Cahiers Elisabethains

About Cahiers Elisabethains

Cahiers Élisabéthains: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies — Journal Profile

Cahiers Élisabéthains is an international, peer-reviewed, English-language scholarly journal devoted to the English Renaissance, published by SAGE Publishing in association with the IRCL — the Institut de Recherche sur la Renaissance, l'âge Classique et les Lumières (UMR 5186), a joint research unit of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3. Founded in 1972 and published without interruption ever since, it is one of the longest-running European journals in early modern English studies. Its print ISSN is 0184-7678 and its electronic ISSN is 2054-4715. Although its title is French, its pages are in English and its contributors, referees and readers are worldwide: it is a Montpellier-born journal that has become an international forum for work on Shakespeare, his contemporaries, and the literature, drama and culture of early modern England more broadly.

This profile explains the journal's history, aims and scope, editorial leadership, publishing arrangements, indexing, citation record and submission route, drawing on the publisher's own journal pages and on bibliometric checks made in the foreground for this profile. Where a detail could not be confirmed from a checkable source, it is recorded as not published or not publicly disclosed rather than filled in by guesswork.

Journal at a Glance

• Full title: Cahiers Élisabéthains: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies
• Print ISSN: 0184-7678
• Electronic ISSN: 2054-4715
• Publisher: SAGE Publishing (SAGE Publications), in association with IRCL (UMR 5186), CNRS and Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3
• Country of publisher: United Kingdom (SAGE); editorial home in Montpellier, France
• Language: English
• Founded: 1972; published uninterruptedly since
• Frequency: Three issues per year (April, July and November, per the publisher)
• Peer review: Double-blind review by an international panel of referees (publisher's statement)
• Fields: English Renaissance literature and drama; Shakespeare studies; early modern performance; history and literary theory
• Submission: Online via ScholarOne Manuscripts (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cahe), per the publisher

History

Cahiers Élisabéthains was founded in 1972 in Montpellier, in the orbit of the city's university research on English studies, and it has appeared without interruption since that year — a continuity the publisher itself puts at the head of the journal's description. Its institutional anchor is the IRCL, the Montpellier research institute for the Renaissance, the classical age and the Enlightenment, a joint unit of the CNRS and Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3. That anchoring in a French national research institute, rather than in a commercial house alone, explains much of the journal's character: it has always been edited by working specialists in the field, supported by the CNRS — the publisher notes that the journal is supported by the French National Centre for Scientific Research for its scholarly excellence, on the advice of an independent committee.

For most of its life the journal was a French-published periodical serving an international specialty. A decisive step in its modern history was its move into the SAGE Publishing programme, which gave the title a global distribution platform, an online edition under the electronic ISSN 2054-4715, and a standardised manuscript submission system, while editorial control remained with the Montpellier-centred team and its international colleagues. The publisher's journal page showed the journal at volume 119, issue 1 at the time it was consulted for this profile — a volume count consistent with a title that has been building its archive since 1972, passing the two-thousand-article mark in the OpenAlex index (see the metrics section).

The name itself is a small piece of history. Cahiers — notebooks — signals the French tradition of the scholarly cahier, while Élisabéthains announces the founding focus on the age of Elizabeth I. Over five decades the journal's remit has widened well beyond the Elizabethan decades in the strict sense, but the title, kept unchanged, records where the enterprise began and where its centre of gravity still lies: the literature and drama of the Elizabethan period are, in the publisher's words, the focal point of its interest.

Aims and Scope

The publisher states the journal's scope directly: Cahiers Élisabéthains publishes articles and reviews on all aspects of the English Renaissance, with the term given its broadest connotation — published subjects have ranged from Chaucer to Restoration drama and beyond — while Elizabethan literature and drama remain the focal point. Within that frame, the journal welcomes work that crosses modern disciplinary boundaries: literary criticism and theatre history, performance studies, book history, cultural and political history, philosophy, gender studies and the study of adaptation and reception.

Each issue has a recognisable anatomy, described by the publisher: a set of four to five research articles; a distinctive section of international performance reviews — reports on productions of early modern plays around the world, illustrated with colour and black-and-white photographs; book reviews; and a listing of books received. Review articles and notes appear regularly. The performance-review section is one of the journal's signatures: by treating contemporary productions of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, in many countries, as scholarly evidence, it connects textual scholarship with the living stage and gives the journal a readership among theatre practitioners and performance scholars as well as literary historians.

Secondary scope summaries of the journal highlight the same recurring emphases: interdisciplinary approaches to Shakespearean studies; the adaptation and influence of Shakespeare across cultures and media, including film; critical engagement with the historical contexts of early modern texts; theatrical practices of the period and of modern revivals; and global perspectives on the reception of early modern English writing. An author whose work fits those conversations — and whose subject falls anywhere on the Chaucer-to-Restoration arc — is within the journal's territory.

