Medicine Anthropology Theory: Announcements
Medicine Anthropology Theory is an English-language, fully open access journal hosted by the University of Edinburgh. It publishes Research Articles, Position Pieces, Reviews, and Field Notes in medical anthropology, the anthropology of biomedicine, critical global health studies, medical humanities, and science and technology studies.
Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) is excited to announce a recruitment call for a new CoEditor of the journal. MAT is a pathbreaking, fully open access journal for medical anthropologists and fellow (inter)disciplinary travelers. We publish cutting edge research in medical anthropology, the medical humanities, and critical theory staked in questions of health and wellbeing. In addition to our ambitions for research, MAT prides itself on its approach to the ethics and politics of publication. In tandem with our mission to promote open access scholarship, we also endeavour to support early career researchers, foster interdisciplinary collegiality (across academic fields, international traditions, and beyond the academy), and contribute to global conversations about health, illness, and wellbeing. We seek to recruit a Co-editor who is interested in supporting these principles and who is interested in bringing their own perspective to bear on how these commitments manifest at the journal. The successful applicant will serve alongside Jess Cooper, a member of MAT’s present Editorial Collective who will stay on as Co-Editor. It is expected that applicants will familiarise themselves with the journal’s recent publication history. However, the appointed Co-Editor’s first order of business will be to work with Jess Cooper to reconsider the structural components of the journal (ie, sections, requirements for review, the configuration of the Editorial Board). Those who are considering applying are requested to send a note of interest to Jess Cooper at MATEditors@ed.ac.uk by 01 August 2025. To apply, please submit the materials requested below to MATEditors@ed.ac.uk by 01 September 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be notified by 07 September 2025, with an appointment to the position expected by 01 December 2025. Please do not hesitate to contact MAT with any questions about the post. You may reach us at MATEditors@ed.ac.uk. --------------------------------------- To apply, please submit a cover letter and CV that includes the following information by 01 September 2025: 1. Your vision for MAT 2. Your past editorial experience 3. If you will be able to provide any institutional funding to support the journal (being able to do so is not a requirement for a Co-Editor, but will be considered) 4. If you will be attending the Medical Anthropology Europe meetings in Vienna (September 2025) or the American Anthropological Association meetings in New Orleans (November 2025) (also not required, noted for arranging interviews with shortlisted candidates).
Open vacancy: Position Pieces section editors
Medicine Anthropology Theory is soliciting applications for two co-editors for the journal’s Position Pieces section. As a team, the new Position Pieces co-editors will work with authors to develop contributions, as well as with reviewers in the peer-review process for submissions, and overall contribute to the leadership and direction of the MAT journal. Contributions to MAT’s Position Pieces section reflect critically upon authors’ positions relative to the people, material, and concepts they engage. In an effort to subvert traditional relations of power and disciplinary boundaries, Position Pieces gesture to the reality that our own positions—in relation to our interlocutors, the field, the academy, and other disciplines–shape our scholarly activities, professional practices, and knowledge production. We invite contributions that grapple with how to conduct research on health and well-being in more equitable, creative, collaborative, perhaps even destabilising ways. This section of MAT welcomes texts that reflect ‘upstream’ thinking—that is, thoughts and conversations that are creative in genre and form–but that aim to advance theory and praxis. These may be essays, theoretical forays, instigations, or other experimental texts with a tentative, unfinished edge. Position Pieces provoke debate, unearth hidden assumptions, and contribute to the decentring of medical anthropology. In this way, they advance MAT’s broader mission to explore how culture, politics, and social norms bear on medicine, illness, and health—and vice versa. The editorship is an unpaid position. The candidates will have completed their Ph.D. in anthropology or a related field, and they may either have already secured a tenure-track or permanent position at their home institution, or they will not have yet secured a tenure-track or permanent position (in which case, they will have designated additional support and mentoring from a member of the MAT editorial collective). The successful candidates will serve in this position for a term of three years. To apply, please send a CV and letter of interest (1-2 pages) to Cristina Moreno Lozano, MAT’s Managing Editor, at MATEditors@ed.ac.uk by 1 July 2024. We will be in touch with candidates of interest to schedule an online interview (expected to take place by 12 July).
