About the Journal

Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research (ISSN: 2342-2009) is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal published online twice yearly by the Finnish Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research (Suomen science fiction- ja fantasiatutkimuksen seura ry) beginning in 2014.

Fafnir aims to serve as an international forum for scholarly exchange on science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative genres, as well as for discussion on current issues in the field. To achieve this, the journal introduces and develops research focusing on speculative literature, audiovisual art, games, and fan culture by providing an interdisciplinary perspective into the research within these genres.

In addition to this, one of the objectives of Fafnir is to promote Nordic research into science fiction and fantasy research. Although Fafnir is not limited to Nordic issues and themes, the journal accepts papers in all Nordic languages, as well as in English.

Fafnir publishes various texts ranging from peer-reviewed research articles to short overviews, essays, interviews, opinion pieces, and academic book reviews on any subject within its scope. If you are interested in submitting a text to Fafnir, please see our submission guidelines. If you have any other ideas or further questions concerning the journal, please contact the editors-in-chief.

Fafnir also has Twitter and Bluesky accounts and a Facebook group devoted to discussion on science fiction and fantasy; feel free to join in!

Fafnir was a proud recipient of a World Fantasy Award – the first ever awarded to an academic journal – in 2020.

Fafnir and all articles it publishes are indexed under the MLA International Bibliography and the Directory of Open-Access Journals. In 2023, the Finnish Publication Forum classified Fafnir as a level 2 journal.

Fafnir's archives for years 2023 and earlier can be accessed at our previous site.

Open-Access Policy

All content for Fafnir is immediately available through open access. Fafnir endorses the definition of open access laid out in Bethesda Meeting on Open Access Publishing:

  1. The author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship,1 as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use.
  2. A complete version of the work and all supplemental materials, including a copy of the permission as stated above, in a suitable standard electronic format is deposited immediately upon initial publication in at least one online repository that is supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organization that seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving.

Note: 1 Community standards, rather than copyright law, will continue to provide the mechanism for enforcement of proper attribution and responsible use of the published work, as they do now.