We hope you had a fine summer and are enjoying our July issue! We’ve recently compiled some statistics that may be of interest to the MAA membership, showing exactly who publishes in Speculum. These statistics cover the 2024 through 2026 volumes, including the Centennial Issue but excluding Speculations. Each author of a co-authored article is considered separately.
In terms of nationality (current location, not country of origin), 60 authors or 68% were from the U.S., followed by 10 authors or 11% from the United Kingdom. We had four authors each from Ireland and Israel, and two each from Canada, France, and Norway. One author each came from Germany, Hungary, Iceland, and Switzerland. In reality, the demographics are even more diverse, since many authors who now teach or study in the U.S. and the U.K. are natives of other countries. The 2027 volume will include scholars from Denmark, Poland, and Spain.
We also tracked career status. The great majority of authors (62 or 70%) were tenured or tenure-track faculty. But we also had a generous showing of early-career scholars: 8 postdocs, 7 Ph.D. candidates, and 1 visiting assistant professor. (These statistics may be misleading in a rather encouraging way: some articles by graduate students and postdocs were accepted and, by the time they reached publication, the authors had moved into tenure-track positions.) In addition, 3 authors were emeritus faculty, 2 were independent scholars, and 6 were employed in “alt/ac” careers such as publishing and museums.
So, wherever you are and whatever your status, all medievalists are welcome! Please consider publishing in Speculum.
