CALL FOR PAPERS
Oral History in Practice: Applied Oral History, Survey Articles, From the Archives
The Editors of the Oral History Review invite prospective authors to submit articles on oral history practice based on our recently expanded Mission Statement for consideration in issues beginning in 2027. In particular, we seek research-based articles focusing on state-of-the field surveys, applied oral history, and archives. We describe each of these features below.
Survey Articles
Survey articles serve as a kind of “state of the field” essay. They explore the evolution and/or current role of oral history.
Some Survey Article topics of special interest to the Editors include:
- A survey article on a specific location (country, region, or state), e.g.—
- Oral history in and from both French and English-speaking Canada. (What is the state of the field and the relationship to oral history in the U.S., and to the English and/or French-speaking world more broadly? How do the regions of Canadian oral history interact? Why was the Canadian Oral History Association dissolved?)
- A survey article on the history and evolution of feminist contributions to oral history methodology–and therefore historiography. (While this is largely the theme of Beyond Women’s Words—itself a reflection on the classic 1991 text by Sherna Berger Gluck and Daphne Patai, Women’s Words––other early works have been published in the OHR, including in 1979, “Oral History in Teaching Women’s Studies,” and, in 1987, “Beginning Where We Are: Feminist Methodology in Oral History.” Is it time for an update with a view toward the historiography of oral history?
- The practices of oral history under authoritarianism. How have oral historians in different regions approached their work in dangerous times? What patterns or changes over time can be identified? What is the state of intellectual/academic freedom? How has funding been weaponized?
- A survey article on an adjacent field.
- A survey article on a project or projects that consider the oral history of a community, institution, or governmental agency–or a comparison study across agencies.
New Survey Articles:
- Amy Starecheski, “Oral History and Anthropology: A Survey of Histories and Possibilities” (Spring 2026, 53(1), 111–140). https://doi.org/10.1080/00940798.2026.2618282
Applied Oral History Articles
These articles extract broad lessons from specific projects that all oral history practitioners can learn from. These will most often focus on projects that result in system-wide/broad changes, are scalable, or can serve as a model in other contexts and locations.
Some Applied Oral History Article topics of special interest to the Editors include:
- Oral history in federal governments and programs.
- Community-based oral history projects.
- Public or individual health projects where listening/story was important.
- Oral history and the arts. How is oral history used to inform art, where, when & why?
- Oral history and incarceration.
New Applied Oral History Articles:
- Lynn Lewis, “Documenting a Movement Ecosystem: Picture the Homeless, a Participatory Oral History Research Case Study” (Spring 2026, 53(1), 167–198). https://doi.org/10.1080/00940798.2026.2626501
From the Archives
In “From the Archives” features, authors analyze an archival oral history collection in terms of the original goals of a project and collection, as well as the collection’s historical value, accessibility, and its use–or usefulness–in secondary research.
Some From the Archives feature topics of special interest to the Editors include:
- Oral history from programs and archives at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)–everything from archival descriptions and original project goals to gaps in archives of subjects and people, to availability and potential future endeavors, and more.
- Archivists’ perspectives on the value of oral history recordings and collections; the creation, ingesting, and managing of collections; how archival practices and technologies have changed across time and context; the archivist point of view on AI and online oral history collections (& issues of informed consent, privacy, etc.)
- We would also like to see more of the hundreds of oral history archives that exist brought to the light and examined—from original goals to accessibility.
New From the Archive articles:
- Shanna Farrell, “From the Archives: Promises and Pitfalls of the Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Project” (Spring 2025, 52(1), 87–110). https://doi.org/10.1080/00940798.2025.2468517
To be considered for the Spring 2027 issue, submissions are due by July 2026, but we accept submissions on a rolling basis.
Please read our Mission Statement https://oralhistory.org/about-the-oral-history-review/ and contact the editors with any questions:
Holly Werner-Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, holly@hollythomasoralhistory.com
Molly Todd, Managing Editor, managingeditorohr@gmail.com
Publishing in the Archives Profession 