Polar Record is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of Arctic and Antarctic exploration and research.

It is managed by the Scott Polar Research Institute and published by Cambridge University Press.

[7] The journal was established in 1931, by The Scott Polar Research Institute which itself was founded in 1926.

The foreword of the first issue in the first volume stated that the journal was created to address the challenge of "so much exploration and exploitation in the polar regions, the news of which appear in so many forms and languages", and that "in the first place an attempt will be made merely to record the chief polar events of the preceding six months; but it is hoped that the scope of the journal will gradually be expanded.

Therefore, the at-the-time director of the institute, Frank Debenham became the founding editor of the journal.