It is published by Penn State University Press and was established in 1968.

The editor-in-chief is Erik Doxtader (University of South Carolina).

Next to Johnstone, Gerard A. Hauser was the longest serving editor of the journal, filling the post from 1987 to 1993, and then from 2003 to 2017.

The journal is abstracted and indexed in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index,[2] Current Contents/Arts & Humanities,[2] International Bibliography of Periodical Literature, MLA International Bibliography, and Scopus.

[3] The following persons are or have been editor-in-chief: Occasionally, the journal publishes special issues dedicated to a specific subject.