About the Journal

Aims and Scope

COPAS—Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies (ISSN: 1861-6127; eISSN: 1861-6127) is an open access journal. True to its original mission, COPAS showcases the work of early career scholars in the field with an annual issue featuring articles based on contributions from the latest PGF (the Postgraduate Forum of the German Association for American Studies) conference. In 2013, the journal’s scope expanded to include guest-edited thematic issues—proposals are welcome at any time! Published twice a year, in the summer and in the winter, COPAS accepts submissions on a broad range of topics, with the purpose of adding to the array of research existing in the field of American Studies, from the perspectives of early career scholars. Many publish for their first time with our journal and greatly appreciate the detailed hands-on editing process their articles go through, which allows them to polish their ideas and present them in a more concise, argumentative nature. Thus, our goal is to foster and facilitate opportunities for postgraduates to publish their work and experience the academic editing process in an inclusive, hands-on, feedback-driven setting. The scope of our journal brings together research on American Studies topics ranging from literary and cultural studies to film and history to gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality. The journal is hosted and supported by the University of Regensburg.   

COPAS uses Open Journal Systems and is indexed in The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).  

Journal Keywords  

American Studies, literary studies, cultural studies, American history, transnational studies, political science 

Open Access Policy

COPAS is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or their institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access. COPAS is indexed in The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). 

All articles published in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal. The full text of the articles of the journal are freely available without embargo.  

Editorial Process 

COPAS uses open peer review and editorial review. Open peer review for us means that the names of authors, reviewers, and editors are not anonymized during the review process. All submissions are initially assessed by the guest editors or by two designated editors from the COPAS editorial board (the specific COPAS editors are assigned to this role on a rotational basis). The COPAS editorial board and guest editors (where applicable) are responsible for selecting and processing submissions and make the eventual decision as to whether the articles can move on to the next step in the review process, in which authors are asked to implement revisions. The editorial board is responsible for the final decision regarding whether or not a submission is accepted for publication. In the case of special issues, the editorial board and guest editors are jointly responsible for the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of a submission. The average time between article submission and issue publication at COPAS is approximately 7.5 months.  

Archiving Policy 

All articles are published as open access. All past issues of COPAS are archived by the German National Library.

Repository Policy 

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. A Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License applies to all content published in COPAS. Authors are free and encouraged to store their work elsewhere, for instance in institutional repositories or websites to increase circulation. Authors are also able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal. COPAS does not charge any reprint fees, and authors are not required to contact COPAS for reprint permission, as authors retain their copyright.   

Copyright Policy 

Authors who publish with COPAS agree to the following terms:  

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.  

  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, publish it in a journal or a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.  

  • Authors are permitted to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories, or on their website) prior to and during the submission process.  

  • Authors are responsible for, and required to ascertain that they are in possession of, image rights for any and all photographs, illustrations, and figures included in their work or to obtain publication or reproduction rights from the copyright holders.  

Licensing Terms 

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. A Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License applies to all content published in COPAS. Anyone may copy material published in COPAS for any purpose under the premise of proper attribution. All materials are published under an open-access license, with authors retaining full ownership of their work. Authors are responsible for, and required to ascertain that they are in possession of image rights for any and all photographs, illustrations, and figures included in their work or to obtain publication or reproduction rights from the copyright holders.  

By submitting their work for publication in COPAS, authors agree to the terms written above. Authors are free and encouraged to store their work elsewhere, for instance in institutional repositories or websites to increase circulation. Authors are also able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal. COPAS does not charge any reprint fees, and authors are not required to contact COPAS for reprint permission, as authors retain their copyright. 

Article Processing Charges 

COPAS is an open access journal, which requests zero article processing charges (APCs) from authors and zero fees for readers to access and download articles. This is possible thanks to the ongoing technical support from the University of Regensburg, and the academic support from our editorial board and guest editors. 

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.