Asian American Research Journal

What Asian American Research Journal does

The Asian American Research Journal (AARJ) is an annual academic publication co-sponsored by the Asian American Research Center (AARC) and the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies (AAADS) Program at the University of California, Berkeley. Founded in 2020 with its inaugural Volume I ("Building Our Voices") released in 2021, the journal provides an open-access platform for scholarly research centered on Asian American experiences, identities, histories, and communities. Its interdisciplinary scope spans agriculture, diaspora studies, education, environmental justice, gender and sexuality, history, law, literature, media, public health, and other fields. The journal is committed to uplifting and empowering students while amplifying voices historically underrepresented or excluded from academic spaces.

The journal operates as a non-profit academic publication under UC Berkeley's Department of Ethnic Studies, charging no submission or publication fees and relying on public university funding and external grants (e.g., California Endowment for the PACH Initiative). It serves a concentrated constituency of current UC Berkeley undergraduates, graduates, and recent alumni, alongside the broader academic research community studying Asian American topics. The editorial operation is small—approximately 7 employees or program staff—distributed through institutional channels including the AAADS website, newsletter, social media, the annual Undergraduate Asian American Research Symposium, and community partnerships with organizations such as Asian Immigrant Women Advocates (AIWA), Asian Health Services, SF Chinese Hospital, and Eastwind Books of Berkeley.

AARJ's business model is fundamentally non-commercial: it generates no revenue from fees or subscriptions, does not pursue external investors, and is funded entirely through its parent institution and grant-based partnerships. The journal's strategic positioning rests on the institutional prestige of UC Berkeley's pioneering ethnic studies program, its role in amplifying underrepresented Asian American scholarship, and its integration into a broader ecosystem of community-engaged research initiatives such as the Community Health Certificate (CAACH) and the PACH pipeline program.

Name

Asian American Research Journal

Legal name

Asian American Research Journal

Website

https://aaads.berkeley.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Asian American Research Journal is an annual open-access academic publication co-sponsored by the Asian American Research Center and UC Berkeley's AAADS Program, serving UC Berkeley students, alumni, and Asian American studies researchers with no submission or publication fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Journal

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJABAK

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Educational & Academic Publishing (Textbooks, Scholarly, STM)

Keywords

• Academic journal publishing
• Asian American studies
• Scholarly research publication
• Ethnic studies research
• Student research journal

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Asian American Research Journal (AARJ) is an annual open-access scholarly publication co-sponsored by the Asian American Research Center (AARC) and the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies (AAADS) Program at UC Berkeley. It publishes interdisciplinary research by undergraduate and graduate students centered on Asian American experiences, identities, and communities, covering topics such as agriculture, diaspora studies, education, environmental justice, gender and sexuality, history, law, literature, media, and public health. The journal does not charge submission or publication fees and is distributed via the UC Berkeley AAADS website.

Product overview

The Asian American Research Journal (AARJ) is a single annual scholarly publication product co-sponsored by the Asian American Research Center (AARC) and the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies (AAADS) Program at UC Berkeley. It serves as the primary product offering, providing a platform for research centered on Asian American experiences, identities, and communities. The journal is committed to uplifting and empowering students while expanding dialogue and knowledge surrounding Asian American histories, cultures, and lived realities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Asian American Research Journal (AARJ) An annual open-access scholarly publication that provides a platform for research and scholarly work centered on Asian American experiences, identities, and communities. It is intended for UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students as well as the broader academic community, with the intent to uplift and empower students while expanding dialogue and knowledge surrounding Asian American histories, cultures, and lived realities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Published Volume VI in 2026, with annual publication cycle

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Asian American Research Center (AARC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the Asian American Research Journal. AARC partners with AAADS on research initiatives, the annual Asian American Research Symposium, and various awards including the Toraji Korean American Studies prize.
• Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies (AAADS) ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the Asian American Research Journal along with AARC. The AAADS Program is the primary academic home for Asian American studies at UC Berkeley.
• Asian Immigrant Women Advocates (AIWA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity organization partner for field study programs and student engagement. Students have worked on special projects with AIWA addressing community health and worker rights.
• Asian Health ServicesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity health center partner for field study programs. Past students have worked on projects addressing monkeypox stigma and other health initiatives.
• Eastwind Books of BerkeleyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity bookstore partner. Professor Harvey Dong co-manages Eastwind, which hosts book readings and events related to Asian American studies.
• SF Chinese HospitalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for CAACH field study program and curricular development. Students conduct site visits and special projects related to community health.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies: Duke University Press interdisciplinary journal covering gender, ethnicity, and cultural studies. Comparable as an interdisciplinary humanities venue with overlapping contributor interest in identity, diaspora, and community, though not focused on Asian American studies.

Emerging players

• Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies: Open access peer-reviewed journal on ethnic and cultural studies. Comparable as an interdisciplinary, open access ethnic studies venue competing for similar scholarly contributions, though broader in topical coverage than AARJ.

Regional players

• Asian American Law Journal: UC Berkeley School of Law's student-run Asian American legal studies journal. Comparable as a Berkeley-affiliated, AARJ-adjacent publication, though narrower in disciplinary focus (law) and produced by a separate campus unit.
• Asian American and Pacific Islander Nexus (AANHPI community health publications): Community-health focused AANHPI publishing and program infrastructure. Comparable to AARJ's PACH-affiliated community health research outputs and the California Endowment-funded programming, with overlap in applied community health scholarship.

Direct peers

• AAPI Nexus Journal: UCLA Asian American Studies Center's policy, practice, and community-focused journal. Comparable in mission to amplify Asian American and Pacific Islander community knowledge, with overlap in applied, community-engaged scholarship.
• Ethnic Studies Review: The journal of the Association for Asian American Studies, covering ethnic studies broadly with strong Asian American studies emphasis. Directly comparable in scholarly mission and contributor base, with broader disciplinary scope.
• Amerasia Journal: UCLA's Asian American Studies Center journal, also an academic, peer-reviewed publication focused on Asian American experiences, identities, and communities. Direct peer given overlapping mission, scholarly audience, and university-affiliated ethnic studies publishing model.
• Journal of Asian American Studies: Johns Hopkins University Press-published peer-reviewed journal covering Asian American studies across the humanities and social sciences. Directly comparable in editorial scope, scholarly audience, and ethnic studies focus, with a longer publication history and established indexing.

Broad incumbents

• MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States: Oxford University Press-published journal covering multi-ethnic US literary studies, including Asian American literature. Comparable as an interdisciplinary humanities venue with shared author pool and overlapping editorial interests.
• positions: asia critique: Duke University Press journal covering Asian cultures, societies, and diaspora. Comparable as a scholarly venue for interdisciplinary Asian American and Asian diaspora studies, but broader in geographic and thematic scope than AARJ.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1TIcGOv7Oe5UC_aRVY64zQ?view_as=subscriber
• Facebookfacebook.com/UCBerkeleyAAADS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aarj

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Asian American Research Journal