The 2023 SPA Stirling Prize awarded to a publication at the MAT journal
The US Society of Psychological Anthropology (SPA) of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) has awarded the 2023 edition of their prestigious annual Stirling Award to an article published at our journal. The SPA Stirling Award is awarded annually to a previously published work that has made an outstanding contribution to psychological anthropology. This year's prize-winning article, titled Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual Trauma, co-authored by Jonathan Yahalom, Sheila Frankfurt, and Alison B. Hamilton, was published in MAT in April of 2023. We are thrilled to see the quality and originality of the research published in our journal being recognised by the scholarly community. The MAT Editorial Collective extends their congratulations to the authors for the recognition of their outstanding work and interdisciplinary collaboration. Congratulations! More information on the SPA website: https://spa.americananthro.org/prizes/stirling-award/
2024 Special Issue Call for proposals now open
The MAT editorial collective is delighted to announce that the 2024 Special Issue call for submissions is now open to receive proposals. Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) is the first English-language fully open-access journal in medical anthropology. With the support of the University of Edinburgh open journal hosting service (Edinburgh Diamond), we publish indexed, cutting-edge, original research that generates new avenues to explore the nexus of medicine, society, and health around the world. Access and equity are primary commitments of the MAT Editorial Collective. Our journal does not charge any article processing fees to authors, nor does it charge readers or their institutions for accessing our content. MAT is recognised as a leading open-access journal in the discipline by prestigious indexers (e.g., DOAJ) and we are fully committed to being at the forefront of open, inclusive and accessible academic publishing. We are now welcoming submissions of proposals for the 2024 Special Issue call for edited collections. If a proposal is accepted by the Editorial Collective, guest-editor(s) will be responsible for steering the review and publication processes for their materials, with support from MAT's Editorial Collective, Managing Editor, and copyeditor. In line with MAT’s Ethos Statement, we particularly encourage submissions of proposals that include several contributions from scholars based in the Global South, as well as early career scholars. Proposals that feature contributions that meet these criteria will be prioritised while under review. Guidelines for submitting your proposal MAT publishes two kinds of edited collections: Special Sections and Special Issues. You can read more about Special Section submission and review processes, and submit your proposals here on a rolling basis. Proposals for Special Issues are considered on an annual basis only. The 2024 Special Issue submission will be open until 1 June 2024, and we're open to receiving submissions ahead of that date. A response will be provided by the MAT editorial collective by early July. All manuscripts (exempting the guest editorial) accepted for publication in the upcoming Special Issue will be required to be submitted through the journal’s publication system to start the review process within three months of the acceptance of the collection. A Special Issue is a curated collection of 8 to 12 contributions with a shared theoretical focus, to be introduced by an invited editorial by the guest editor(s). The proposal ought to include at least four Research Articles and a maximum of six, and at least one proposal for each of the sections in the journal (Position Pieces, Field Notes, Photo Essays, and Review Essays). You can read more about the scope of each of these sections here. Should you have any questions about the remit and scope of our journal sections, please reach out to the journal’s editorial coordinator, Jessica Cooper (jessica.cooper@ed.ac.uk). Proposals are sent through this form and should include title, guest editors, an overview of the topic and theoretical focus (800–1000 words excluding references), reference list, and abstracts of all contributions (150–200 words). MAT seeks to foster collaboration. Most of our special issues have had two guest co-editors. If you apply with more than three guest editors on the project, please include, in your application, a statement on how you envision the editorial labour to be divided and how you will address any conflicts of interests and disagreements within the guest editorial collective. For ease communication with the MAT Editorial Collaborative, please indicate which of your guest co-editors will be the corresponding guest editor. MAT aims to publish one to two special issues a year, usually in June and/or December. Find more details on our journal's submission guidelines: http://www.medanthrotheory.org/about/submissions If you have any questions, please get in touch with our Managing Editor (MATeditors@ed.ac.uk). Timeline: - 1 December to 2023 to 1 June 2024 – form available to submit a Special Issue proposal - Early July 2023 – communication of decision made on selected SI submissions - Approx. September 2024 – full contributions due to be submitted through the journal’s publication system to go out for peer review
MAT featured in 'The story behind the journal' series at DOAJ
Our open access journal Medicine Anthropology Theory has been featured as an outstanding and exemplary indexed Open Access journal in the blog series 'The story behind the journal' on the ocassion of the 20-year celebrations of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a prestigious, trusted, and independent indexer of OA journals. We're grateful to be part of a growing community who is committed to ensuring global quality, free-of-charge knowledge and and equity principles in open access publishing. Here, you can read the conversation with Ian Harper, MAT's outgoing coordinating editor, and Rebecca Wojturska, Open Access publishing officer at Edinburgh Diamond (our fabulous publishers!).
Medicine Anthropology Theory is soliciting applications for an editor for the journal’s Reviews section. The new editor will work with authors to develop contributions, as well as with reviewers for their review submissions, and overall contribute to the leadership and direction of the MAT journal. Interested candidates should be aware of the alternative format of our Reviews Section: rather than reviewing one book, we ask authors to engage with at least three works to write around a specific current issue in medical anthropology and allied fields. Works reviewed can be books but also films, exhibitions, television shows, among other formats. The editor may commission reviews of specific works, help brainstorm additional works for review, or shepherd fully formed proposals of review essays that carefully carve out a space of emerging attention for medical anthropology. The editorship is an unpaid position. The candidates will have completed their Ph.D. in anthropology or a related field, and they may either have already secured a tenure-track or permanent position at their home institution, or they will not have yet secured a tenure-track or permanent position (should this be the case, they will be designated with additional support from a member of the MAT editorial collective). The successful candidates will serve in this position for a term of three years. To apply, please send a CV and letter of interest (1-2 pages) to Cristina Moreno Lozano, MAT’s Managing Editor, at MATEditors@ed.ac.uk by 24 November 2023 (EXTENDED DEADLINE: 12 January 2024). We will be in touch with candidates of interest in late January to schedule an online interview (expected to take place by 15 February).
