Mission

The IJBS aims to provide a forum for publishing incisive work that contributes to the knowledge of Myanmar, with a preference for accessibility over paywalls, esoteric prose and dense theorization. In this way, its publishing mission is to remain open access, with issues distributed free both in print and online. The IJBS strives to be multilingual, with all articles published in at least the Burmese (Bamar) and English languages. The IJBS is committed to publishing and supporting a broad range of work without strict disciplinary barriers within and between the humanities and the social sciences. Last, the IJBS maintains total editorial independence from any government agency or other institutional organ in Myanmar or abroad.

Background and Founding

The Journal of the Burma Research Society (JBRS) is the spiritual antecedent to IJBS. For seventy years, from 1911-1980, the JBRS was the country’s principal scholarly publication, and was open to virtually all subjects pertaining to Burma. The JBRS functioned as a serious publication for all enthusiasts until it was unilaterally shut down by military authorities. Closing the JBRS was coeval with the decline of the education system in Burma and a long, steady erosion of political freedom and living standards under military rule. The positive legacy of the JBRS directly inspired the founding of the IJBS, forty-one years later.

Discussions leading to the founding of the IJBS began in 2011 with a meeting between seven Burmese and three Western scholars at Yale University. Over the succeeding five years the journal took shape alongside Myanmar’s increasingly liberal environment for research, publishing and civil society, with the editorial board expanding with another six Myanmar-based members. The journal began organizing and hosting thematic workshops in Myanmar, and planning for and editing special journal issues, with funds raised by Yale University, the Open Society Foundations, the Luce Foundation, and personal fundraising. The journal’s first issue was printed and distributed in August 2016, in Yangon, Myanmar, published by Pansodan Books, under the guidance of issue editor Ardeth Thawnghmung and managing editor Alicia Turner, eminent scholars of Burmese economic anthropology and history. With the success of the journal’s first issue, the brief opportunity of a more liberal environment at universities in the country, and with funding for the next several years in hand, IJBS was well positioned to strengthen and pursue its mission.

Milestones

The IJBS is proud to have achieved several key milestones. The journal has developed a reputation for being a lean, efficient, prolific publisher of scholarly knowledge and opinion, and one that takes care to support Burmese upcoming and established scholars in need during the difficult post-coup period after 2021. To date, the journal has published more than 100 individual writers from Myanmar, distributed thousands of print copies, and held twelve thematic workshops. IJBS articles are being increasingly accessed by independent readers as well as education, reference, and archival institutions, established abroad and within liberated areas of Burma. The journal has also been indexed by several university libraries such as Yale University and the Australian National University.

Nov. 2011: Initial workshop and seed money provided by Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies.

Aug. 2016: Publication of first issue: Special Issue on Poverty.

Mar. 2020: Journal registered with Myanmar’s Ministry of Information (MoI).

Jun. 2020: Publication of Special Issue on Everyday Justice.

Aug. 2021: IJBS relocates outside Myanmar, to Chiang Mai University, Thailand, and hires a new assistant editor.

Sep. 2021: Launch of new website with open access, full text (.HTML) pages for all published articles.

Dec. 2021: Publication of Special Issue on the Rohingya.

Aug. 2022: Publication of Special Issue on Memories of Leaving the Myanmar Military.

Feb. 2023: Assistant editor assumes position of managing editor-in-chief. Journal hires new assistant editor.

Mar. 2023: Publication of Special Issue on Journalism.

Jul. 2023: Publication of Special Issue on Generations of Student Activism.

Nov. 2023: Publication of part one of the Special Volume on Feminism.

Adobe PDF downloads of part one of the Special Volume on Feminism exceed 1,000 in one month, the first for any issue.

May 2024: Publication of part two of the Special Volume on Feminism.

Aug. 2024: IJBS holds a stand at Chiang Mai University’s 2024 Conference on Burma Studies. Editors and contributors participate in multiple panels on research and publishing.

Adobe .PDF downloads of part one of the Special Volume on Feminism exceed 1,000 in one month, a first for any issue.

Apr. 2025: Publication of Special Issue on the Collapse of the sit tat.

Oct. 2025: Publication of Special Issue on Displacement to Mizoram.

Jan. 2026: Publication of Special Issue on Climate Change & Conflict. This is the first IJBS issue where every single article is peer reviewed, a 100% peer-reviewed issue.

Independent Journal of Burmese Scholarship