About the Journal

Scientia Canadensis is an open-access journal published by the Canadian Science and Technology Historical Association, and the only peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the history of science, technology, and medicine in Canada. It is published and disseminated on Érudit and now also available via the University of Alberta Library (UAL). UAL supports the journal’s production by providing free access to the Open Journal System (OJS).

Journal History

Scientia Canadensis originated in the HSTC Bulletin, a typewritten and Gestetner-reproduced publication launched by Richard Jarrell and colleagues in December 1976. A call for collaboration and organization, the Bulletin catalyzed the creation of the CSTHA in 1980. In 1984, the Bulletin was renamed Scientia Canadensis and launched as a peer-reviewed journal; together the two publications account for more than 50 numbers.

These contributions in English and French are from leading and emerging scholars in the Canadian history of science and technology. The journal has published special issues on such topics as energy and society, consumer technologies, circumpolar science, and natural history.

In addition to peer-reviewed scholarship, Scientia Canadensis also publishes research notes, book reviews, bibliographies, essays, and other contributions in English and French. With volume 38, number 1, Scientia ceased being a print journal and is now entirely published in a digital format.

Review Process

Submissions are handled by editors (including guest editors) who give them a desk review. Editors may reject, approve, or ask for initial revisions before submission. Once an approved submission is received, editors arrange for two anonymous peer reviewers to assess the article, who are given a rubric to assist their review. Reviewers are selected according to their expertise and publishing record: they can be academics, curators, researchers, or people with considerable knowledge and expertise in the subject area. Once reviews have been received, the editors
prepare a report with reviewer comments and publishing recommendations (reject, revise and resubmit, publish with minor changes, publish as is). The report and its recommendation is sent the author; for revisions, the editors summarize the recommendations to highlight the most important for subsequent publication.

The book review editors (English and French) commission book reviews and set deadlines. They are responsible for editing and approving reviews.

Open Access Statement

Scientia Canadensis is a diamond open access journal that provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports the greater global exchange of knowledge.

Authors will never be charged to submit or publish a manuscript, and all articles will be made available under a Creative Commons license, as indicated in the Copyright Notice.

Digital Archiving Policy

This journal is archived with the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) Preservation Network and Scholars Portal Journals. These programs offer a decentralized and distributed preservation, perpetual access, and preservation of the authentic original version of the content.

Self-Archiving

Authors are encouraged to deposit the published version in an institutional / disciplinary repository immediately on publication. Pre-print versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in Scientia Canadensis as soon as the issue is available; post-print versions (including the final publisher's PDF) should include a citation and link to the journal's website.

Research Misconduct Policy

The editors of Scientia Canadensis will take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others. In the event that the editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a published article in their journal, the editor shall follow the Committee on Publication Ethic’s guidelines in dealing with allegations.