MAE-MAT Early Career Researcher Paper Award 2024 - Now open for submissions
The Editorial Collective at Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) and the Board of Medical Anthropology Europe (MAE) are excited to announce the third cycle of the MAE-MAT Early Career Researcher Paper Prize. Through this award, we aim to recognise and promote the outstanding work of junior scholars in the field of medical anthropology and allied fields. The winning paper will be published in MAT in the Autumn of 2024. The winner will be expected to serve on the jury for awarding the next cycle of the prize. We welcome submissions from early career scholars from all parts of the world. Co-authored papers are acceptable, but all authors must meet the eligibility criteria below. The deadline for submission is 15 December 2023 (EXTENDED TO 12 JANUARY 2024, 12 noon GMT). Papers should be submitted through the MAT submission system. Please select the ‘MAE-MAT Early Career Paper’ category when submitting your paper. We expect to announce the winning paper in or after April 2024. Submitted papers should be accompanied by a short cover letter (less than one page) stating that all authors meet the eligibility criteria. Authors ought to attach their cover letters as an additional file when submitting their manuscripts through the link above. Eligibility and Evaluation Criteria: Authors should be current PhD students or be within 2 years of having obtained their PhD, with exceptions for parental leave and other caring responsibilities (please state in cover letter). Papers should be ethnographic in focus and draw primarily on MA, MSc, or PhD research. All papers that involve human subjects research will be asked to affirm that the research underwent an ethics review process in advance of the research being undertaken. If a submission does not have ethics approval, the author should discuss why ethics approvals were not needed in their cover letter. Papers should be written in clear language, have a concise conceptual argument, involve primary research, engage with core debates and themes in medical anthropology, and make an innovative contribution to the field. Papers should be no longer than 10,000 words including references. Papers should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Please see MAT’s submission pages for more information about how to prepare your manuscript for anonymous review. MAT is an English-language journal. We encourage authors who speak English as a second language to apply for the MAE-MAT Early Career Research Prize. The winning manuscript will be selected on the basis of the quality of the ideas, evidence and argument, in addition to its fit with the MAT journal scope and aims. Grammatical, spelling and other common language errors will not be considered part of the selection criteria. Should the winning paper require additional English language editing, we will provide this service free of charge and an editor will work closely with the author to ensure the manuscript meets publication standards. If you expect that your manuscript would benefit from enhanced English language editing, please indicate so in your cover letter. Requests for this additional support, as indicated in the cover letter, will have no impact on the review process. We are grateful to the support of the Edinburgh Centre for Medical Anthropology (EdCMA) at the University of Edinburgh for funding this initiative. Jury panelists include Lotte Segal (University of Edinburgh), Marlee Tichenor (University of Edinburgh), Upul Kumara Wickramasinghe (Durham University), Ursula Probst (Freie Universität Berlin), Mafe Olarte-Sierra (Universität Wien), Magdalena Góralska (Rutgers University), and Giorgio Brocco (Universität Wien). Resources to help prepare your paper In June 2022, the MAT Editors hosted a virtual Q&A session about the MAE-MAT Prize and publication more generally, during the Edinburgh Center for Medical Anthropology Global Mental Health Conference. A recording for this session is available online here. The best resource to help you prepare your paper is to go over the previous prize winner’s papers. Here are links to Dr Laura Meek’s 2020-2021 MAT-MAE Prize Paper, “The Grammar of Leprosy: Temporal Politics and the Impossible Subject” and Dr Upul Kumara Wickramasinghe’s 2022-2023 MAT-MAE Prize Paper, “Screening Charity Recipients: Health Philanthropy, Medical Diagnosis, and Kidney Disease Prevention in Sri Lanka.” The MAT/MAE Board will also hold a new virtual Q&A session about the prize and publication more generally on November 8th at 13:00 GMT. Please do take a look at the recording of last year’s Q&A session and a careful read of the previous prize-winning papers before the Q&A session to help formulate your questions for the November session. Please register for the Zoom session in the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mae-mat-early-career-researcher-paper-prize-tickets-746946636497. A recording of the session will also be made available online afterwards.
MAE-MAT Early Career Researcher Paper Award 2022-23 winner announced
The Medical Anthropology Network (MAE) of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) and the Editorial Collective of Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) are delighted to announce the winner of the second cycle of the MAE-MAT Early Career Researcher Paper Award. The award has been granted to Upul Kumara Wickramasinghe, for his paper ‘Screening Charity Recipients: Health Philanthropy, Medical Diagnosis, and Kidney Disease Prevention in Sri Lanka’. Wickramasinghe is currently a final-year PhD candidate in the department of anthropology at Durham University (United Kingdom). He is a medical anthropologist who has conducted doctoral research funded by the Wellcome Trust. The paper contributes to anthropological knowledge on biomedical research in conjunction with health philanthropy in resource-poor settings. The jury for the prize included Dr Jessica Cooper (University of Edinburgh), Dr Kaveri Qureshi (University of Edinburgh), Prof Ian Harper (University of Edinburgh), Dr Laura Ann Meek (University of British Columbia), Dr Natashe Lemos Dekker (Leiden University), Prof Hansjörg Dilger (Freie Universität Berlin), and Prof Rikke Sand Andersen (Aarhus University). Wickramasinghe’s research article will be published in MAT later this year. He will additionally give a public lecture co-badged by MAE and MAT as part of MAE’s online seminar series. The lecture will be held on Zoom on 30 March from 5-6.30 pm CET. You can register for the event here. Congratulations, Upul! Shortlisted candidates for this year's prize included: Upul Wickramasinghe (Durham), Robert D Smith (Geneva Graduate Institute), Carla Naomi Vaucher (University of Laussane) and Paola Tine (University of Adelaide).
