Skip to content
— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

The Polish Review

3 min listen · Ch. 1 of 3
3 sections
  • The Polish Review carries a plainly stated purpose: to be "the premier English-language outlet for Polish-centered scholarship." That mission has guided the quarterly academic journal since 1956, when the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America launched it in New York City as a successor to the PAU Bulletin. Eight people have served as editor-in-chief since that founding, and the journal is abstracted across several scholarly databases today. Who were those editors, and what has kept the journal's standing intact long after its founders moved on?

  • Stanisław Skrzypek held the founding editorship in 1956 alone before Ludwik Krzyżanowski took over and stayed at the helm from 1956 to 1986. Krzyżanowski's stretch in the role outlasted every editor who followed him.

    Stanisław Barańczak followed from 1986 to 1990, and Joseph Wieczerzak then led the journal from 1991 to 2007. Between them, the two editors carried the publication through the final years of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.

    Charles S. Kraszewski took the position from 2008 to 2011, before James S. Pula served from 2012 to 2014. Each tenure lasted only a few years, a faster turnover than the decades Krzyżanowski had held earlier.

    Neal Pease then led the journal from 2015 to 2020, and Halina Filipowicz has held the role since 2020, the eighth editor-in-chief in the journal's history. Editors changed across those decades, but one part of the journal's reputation lived outside any single editor's chair: where the journal is indexed and by whom it is recognized.

  • Historical Abstracts lists The Polish Review among its records, alongside five other scholarly databases: ABC POL SCI, America: History and Life, the Index of Articles on Jewish Studies, the MLA International Bibliography, and International Political Science Abstracts. Six separate indexing bodies, in other words, track the journal's output.

    The American Historical Association also lists The Polish Review among the publications it recognizes. That places the journal alongside a professional body dedicated to historical scholarship in the United States, a recognition distinct from the six abstracting databases.

    One of those six, the Index of Articles on Jewish Studies, points to ground the journal's editors have long treated as inseparable from Polish history itself.

Common questions

When was The Polish Review founded?

The Polish Review was established in 1956 as a successor to the PAU Bulletin.

Who publishes The Polish Review?

The Polish Review is published by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America in New York City.

How often is The Polish Review published?

The Polish Review is published quarterly.

Who is the current editor-in-chief of The Polish Review?

Halina Filipowicz has served as editor-in-chief of The Polish Review since 2020, the eighth person to hold the role since 1956.

What is the stated mission of The Polish Review?

The Polish Review describes its mission as being "the premier English-language outlet for Polish-centered scholarship."

Which databases index The Polish Review?

The Polish Review is abstracted in Historical Abstracts, ABC POL SCI, America: History and Life, the Index of Articles on Jewish Studies, the MLA International Bibliography, and International Political Science Abstracts. It is also listed among the journals recognized by the American Historical Association.

All sources

2 references cited across the entry

  1. 1BookThe Polish American EncyclopediaJames S. Pula — McFarland — 22 December 2010