Focus and Scope

Journal of Philology and Codicology Cathexis Studies (JPCCS) is an international peer-reviewed scholarly journal devoted to research in philology, codicology, manuscript studies, textual scholarship, paleography, language, literature, written cultural heritage, and related interdisciplinary fields.

The journal aims to provide an academic platform for scholars examining the production, transmission, preservation, interpretation, editing, digitization, and intellectual history of texts and manuscripts.

JPCCS particularly welcomes studies that contribute to a deeper understanding of written traditions across historical, linguistic, geographical, cultural, and religious contexts.

1. Philology

Topics include:

  • classical philology;
  • historical philology;
  • comparative philology;
  • textual transmission;
  • textual criticism;
  • textual variants;
  • critical editions;
  • reception of texts;
  • linguistic history of texts.

2. Codicology

Topics include:

  • manuscript materiality;
  • paper;
  • parchment;
  • ink;
  • binding;
  • illumination;
  • foliation;
  • quire structure;
  • watermarks;
  • manuscript production;
  • scribal practices;
  • provenance;
  • ownership marks;
  • colophons;
  • paratextual elements.

3. Manuscript Studies

The journal welcomes research on:

  • manuscript collections;
  • manuscript cataloguing;
  • manuscript description;
  • manuscript transmission;
  • intellectual networks;
  • scribal communities;
  • copying traditions;
  • manuscript provenance;
  • archival manuscript research.

4. Paleography

Research may address:

  • historical scripts;
  • handwriting traditions;
  • Arabic script;
  • Jawi script;
  • local or regional scripts;
  • scribal hands;
  • dating through paleographical analysis;
  • development of writing traditions.

5. Arabic and Islamic Manuscripts

JPCCS welcomes research on:

  • Arabic manuscripts;
  • Islamic intellectual traditions;
  • Qur'anic manuscripts;
  • theological manuscripts;
  • legal manuscripts;
  • Sufi manuscripts;
  • historical texts;
  • scientific manuscripts;
  • Arabic-Malay textual traditions.

6. Southeast Asian and Nusantara Manuscripts

Areas include:

  • Malay manuscripts;
  • Acehnese manuscripts;
  • Jawi traditions;
  • Indonesian manuscript traditions;
  • Islamic manuscripts of Southeast Asia;
  • intellectual exchange between Southeast Asia and the wider Islamic world.

7. Textual Criticism and Critical Editions

JPCCS welcomes:

  • critical editions;
  • stemmatic analysis;
  • manuscript comparison;
  • textual reconstruction;
  • variant analysis;
  • translation and commentary;
  • transmission history.

8. Language and Literature

Research may address:

  • historical linguistics;
  • manuscript-based linguistic studies;
  • classical literature;
  • premodern literature;
  • comparative literature;
  • literary transmission;
  • textual aesthetics;
  • literary traditions preserved in manuscripts.

9. Digital Philology and Digital Humanities

Topics include:

  • manuscript digitization;
  • digital critical editions;
  • digital preservation;
  • manuscript databases;
  • textual encoding;
  • computational text analysis;
  • metadata;
  • digital catalogues;
  • digital humanities applications in manuscript research.

10. Preservation and Cultural Heritage

JPCCS also welcomes scholarship concerning:

  • manuscript conservation;
  • written cultural heritage;
  • preservation;
  • digitization;
  • documentation;
  • community-based preservation;
  • heritage management;
  • ethical access to manuscript collections.