Editorial Leadership and Publisher

The journal is published by SAGE Publishing and appears in association with the IRCL (UMR 5186). Its editors-in-chief, as listed on the publisher's journal page consulted for this profile, are:

• Florence March — Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France
• Jean-Christophe Mayer — CNRS, France
• Peter J. Smith — Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom
• Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin — Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France

The four-handed editorship reflects the journal's identity: anchored in Montpellier, where the IRCL team is based, and joined to British scholarship through its Nottingham Trent co-editor. An assistant editor supports the team, and books for review are handled through the IRCL at Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, Site Saint-Charles (the publisher lists the review-copy address care of Janice Valls-Russell at the IRCL in Montpellier). The journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and the publisher states that it is a refereed journal committed to high-quality research: all submissions are double-blinded and proposals are reviewed by a panel of international referees. Editorial board membership beyond the editors-in-chief is maintained on the publisher's journal pages, which are the authoritative source for the current full list.

Indexing and Abstracting

The journal is tracked by the major citation indexes under ISSNs 0184-7678 and 2054-4715. Its Journals World directory record lists Scopus coverage spanning 2004–2025, and SCImago-derived listings classify it in the Arts and Humanities, with quartiles in History and in Literature and Literary Theory (Q4 in both in the listing consulted). Secondary indexing summaries also list the journal in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index of the Web of Science; authors should confirm the current status in the Web of Science Master Journal List, since index coverage is revised over time. The publisher maintains a dedicated Abstracting / Indexing page for the journal on its website, which is the authoritative place to check the full list of services that carry its abstracts and records. A Directory of Open Access Journals listing is not applicable in the usual way: the DOAJ search API, checked directly for both ISSNs for this profile, returned no record, and the journal is primarily a subscription title — although, as the metrics section notes, the publisher operates an open-access option for individual articles, which is reflected in the article-processing charge recorded by OpenAlex.

Metrics and Citation Record

Figures here are attributed to the foreground checks made for this profile; databases count different corpora and their numbers are not interchangeable.

OpenAlex (ISSN endpoint check: both 0184-7678 and 2054-4715 resolve to the same source, S5748353, Cahiers Élisabéthains: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies) recorded at checking time: 2,760 works and 1,220 citations, an h-index of 15, an i10-index of 27, and a two-year mean citedness of about 0.064. OpenAlex also records SAGE Publishing as host organisation, the United Kingdom as country, and an article-processing charge figure of USD 3,400 — the publisher's charge for making an individual article open access, recorded here as a database figure rather than a quote from the publisher's rate card.

Scopus-based indicators tell a more conservative story, as they usually do for humanities journals: the journal's earlier directory profile recorded an h-index of 6, and SCImago-derived listings report an SJR of 0.1, a CiteScore of 0.1 and Q4 placings in History and in Literature and Literary Theory. A Journal Impact Factor of 0.1 was reported in a secondary summary drawing on Journal Citation Reports; authors who need the official current figure should consult the JCR itself. None of these modest numbers reflects the journal's standing among specialists accurately: citation in early modern studies moves slowly, much of the field's influential writing appears in books, and a journal whose typical article is cited for decades accumulates influence that two- and five-year windows barely register. A publishing run from 1972 to the present, CNRS support for scholarly excellence, and an international referee panel are, for this title, more meaningful quality signals than any single metric.

The Journal's Place in Early Modern Studies

Half a century of uninterrupted publication has given Cahiers Élisabéthains a particular position in its field. It is one of the few long-established journals of English Renaissance studies edited from continental Europe, and that vantage point shapes its contribution: it has consistently made French and wider European scholarship on Shakespeare and early modern England visible to the Anglophone world, and Anglophone debates visible in France, functioning as a bridge between scholarly traditions that do not always read one another. Its support by the CNRS for scholarly excellence, noted by the publisher on the advice of an independent committee, is a formal mark of that standing within the French research system.

The journal's archive is itself a research resource. With more than 2,700 works recorded in the OpenAlex index across its run, back issues document fifty years of changing questions in early modern studies — the rise of performance criticism, of book history, of gender and cultural studies, and of global approaches to Shakespeare — as they arrived in one editorial office. Its performance reviews are an especially distinctive stratum of that archive: production documentation of this kind, gathered internationally over decades and printed with photographs, is primary evidence for theatre historians that exists in few other periodicals in comparable depth. Libraries that hold the full run hold, in effect, a half-century record of how the English Renaissance has been read, staged and argued over.

For doctoral students and early-career researchers, the journal offers something the largest generalist periodicals often cannot: an editorial community specialised enough to judge niche early modern topics expertly, a genuine double-blind process before an international panel, and an audience of committed specialists — the readers most likely to build on the work. For established scholars, its dossiers, review articles and performance coverage keep it a journal to read, not only a journal to publish in.