Welcome to our new Field Notes section co-editors!
We're delighted to welcome our new Field Notes section Co-Editors at the Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) journal, Dr Luisa Enria and Dr Matthew Thomann.. Luisa and Matthew will take onwards the great work that Rosie Sims has done with us and MAT's previous editorial team at Amsterdam to develop the Field Notes section. You can read more about them on our website: http://medanthrotheory.org/about/editorialTeam/SectionEditors You can also find out more about Field Notes on our website: http://www.medanthrotheory.org//ContributionTypes#FieldNotes Would you be interested in contributing with your work to the Field Notes section at MAT? We're looking for you! Get in touch with the section editors! Farewell Rosie, and welcome on board Luisa and Matthew!
2023 Special Issue Call for proposals now open - deadline 15 February
The MAT editorial collective is delighted to announce that the 2023 Special Issue call for submissions is now open to receive proposals. Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) is the first English-language fully open-access journal in medical anthropology. With the support of the University of Edinburgh open journal hosting service, we publish indexed, cutting-edge, original research that generates new avenues to explore the nexus of medicine, society, and health around the world. Access and equity are primary commitments of the MAT Editorial Collective. Our journal does not charge any article processing fees to authors, nor does it charge readers or their institutions for accessing our content. MAT is recognised as a leading open-access journal in the discipline by prestigious indexers (e.g., DOAJ) and we are fully committed to being at the forefront of open, inclusive and accessible academic publishing. We are now welcoming submissions of proposals for the 2023 Special Issue call for edited collections. If a proposal is accepted by the Editorial Collective, guest-editor(s) will be responsible for steering the review and publication processes for their materials, with support from MAT's Editorial Collective, Managing Editor, and copyeditor. In line with MAT’s Ethos Statement, we particularly encourage submissions of proposals that include several contributions from scholars based in the Global South, as well as early career scholars. Proposals that feature contributions that meet these criteria will be prioritised while under review. Guidelines for submitting your proposal MAT publishes two kinds of edited collections: Special Sections and Special Issues. Special sections (of between 3 and 7 contributions across journal sections) are accepted on a rolling basis and published as part of MAT’s regular issues each year. You can read more about Special Section submission and review processes here. Proposals for Special Issues are considered on an annual basis only. The 2023 Special Issue submission deadline is 15 February 2023. A response will be provided by the MAT editorial collective by the end of March. All manuscripts (exempting the guest editorial) accepted for publication in the upcoming Special Issue will be required to be submitted through the journal's publication system to start the review process by 1 July 2023. A Special Issue is a curated collection of 7 to 12 contributions (including at least four Research Articles) with a shared theoretical focus, to be introduced by an invited editorial by the guest editor(s). Proposals are sent through this form, and should include: title, guest editors, an overview of the topic and theoretical focus (800–1000 words excluding references), reference list (optional), and abstracts of all contributions (150–200 words). There is no limit as to the number of guest editors. If you apply with more than three guest editors, please include details on how you envision the editorial labour to be divided and how you will address any conflicts of interests and disagreements within the guest editorial collective. Our communications will preferably remain with one main corresponding guest editor only. MAT aims to publish one to two special issues a year, with the possibility of publishing outside of the usual journal publication schedule. We aim to publish special issues in June and/or December each year. Find more details on our journal's submission guidelines: http://www.medanthrotheory.org/about/submissions If you have any questions, please get in touch with our Managing Editor (MATeditors@ed.ac.uk). Timeline: - 15 February 2023 – deadline to submit a Special Issue proposal through the form - End of March 2023 – communication of decision made on selected SI submissions - 1 July 2023 – full contributions due to be submitted through the journal’s publication system to go out for peer review
Open vacancy: Field Notes section editor
Medicine Anthropology Theory is soliciting applications for two co-editors for the journal's Field Notes section. The new co-editors will collaborate to edit and publish the section. As a team, the Field Notes co-editors will work to solicit contributions to the section and will then collaborate with authors to develop contributions. Co-editors will also manage the external peer review process for manuscripts under consideration in Field Notes. Overall, the new co-editors will contribute to the leadership and direction of the MAT journal. Field Notes is a space that hones in on the craft of ethnographic writing. These ethnographically detailed pieces convey descriptive data, reflections on methodology, as well as the ethical issues that arise during and in the wake of fieldwork. As such, Field Notes offers a space to try out genres of ethnographic writing, allowing authors to cultivate creative writing skills, or publish those indelible bits of field research that just don’t fit anywhere else. Submissions should be short (3000 words), forthrightly empirical and are expected only to have few, if any, citations. The co-editorship is an unpaid position. The candidates will have completed their Ph.D. in anthropology or a related field and will have already secured a tenure-track or permanent position at their home institution. We also welcome joint applications for co-editorialship. You can read more about MAT’s editorial decision to only fill staff section editor positions with people who are not precariously employed in our Ethos Statement and first editorial by the Edinburgh Collective. The successful candidates will serve in this position for a term of three years. To apply, please send a CV and letter of interest (1 page) to Cristina Moreno Lozano, MAT’s Managing Editor, at MATEditors@ed.ac.uk by 25 July 2022 (extended to 25 August 2022). During the month of August, we will be in touch with candidates of interest to schedule an online interview (expected to take place in early September). Please also contact Cristina Moreno Lozano with any questions about the position. * This vacancy has now been filled.
