We are a majority mad-identified, peer-reviewed academic journal that aims to promote the theory and discipline of Mad Studies. Mad Studies is a field that explores the experience, history, politics, culture, and discourses of us, psychiatric survivors, consumers, ex-patients, people who are disabled, or otherwise labelled 'mentally ill'. We are proudly majority mad-identified, but also include folks with other lived experiences, with a critical perspective on madness.

Academia and academic journals are often a space of exclusion – of mad voices and critical voices – but also of people whose path in life has not conformed to a traditional academic career, or who haven’t had access to formal higher education, academic spaces, or ways of communicating. It is our intention to foster a space that is inclusive of mad voices and mad thinking, including voices that might be otherwise excluded. To this end, we think of ourselves as a community – of mad and critical thinking – rather than a faceless journal. Please do get involved!

Our vision and values

• Diverse voices and perspectives
• Oppose hegemony and seek to challenge power
• Embrace marginalised epistemologies and priviledge mad and unheard voices
• Provocative and critical
• Founded on human rights, social justice, resistance, and desire for real change
• Accessible and independent, transparent and responsive

Open Access Policy

By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use after initial publication under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Copyright Notice

Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted by the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this Open Access Journal, articles are free to use after initial publication under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Privacy Statement

Names and contact information entered into this journal site will only be used for the stated purpose of this journal and will not be made available to any other party.

Sponsors

The International Mad Studies Journal is an independent volunteer-run journal.