Journal of Burma Studies not the only refereed journal on Burma

There is a false statement on the Journal of Burma Studies website at Northern Illinois University:

"The Journal of Burma Studies is an annual, fully refereed journal of scholarship on Burma. It is the only scholarly journal in the world to publish exclusively on research and writing about Burma." (See website)

According to a recent overview of Burma Studies by Andrew Selth:

"There are currently three peer-reviewed journals devoted to Burma studies outside the country. These are The Journal of Burma Studies, published annually by the Burma Studies Centre at NIU, the SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research [SBBR] published twice a year by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, and Burma Economic Watch (BEW), which is published periodically on the internet by the Economics Department of Macquarie University in Australia.

I personally have published articles in the SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research and they were peer reviewed (double blind anonymous referees). I know other people who published in the SBBR and their articles were peer reviewed also. I think this false statement is an attempt by the old power clique that has dominated the rather stagnant field of Burma Studies for the last thirty odd years to control discourse space. Times are a changing. Most of so-called Burma Studies takes place outside of the United States nowadays. Much of it in Southeast Asia in Thailand and Singapore or nearby Australia.

The president of the Burma Studies Group, F. K. Lehman, and the General Editor of the journal, Catherine Raymond, should correct this mistake.

Senior scholars perhaps do not realize that many paper journals in the humanities are now closing down. The Journal of Burma Studies has very progressively put its articles online for free. This means that students in Southeast Asia will be able to read important articles published in the west about their homeland, which is important. Since university libraries are unlikely to continue paying for the journal when they can get it for free online, the web definitely looks like it is the future as far as Burmese history is concerned.

Aung-Thwin said of my work:

"It requires no credentials to put your opinions on-line, especially on your own web-site. Especially if you don’t have to go through peer review, a problem I think we as scholars should take much more seriously."

I have published papers at the SBBR at the University of London and all those papers have been peer reviewed (reviewed by referees). Once again, a false statement has been made. Pointing out false statements online like this, in a blog, is effectively a form of peer review too. Welcome to the future.