The MAE-MAT ECR Paper Prize 2022/2023 cycle is now open for submissions! (DEADLINE EXTENDED)
The Editorial Collective at Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) and the Board of Medical Anthropology Europe (MAE) are excited to announce the second cycle of our MAE-MAT Early Career Researcher Paper Prize. Through this award, we aim to recognise and promote the outstanding work of junior scholars in the field of medical anthropology. The winning paper will be published in MAT. The winner will be expected to serve on the jury for awarding the next cycle of the prize. We welcome submissions from early career scholars from all parts of the world. Co-authored papers are acceptable, but all authors must meet the eligibility criteria below. The deadline for submission is 1 November 2022 (extended to 30 November 2022, 17 h. GMT). No submissions submitted after this time will be considered. We expect to announce the winning paper in early 2023. Papers should be submitted through the MAT submission system (http://www.medanthrotheory.org/about/submissions). Please select the ‘MAE-MAT Early Career Paper’ category when submitting your paper. Submitted papers should be accompanied by a short cover letter (less than one page) stating that all authors meet the eligibility criteria. Authors ought to attach their cover letters as additional files when submitting their manuscripts through the link above. Eligibility and Evaluation Criteria Papers should be written in clear language, have a concise conceptual argument, involve primary research, engage core debates and themes in medical anthropology, and make an innovative contribution to the field. Authors should be current PhD students or be within 2 years of having obtained their PhD, with exceptions for parental leave and other caring responsibilities. Authors ought to address exceptional timelines in their cover letters. Papers should be ethnographic in focus and draw primarily on MA, MSc, or PhD research. All papers that involve human subjects research will be asked to affirm that the research underwent an ethics review process in advance of the research being undertaken. If a submission does not have prior ethics approval, the author should discuss why ethics approvals were not needed in their cover letter. Papers should be no longer than 10,000 words including references. Papers should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Please see MAT’s submission pages (http://www.medanthrotheory.org//ManuscriptPreparation) for more information about how to prepare your manuscript for anonymous review. While MAT is an English-language journal, we warmly encourage authors using English as a second language to apply for the MAE-MAT Early Career Research Prize. The winning manuscript will be selected on the basis of the quality of the ideas, evidence and argument, in addition to its fit with the MAT journal scope and aims (http://www.medanthrotheory.org/about). Grammatical, spelling, and other common language errors will not be considered part of the selection criteria. Should the winning paper benefit from additional English language support, MAT and MAE will provide this service prior to publication to support authors working with English as a second language. Authors who expect that their manuscripts may benefit from enhanced English language editing ought to indicate that this is the case in their cover letters. Requests for this additional support will have no impact on the review process. We are grateful to the support of the Edinburgh Centre for Medical Anthropology (EdCMA) at the University of Edinburgh for funding this initiative. Jury panelists include Dr Jessica Cooper (University of Edinburgh), Dr Kaveri Qureshi (University of Edinburgh), Prof Ian Harper (University of Edinburgh), Dr Laura Ann Meek (University of Hong Kong), Dr Natashe Lemos Dekker (Leiden University), Prof Dr Hansjörg Dilger (Freie Universität Berlin), and Prof Rikke Sand Andersen (Aarhus University). Online Q&A session MAT editors will host a virtual Q&A session about the MAE-MAT Prize and publication more generally at MAT during the Edinburgh Centre for Medical Anthropology Global Mental Health Conference (https://www.edcma.sps.ed.ac.uk/news-events/event/pluralizing-global-mental-healthcare-crisis-and-critique). The session will take place on 10 June 2022, from 9.00 AM to 10.00 AM (BST). Please bring any questions you might have about the prize to the session. Please note that you do not need to attend or register for the conference in order to participate in this panel. A recording of the session is now available on this link.
Welcome to our new Photo Essay section co-editors!
We're delighted to welcome our new Photo Essay section Co-Editors at the Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) journal, Dr Felicity Aulino and Dr Jerome Crowder. Felicity and Jerome will take onwards the great work that Liz Cartwright has done with us and MAT's previous editorial team at Amsterdam to develop the Photo Essay section. You can read more about them on our website: http://medanthrotheory.org/about/editorialTeam/SectionEditors You can also find out more about Photo Essays on our website: http://www.medanthrotheory.org//ContributionTypes#PhotoEssays Would you be interested in contributing with your work to the Photo Essay section at MAT? We're looking for you! Get in touch with the section editors! Farewell Liz, and welcome on board Felicity and Jerome!