Publishing in the Journal: Author Guidance

Submissions are made online through the publisher's manuscript system at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cahe, as directed on the SAGE journal page. The publisher's stated review model is double-blind: submissions are anonymised and read by a panel of international referees, so authors should prepare a manuscript file free of identifying information and place any identifying material where the submission system asks for it. The journal publishes research articles (typically four to five per issue), review articles and notes, performance reviews and book reviews; unsolicited book reviews are normally arranged through the reviews editor, and review copies go to the IRCL address in Montpellier given on the publisher's page.

Practical points authors most often need:

• Language and presentation: the journal is an English-language publication; the publisher's Submission Guidelines page for the journal carries the current formatting, referencing and artwork requirements, and those pages govern in case of any difference from general summaries. Timelines for first decision and acceptance rates are not published by the publisher and are recorded here as not published.
• Frequency and planning: with three issues a year (April, July, November), accepted articles enter a real queue; authors planning around assessment deadlines should ask the editorial office about the current schedule after acceptance.
• Open access and charges: the journal is subscription-based; an optional open-access route for individual articles exists within the publisher's programme, and OpenAlex records a USD 3,400 article-processing charge for the title. No mandatory submission fee is published. Authors with funder mandates should check the publisher's current open-access policy before submitting.
• Ethics: as a COPE member journal within the SAGE programme, standard expectations apply — originality, no simultaneous submission, disclosure of conflicts, and proper acknowledgement of sources and permissions for images, which matter particularly for articles illustrated with production photographs.
• Fit: the surest way to judge fit is to read recent issues: if the journals your article converses with include the major Shakespeare and early modern periodicals, and your subject sits anywhere from Chaucer to the Restoration with Elizabethan literature and drama at the centre, the journal is a natural home.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the ISSNs of Cahiers Élisabéthains?

Print ISSN 0184-7678 and electronic ISSN 2054-4715. Both numbers identify the same journal; databases that store ISSNs without hyphens show them as 01847678 and 20544715.

Who publishes Cahiers Élisabéthains?

SAGE Publishing, in association with the IRCL (UMR 5186), the joint CNRS and Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 research unit where the journal was founded and where its editorial team is anchored.

When was the journal founded, and how often does it appear?

It was founded in 1972 and has been published uninterruptedly ever since. It appears three times a year, in April, July and November, according to the publisher.

What does the journal publish?

Articles and reviews on all aspects of the English Renaissance in the broadest sense — from Chaucer to Restoration drama and beyond — with Elizabethan literature and drama as the focal point. Each issue combines research articles with international performance reviews, book reviews and a books-received list.

Is Cahiers Élisabéthains peer-reviewed?

Yes. The publisher states that all submissions are double-blinded and reviewed by a panel of international referees, and the journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Who edits the journal?

The editors-in-chief listed by the publisher are Florence March and Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3), Jean-Christophe Mayer (CNRS) and Peter J. Smith (Nottingham Trent University).

How do I submit a manuscript?

Online, through the publisher's submission site at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cahe, following the Submission Guidelines on the SAGE journal page. The manuscript must be prepared for double-blind review.

What are the journal's citation metrics?

At checking time OpenAlex (source S5748353) recorded 2,760 works, 1,220 citations and an h-index of 15. Scopus-based listings record an h-index of 6, SJR 0.1 and Q4 placings in History and in Literature and Literary Theory, with Scopus coverage listed from 2004. Figures differ because the databases index different corpora.

Is the journal open access?

It is primarily a subscription journal; the DOAJ search API returned no listing for either ISSN at checking time. An optional paid open-access route for individual articles exists in the publisher's programme, with an article-processing charge of USD 3,400 recorded by OpenAlex.

Sources and Verification Notes

This profile was compiled from: the journal's live Journals World directory record (post 36689: title, slug cahiers-elisabethains, ISSNs 2054-4715 and 0184-7678, Scopus coverage 2004–2025); the publisher's official journal pages on sagepub.com (founding in 1972 and uninterrupted publication, aims and scope wording, editors-in-chief and affiliations, CNRS support, COPE membership, double-blind review by international referees, three issues a year, submission address mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cahe, review-copy address at the IRCL in Montpellier, volume 119 issue 1, print ISSN 01847678 and e-ISSN 20544715); the OpenAlex ISSN endpoints for both ISSNs resolving to source S5748353 (works, citations, h-index, i10-index, mean citedness, host organisation and APC figure at checking time); the DOAJ search API (no record for either ISSN at checking time); and SCImago-derived secondary listings (SJR, CiteScore, quartiles and the h-index 6 figure). A note on duplicates: a second, thin directory record for this same journal exists under the full title Cahiers Élisabéthains A Journal of English Renaissance Studies (post 346111, ISSNs stored without hyphens); the pair is reported in this batch's twin check for the coordinator's merge process. Details not confirmed by these sources — decision timelines and acceptance rate — are recorded as not published.