chief, Academician V. M. Zhirmunsky became acting editor-in-chief from the last issue of 1970, but he died in January 1971. During 1969–1970, the journal was effectively managed by N. I. Tolstoy, then its executive secretary. In the 1950s and 1960s, the journal established a reputation as the best theoretical linguistic journal of the USSR, open to representatives of all scientific trends of the time and relatively free from the dogmatism of the prevailing ideology. The situation changed sharply from 1971, when Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences F. P. Filin became editor-in-chief and the editorial board was almost completely renewed. Alongside Filin, R. A. Budagov and V. Z. Panfilov largely determined the journal's theoretical position. This period was characterized by intensified ideologization: articles sharply critical of contemporary Western linguistic theories and of Soviet linguists who did not share the conservative positions of the journal's leadership began to dominate. Under the banner of "Marxist linguistics," the journal effectively defended traditional comparative-historical linguistics of the 19th and early 20th centuries, while structural methods, formalization of linguistic descriptions, and attempts to build synchronic theories of language received sharply negative assessments. After Filin's death in 1982, Academician G. V. Stepanov became editor-in-chief (1983–1986). The change of leadership did not mean fundamental changes in the journal's position, but it tried to avoid both overt ideological discussions and "sharp" topics. Many authors for whom cooperation with the journal had become impossible in the previous decade began to appear in its pages again. After Stepanov's death, his deputy, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences V. M. Solntsev, served as acting editor-in-chief for about a year and a half. From 1988, Academician T. V. Gamkrelidze became editor-in-chief; from 1994, Academician N. I. Tolstoy; from 1997, Academician O. N. Trubachev; from 2002, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences T. M. Nikolaeva; and from 2016, Academician V. A. Plungian. This period was marked by radical changes in the composition of the editorial board, coinciding with changes in society, the de-ideologization of the journal, and the gradual restoration of its authority in Russia and abroad. At present, Voprosy Jazykoznanija still enjoys the reputation of the leading Russian linguistic journal. Since 2017, the journal has published some articles and reviews in English. The journal has been indexed in Scopus since 2009 and in Web of Science (Emerging Sources Citation Index of Core Collection) since 2016. It is also included in the RSCI and in the Russian Science Citation Index on the Web of Science platform.

• 2017

  Journal begins publishing some articles and reviews in English.

• 2016

  V. A. Plungian becomes editor-in-chief; journal indexed in Web of Science (ESCI).

• 2009

  Journal indexed in Scopus.

• 2002

  T. M. Nikolaeva becomes editor-in-chief.

• 1997

  O. N. Trubachev becomes editor-in-chief.

• 1994

  N. I. Tolstoy becomes editor-in-chief.

• 1988

  T. V. Gamkrelidze becomes editor-in-chief.

• 1983

  G. V. Stepanov becomes editor-in-chief.

• 1982

  Death of editor-in-chief F. P. Filin.

• 1971

  F. P. Filin becomes editor-in-chief; editorial board almost completely renewed.

• 1969

  Death of first editor-in-chief V. V. Vinogradov.

• 1952

  Journal founded; first issue published in January.

Leading Russian theoretical linguistics journal, published by the Russian Academy of Sciences.

• Theoretical articles on linguistics

  Articles in Russian and English covering all branches of linguistics.

• Reviews

  Review articles on linguistic topics.

• Book notices

  Short reviews of recent publications.

1. 1Official websiteissuesinlinguistics.ru
2. 2Wikidata entrywikidata.org
3. 3Russian Wikipedia articleru.wikipedia.org