MAE-MAT Early Career Researcher Paper Award winner announced
The Medical Anthropology Network (MAE) of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) and the editorial collective at the Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) journal are delighted to announce that the inaugural MAE-MAT Early Career Researcher Paper Award has been granted to Dr Laura Ann Meek for her paper 'The grammar of leprosy: Temporal politics and the impossible subject.' Dr Meek is currently an assistant professor in the Centre for the Humanities and Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. She is a medical anthropologist who has spent approximately three years conducting ethnographic fieldwork on global health interventions, bodily epistemologies, and the politics of healing in Tanzania. Her work is situated at the nexus of African studies, medical anthropology, postcolonial studies, and feminist science and technology studies. Meek’s current book manuscript, Pharmaceuticals in Divergence, explores everyday experiments with pharmaceuticals as evidence of both radical uncertainty and world-making innovation in contemporary Africa. MAE and MAT announced the prize CfP (see here) on 26 November 2020 and composed a jury of MAT Editorial Collective members and MAE representatives for review during the month of May. The committee awarded the prize to Dr Laura Ann Meek and shortlisted a further paper as a runner-up in recognition of the high quality of their work: Frederica Manfredi’s paper 'Thinking through the subject with hooks, needles, and scalpels.' Dr Meek’s research article will be published in MAT's upcoming issue 8 (3) this very month of September. Besides, Dr Meek will give a public lecture co-badged by MAE and MAT on 30 September 2021 to coincide with the publication, as part of this autumn MAE's seminar lecture series "Building New Relations". We look forward to collaborating with MAE on this and other initiatives in the years going forward. Find out more about MAE: https://www.easaonline.org/networks/medical/ Access MAT's published issues: http://www.medanthrotheory.org/issue/archive Register via Eventbrite to attend Laura Meek's public lecture. Her talk will take place on 30 September 2021, 14:00 - 16:00 (CET).
2021 Call for submission of Special Issue open - deadline 1 October
The MAT editorial collective is delighted to announce that the 2021 Special Issue call for submissions is now open to receive proposals. Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) is the first English-language fully open-access journal in medical anthropology. With the support of the University of Edinburgh open journal hosting service, we publish cutting-edge, original research that generates new avenues to explore the nexus of medicine, society, and health around the world. Access and equity are primary commitments of the MAT Editorial Collective. Our journal does not charge any article processing fees to authors, nor does it charge readers or their institutions for accessing our content. MAT is recognised as a leading open-access journal in the discipline by prestigious indexers (e.g., DOAJ) and we are fully committed to being at the forefront of open access, inclusive and accessible academic publishing. If a proposal is accepted by the Editorial Collective, guest-editor(s) will be responsible for steering the review and publication processes for their materials, with support from MAT's Editorial Collective, Managing Editor, and copyeditor. In line with MAT’s Ethos Statement, we particularly encourage submissions of proposals that include several contributions from scholars based in the Global South, as well as early career scholars. Proposals that feature contributions that meet these criteria will be prioritised while under review. Guidelines for submitting your proposal MAT publishes two kinds of edited collections: Special Sections and Special Issues. Special sections (of between 3 and 7 contributions across journal sections) are accepted on a rolling basis and published as part of MAT’s regular issues each year. You can read more about Special Section review process here. Proposals for Special Issues are considered on an annual basis. The 2021 submission deadline is 1 October 2021. A response will be provided by Friday 22 October. All manuscripts (exempting the guest editorial) accepted for publication in the upcoming Special Issue will need to be submitted through the journal's publication system to start the review process by 1 February 2022. A Special Issue is a curated collection of 7 to 12 contributions (including at least four Research Articles) with a shared theoretical focus, to be introduced by an invited editorial by the guest editor(s). Proposals are sent through this form, and should include: title, guest editors, an overview of the topic and theoretical focus (800–1000 words excluding references), reference list (optional), and abstracts of all contributions (150–200 words). There is no limit as to the number of guest editors. If you apply with more than three guest editors, please include details on how you envision the editorial labour to be divided and how you will address any conflicts of interests and disagreements within the guest editorial collective. MAT aims to publish one to two special issues a year, with the possibility of publishing outside of the usual journal publication schedule. We aim to publish special issues in June and/or December each year. Find more details on our journal's submission guidelines: http://www.medanthrotheory.org/about/submissions If you have any questions, please get in touch with our Managing Editor (MATeditors@ed.ac.uk). Timeline: - 1 October 2021 – deadline to submit a Special Issue proposal through the form - 22 October 2021 – communication of decision made on selected SI submissions - 1 February 2022 – full contributions due to be submitted through the journal’s publication system to go out for peer review
MAT is now indexed by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
We are delighted to announce that Medicine Anthropology Theory is now indexed by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). DOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high-quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals and has a reputation for advocating best practices and standards in open access. Indexing in DOAJ makes Medicine Anthropology Theory compliant with many initiatives and programmes around the world, including Plan S in Europe and Capes/Qualis in Brazil. Indexing MAT has been a key priority for the Editorial Collective from the outset because we know how crucial it can be for the reputation, reach, and impact of our journal content, and the scholars who write them. This exciting next step is likely to increase traffic to the MAT website and give greater exposure to our published content. In addition to being the only medical anthropology journal that neither charges subscription fees to libraries nor article processing fees to authors, we are thrilled that the high-quality content, publishing standards, and ethos of MAT are now internationally recognised. You can now find us here: https://doaj.org/toc/2405-691X For more details on the DOAJ directory project, check: https://doaj.org/
Medicine Anthropology Theory is soliciting applications for a co-editor for the journal's Photo Essay section. The new co-editor will join the current editor to publish the section. As a team, the Photo Essay editorial staff work with authors to develop contributions, review submissions, and contribute to the leadership and direction of the MAT journal. Photo Essays are a form of visual/textual communication that go beyond simply combining image and text. They create a balance that allows words to provide context for the image(s) and a space where images can reinforce or challenge the text and they are informed by visual anthropology theory and practice (see Crowder and Cartwright 2021). They are an engaging way to share medical anthropology research findings with a wide range of colleagues. They are provocative in nature as images and text present different sides of issues and different points of view—both literally and figuratively. In this way, they advance MAT’s broader mission to explore how culture, politics, and social norms bear on medicine, illness, and health – and vice versa. We are particularly keen to publish Photo Essays written by public health workers, patients, medics, social workers, psychologists, bioethicists, nurses, and clinical practitioners of all stripes, in addition to medical anthropological work. The co-editorship is an unpaid position. The candidate will have completed their Ph.D. in anthropology or a related field and will have already secured a tenure-track or permanent position at their home institution. You can read more about MAT’s editorial decision to only fill staff section editor positions with people who are not precariously employed in our Ethos Statement and first editorial. The successful candidate will serve in this position for a term of three years. To apply, please send a CV and letter of interest (1-2 pages) to Cristina Moreno Lozano, MAT’s Managing Editor, at MATEditors@ed.ac.uk by 20 April 2021. We will be in touch with candidates of interest to schedule an online interview.
