54 Theological librarianship • Vol. 12, No. 1 april 2019

whose work he directed, including journals, revelations and translations, contemporary reports of discourses, minutes, business and legal records, editorials, and notices.”20 The volumes are still being published, but researchers can freely access much of the content online at https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/.

The Church also is active in publishing its own periodicals. Since its earliest days, the members of the Church have published newspapers and magazines. Many of these works have been fully digitized and are available through the Internet Archive. Today the Church publishes three periodicals, the Ensign, for general readers, the New Era, for youth, and the Friend, for young children. Each of these periodicals can be a valuable resource for anyone studying the lived religious experience of practicing Mormons. The Community of Christ has its own periodical, the Herald, published since 1860.

Academic Journals

Before reviewing current trends in monographs, I submit a quick review of major scholarly journals in the field. According to the SMH, the most-cited academic journal in Mormon studies is Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Founded in 1966, Dialogue has provided an academic forum for scholars interested in Mormon culture (including literary studies) and theology. Close on Dialogue’s citation heels is BYU Studies Quarterly (BYUSQ). BYUSQ began its run in 1959 and publishes articles on Mormon studies, culture, sociology, and Brigham Young University history. The next most-cited journal is Utah Historical Quarterly (UHQ), which began publishing in 1928. UHQ focuses on the history of Utah, which in many cases is inseparable from the history of Mormonism. In spite of not seeing the most citations across its entire journal, the Journal of Mormon History (1974-present) is regarded as the premier journal in Mormon studies. It is the official journal of the Mormon History Association. The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal (1981-present) is another impor-tant contributor to Mormon studies, focusing on early Mormon history and schismatic traditions, particularly the Community of Christ. The Religious Educator (2000-present) is a scholarly pedagogical journal focusing on teaching Mormon theology to youth and adults. In 2014, the annual Mormon Studies Review was launched, which presents scholarship and review essays on the state of Mormon studies as a field.

Current Trends in Scholarship

It is beyond the scope of this essay to list every major subfield in Mormon studies, but I discuss a handful that are popular in the scholarly zeitgeist. Currently, there are several Mormon studies academic conferences, such as Mormon Scholars in the Humanities Conference, sometimes co-sponsored by the Association for Mormon Letters, the Mormon Studies Conference, held annually at Utah Valley University, the now biannual Church History Symposium, sponsored by BYU and the LDS Church, the John Whitmer Historical Association Conference, focus-ing on early Mormon history and schismatic groups, and the premier Mormon History Association Conference, which welcomes studies related to Mormonism and all of its different facets. Many of the books highlighted in this essay received best book or biography honors through these associations. In addition to holding annual awards for best monograph or article in their focused fields, these conferences consistently have panels and papers discussing the following topics identified below.

Works Covering the 19 th Century

Until recently, Mormon studies scholarship was dominated by 19 th century history. Joseph Smith, the found-ing prophet of the faith, and Brigham Young, Smith’s successor in the LDS Church, governed the Church for almost half a century. Accordingly, most works in 19 th century Mormonism rely heavily on sources and research related to these two colorful figures. In addition to the Joseph Smith Papers mentioned above, several

20 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/articles/about-the-project.