Population Pathways: Intergenerational Migration and Settlement Patterns
A special issue of Genealogy (ISSN 2313-5778).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2026 | Viewed by 166
Special Issue Editor
Interests: historical geography of the U.S.; population and settlement geography; genealogy and geography; urban planning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We seek papers that explore the different ways to illustrate and analyze multi-generational migration and its impact on settlements for a Special Issue of Genealogy on “Population Pathways: Intergenerational Migration and Settlement Patterns.”
The patterns and processes of human migration have been studied by scholars around the Globe. Their studies have resulted in a nearly endless array of articles and books that aim to discover the main patterns and processes of life-course migration and even multi-generational migration. The focus of this Special Issue will build on this research by emphasizing how family connections over time explain migration and settlement patterns; the research scope is broad both spatially and temporally as studies of various places around the globe, from the near past to more distant historical periods, are welcome. The purpose of this Special Issue is to illustrate the innovative ways that genealogical data can be used to explain migration patterns and settlement changes, as the size and quality of genealogy datasets grow and technology advances (e.g., Koylu et al. 2025; Kaplanis et al. 2018). The aim is that this Special Issue will add to the literature a robust set of studies, which will show the value of genealogical data in analyzing intergenerational migration with recent and wide-ranging approaches to studying these movements and their resulting settlement effects.
We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editor (Samuel_otterstrom@byu.edu) or to the Genealogy editorial office (genealogy@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.
References:
Kaplanis, J., Gordon, A., Shor, T., Weissbrod, O., Geiger, D., Wahl, M., ... & Erlich, Y. 2018. Quantitative analysis of population-scale family trees with millions of relatives. Science, 360(6385): 171-175.
Koylu, C., Kasakoff, A. B., and Torkashvand, M. 2025. Settlement and the intergenerational dispersion of kin as a spatial process in the nineteenth century US. The history of the family, 30(4): 706-729.
Prof. Dr. Samuel Otterstrom
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genealogy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- settlement geography
- family history
- genealogy
- generational migration
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