Call for Contributions to MAT's Field Notes section
Call for contributions Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) is an English-language, fully open-access journal that publishes original scholarly articles, essays, reviews, and reports related to medical anthropology, global health, and science and technology studies. We invite authors to submit their essays to the Field Notes section. Pieces for Field Notes focus on the details of fieldwork, be it meticulous ethnographic descriptions, methodological quandering or tricky ethical situations. In Field Notes, the ethnographic foundations of anthropological knowledge take centre stage, and it is from this ethnographic material that pieces will make a clear intervention or argument. We encourage attention to detail and thick description in Field Notes. It is a space to showcase what it means to work ethnographically, a space in which authors can flesh out and think through the empirical material that they have collected during their fieldwork. Pieces can be a step on the way to becoming a chapter or an article, a place to explore and reflect upon the empirical before or on the brink of analysis. As such, Field Notes is a space where we encourage playfulness in terms of ethnographic writing, a place in which to try out a new ethnographic style, to hone one’s creative writing skills, or to publish those indelible bits of field research that just don’t fit anywhere else. To be considered for publication, submissions should be forthrightly empirical and centred around a question that appeared during your fieldwork. The submitted pieces are only expected to have few, if any, citations. The word limit for a Field Notes piece is 3,000 words, though shorter submissions are encouraged too. We accept submissions on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Papers may be submitted here: http://www.medanthrotheory.org/about/submissions. Please contact Field Notes section editors Rosie Sims (rosie.sims[at]graduateinstitute.ch) and Lotte Buch Segal (lotte.segal[at]ed.ac.uk) with further questions, including if you have an idea for an essay but are not sure whether it fits with the section. Appel à contributions Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) est une revue académique anglophone en libre accès qui publie des articles originaux, des essais, des revues et des rapports liés à l'anthropologie médicale, à la santé globale et aux études de la science et de la technologie. Nous invitons les auteur(e)s à contribuer à la section Field Notes. Field Notes se concentre sur les détails du travail de terrain, qu'il s'agisse de descriptions ethnographiques méticuleuses, de réflexions méthodologiques ou de situations éthiques délicates. Dans Field Notes, les fondements ethnographiques de la connaissance anthropologique prennent le devant de la scène, et c'est à partir de ce matériel ethnographique que les textes apporteront une intervention ou un argument clair. Nous encourageons particulièrement l'attention portée aux détails et à la richesse de la description. Il s'agit d'un espace pour mettre en valeur ce que signifie le travail ethnographique, un espace dans lequel les auteur(e)s peuvent réfléchir au matériel empirique qu'ils ou elles ont recueilli au cours de leur travail de terrain. Les essais dans Field Notes peuvent être une étape ethnographique sur la voie de devenir un chapitre ou un article, un lieu d'exploration et de réflexion sur l'empirique avant ou au bord de l'analyse. En tant que tel, les Field Notes sont un espace où l'on encourage à jouer avec l’écriture, un lieu où l'on peut essayer un nouveau style ethnographique, affiner ses compétences en écriture créative ou publier ces morceaux indélébiles de recherche sur le terrain qui ne font sens nulle part ailleurs. Pour être pris en considération pour la publication, les essais doivent être explicitement empiriques et centrés sur une question apparue pendant votre travail sur le terrain. Les contributions devraient contenir peu ou pas de citations et ne devraient pas dépasser plus de 3.000 mots, bien que des essais plus courts soient également encouragés. Nous recevons les essais pour Field Notes de façon continue tout au long de l'année. Les contributions peuvent être soumis ici: http://www.medanthrotheory.org/about/submissions. Veuillez contacter les rédactrices de la section Field Notes: Rosie Sims (rosie.sims[at]graduateinstitute.ch) et Lotte Buch Segal (lotte.segal[at]ed.ac.uk) pour d'autres questions, y compris si vous avez une idée pour un essai mais n'êtes pas sûr(e) de savoir si cela colle avec la section. Les essais doivent être écrits en anglais. Llamada a contribuciones Medicine Anthropology Theory (MAT) es una revista académica de acceso abierto en inglés que publica artículos académicos, ensayos, reseñas y informes relacionados con la antropología médica, estudios de la ciencia y tecnología y estudios críticos de salud global. Invitamos a los autores y autoras interesados a que envíen ensayos en inglés a la sección Field Notes. Field Notes pone el foco en los detalles del trabajo de campo, ya sean descripciones etnográficas meticulosas, reflexiones metodológicas, o situaciones éticas desafiantes. En Field Notes, los fundamentos etnográficos del conocimiento antropológico ocupan un lugar central, y es a partir de este material etnográfico que los ensayos harán una intervención clara y tendrán un argumento coherente. En Field Notes fomentamos la atención al detalle y la riqueza de la descripción. Es un espacio para mostrar lo que significa trabajar etnográficamente, un espacio en el que los autores pueden dar cuerpo y pensar en el material empírico que han recogido durante su trabajo de campo. Los ensayos pueden ser un paso etnográfico en el camino para convertirse en