A new home for History of European Ideas

Two years ago, I wrote a bit about the publisher Elsevier and its problematic role in academic journal publishing.  In particular, I mentioned the journal History of European Ideas, which is put out by Elsevier for the Sussex Centre for Intellectual History.  I did end up writing the editor of that journal to express my concern about their publisher and recommend that they seek a new publishing home (You can find my letter here).  At the time, the editor responded to me by saying that they "have personally had a very good working relationship" with Elsevier, but that he would be in touch with them about the issues I had raised.  I didn't think anything of the matter and figured that while it was good to voice my concerns, nothing would come of it.

This morning, though, Against the Grain has reported that three Elsevier history titles- including History of European Ideas- are moving to Routledge.  This is good news, and while I wouldn't begin to think that my letter to the editor was what caused the move, I think this outcome does demonstrate that expressions of concern from individual scholars are at least heard by people on the other end, and sometimes might contribute in a small way to a reevaluation of current practice.

[Also note the other intellectual history journal that has been published for some time at Routledge: Intellectual History Review.]