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Publius (journal)

journal

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 21, 2025
Entity authorityQ15716331 ↗
Source-derived summary

Publius: The Journal of Federalism is a quarterly social science journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CSF: Publius, Inc., a non-profit affiliate of the Center for the Study of Federalism. It covers the history, theory, structures, and practice of federalism and the application of federal principles to political and social issues. It was established in 1971 by Daniel Elazar (Temple University). Its title is in honor of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, who used the pen-name "Publius" in 1787–1788 when they published the papers that became known as The Federalist. The journal is sponsored by the Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations Section of the American Political Science Association.

The editors of the journal have been Daniel J. Elazar (1971–1999), John Kincaid (1981–2006), Carol S. Weissert (2006–2014), John Dinan (2014–2023), and the team of Paul Nolette and Philip Rocco (2024–present).

Abstracting and indexing

According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2023 impact factor of 2.2, ranking it 82nd out of 317 journals in the category “Political Science”. It is covered by indexing and abstracting services including the Social Sciences Citation Index, Historical Abstracts, and PAIS International.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Publius (journal)” as journal. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1971, 1787, 1788, 1999—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Publius and journal can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as journal. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 21, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q15716331. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1787, 1788 and 1999.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Publius (journal)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Publius (journal) primary sources, Publius (journal) archive and Publius research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Publius (journal)”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Publius (journal)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.