un capítulo o un artículo, un lugar para explorar y reflexionar sobre lo empírico antes o al borde del análisis. Como tal, Field Notes es un espacio en el que promovemos el juego creativo con la escritura etnográfica, la experimentación con los estilos etnográficos, la escritura creativa y la publicación de fragmentos de la investigación de campo que no encajen en otros lugares o formatos. Para ser considerados para su publicación, los ensayos deben ser explícitamente empíricos y centrarse en una cuestión que haya aparecido durante su trabajo de campo. Se espera que los ensayos enviados tengan pocas, o incluso ninguna, citas. Los ensayos pueden ser de hasta 3.000 palabras, sin embargo, ensayos más cortos también serán recibidos. Recibimos ensayos para Field Notes de forma continuada durante todo el año. Puede mandar su ensayo aquí: http://www.medanthrotheory.org/about/submissions. Si tiene alguna pregunta, puede ponerse en contacto con las editoras de la sección Field Notes: Rosie Sims (rosie.sims[at]graduateinstitute.ch) y Lotte Buch Segal (lotte.segal[at]ed.ac.uk). También puede contactar con las editoras si tiene alguna idea de ensayo y quiere asegurarse de que esta encaja con la sección. Los ensayos deben ser escritos en inglés.
MAE-MAT Early Career Paper - now receiving submissions
We are excited to announce the first MAE – MAT Early Career Paper Award! This award is organised by the Medical Anthropology Europe network (MAE) within the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) and the Medicine Anthropology Theory journal (MAT) to recognise and promote outstanding papers by early career scholars working in the field of medical anthropology. We welcome submissions from early career scholars from all parts of the world. Co-authored papers are acceptable, but all authors must meet the eligibility criteria below. The winning paper will be published in MAT. The deadline for submission is April 5, 2021. Papers should be submitted through the MAT submission system. Please select the ‘MAE-MAT Early Career Paper’ section when submitting your paper. The winning paper will be announced by the end of May 2021 together with the other shortlisted papers. Submitted papers should be accompanied by a short cover letter (less than one page) stating that all authors meet the eligibility criteria. Eligibility criteria: Authors should be current PhD students or be within 2 years of having obtained their PhD, with exceptions for parental leave and other caring responsibilities (please state in the cover letter). Papers must be primarily based on research undertaken while registered as a student and should have a strong ethnographic basis. Papers should be written in clear language, have a clear conceptual argument, engage with core debates and themes in medical anthropology and make an innovative contribution to the field. Papers should be no longer than 10,000 words including references. Papers should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Please see MAT’s submission pages for more information on how to prepare your manuscript for anonymous review. Members of the MAT collective will be organising a “meet the editors” online event on Tuesday 1st of December, 14:00 pm GMT, where you can ask questions regarding the award and academic publishing in general. More information and registration here. We're looking forward to receiving your submissions!
MAT is looking for reviewers to contribute to our new Reviews format
Medicine Anthropology Theory is an English-language, fully open access journal hosted by the University of Edinburgh that publishes work related to the fields of medical anthropology, the anthropology of biomedicine, critical global health studies, medical humanities, and science and technology studies. MAT Reviews encourage creativity and originality, pushing authors beyond the standard single book review format. Our Reviews section invites reviews in essay form shaping a discussion of at least three different reviewed works (which need not all be of the same medium). Works might include books, films, podcasts, conferences, and exhibits, with relevance to health and medicine within the broad fields of medical anthropology, science and technology studies (STS), and global health. We especially welcome reviews of works that may experience barriers in reaching mainstream audiences, providing opportunities to showcase the work of under-represented authors, scholars and artists from across the world. We invite potential reviewers to contact us with their initial ideas for a Review essay. The word limit for Reviews is 3,000 words, and all essays will be put forward for external, single-blind review. Potential reviewers will receive support from the Section Editor who will provide copies of books on behalf of publishers. Please contact the Reviews Editor for further details, Bridget Bradley at bb203@st-andrews.ac.uk We look forward to receiving your reviews!
MAT moves to University of Edinburgh hosting platform
We are delighted to launch our new journal site hosted by Edinburgh University Library. The University of Edinburgh hosting platform uses Open Journal Systems (OJS) to support the publication of academic and student-led open access journals. We are excited to be part of this innovative academic-led publishing model, which coincides with MAT going fully open access. We are now the only medical anthropology journal that neither charges subscription fees to libraries nor article processing fees to authors. We are immensely grateful to our funders, institutional supporters, authors and reviewers for making this project possible. You can find out more about how MAT is funded here. We are now accepting submissions through the new platform. Please visit our submission pages for more information.