MISSION STATEMENT: 
 
 BOSS: The Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies aims to publish scholarly, peer-reviewed essays pertaining to Bruce Springsteen. This open-access journal seeks to encourage consideration of Springsteen’s body of work primarily through the political, economic, and socio-cultural factors that have influenced his music and shaped its reception. BOSS welcomes broad interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches to Springsteen’s songwriting and performance. The journal aims to secure a place for Springsteen Studies in the contemporary academy. 
 
 Contact: Please address all queries to Jonathan D. Cohen (Managing Editor) at Springsteenstudies@gmail.com. 

 BOSS: The Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies BOSS: The Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies is an open access academic journal that publishes peer-reviewed essays pertaining to Bruce Springsteen. The first edition of BOSS will be published in June, 2014 and the editors are currently soliciting papers for the second edition. BOSS provides a scholarly space for Springsteen Studies in the contemporary academy by publishing articles that examine the political, economic, and socio-cultural factors that have influenced Springsteen’s music and shaped its reception. The editors of BOSS welcome broad interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches to Springsteen’s songwriting, performance, and fan community, as well as studies that conform to specific disciplinary perspectives. Please submit articles between 15 and 25 pages that conform to The Chicago Manual of Style to Springsteenstudies@gmail.com by June 9th, 2014. Authors will be notified of acceptance by September, 2014 and the second issue of BOSS will be published in January, 2015. Contact: Please address all queries to Jonathan D. Cohen (Managing Editor) at Springsteenstudies@gmail.com or visit BOSS’s website: http://boss.mcgill.ca/. 

 The feverish fandom surrounding rock idol Bruce Springsteen—middle-aged men at his concerts have more than a little in common with the hysterical tweens who fawn over One Direction—has given rise to essay collections, academic conferences, and in short, a thriving subculture of Boss-based scholarship. Soon enough, we’ll have a highbrow periodical devoted to nothing but. 
 
 BOSS: The Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies is, quite simply, an “open access academic journal that publishes peer-reviewed essays pertaining to Bruce Springsteen.” Most members of the well-credentialed editorial advisory board have backgrounds in the humanities—psychology, music, literature, history—but the project encourages a freestyle, interdisciplinary approach to Springsteen’s work and mythos. 
 
 “The goal,” according to managing editor and University of Virginia Ph.D. history student Jonathan D. Cohen, “is to provide a stable home for Springsteen Studies,” one that will inspire further work and allow writers to plumb his all-American guitar anthems without tailoring their essays to the needs of a broadly focused magazine. “We’re at the right time here,” Cohen told the Daily Dot by phone. “The kids who listened to him in the 70s and 80s, some of them grew up into academics.” 
 
 Springsteen himself, Cohen noted, has often repeated the mantra “trust the art, not the artist,” but his themes of class identity and politics, matched with a meticulously combed-over personal narrative, makes closer analysis irresistible. “Every detail of his life is borne out in the work; you can say that ‘Independence Day’ is about the troubled relationship with his father. With all we know about him, we can better see the creative process.” 
 
 “He’s aware of the community,” Cohen said when asked about Springsteen’s relationship with fans. Ideally, however, BOSS would also open the field to less-obsessive scholars who might not have otherwise delved deep into this material. 
 
 While the first issue is already filled, possibly with the work of editors such as Eric Alterman, an avowed acolyte who has already published a expansive Springsteen biography, BOSS is still looking for new stuff. Just put together a 15-25 page article that touches upon Bruce’s singing, songwriting, or fan community and conforms to The Chicago Manual of Style. (The Asbury Park edition is considered unprofessional for some reason.) 
 
 The publication could certainly be a boon to those of us who struggle to parse the typical Springsteen lyric. It could revolutionize the way we think about American flags and bandanas. And if its aim of securing “a place for Springsteen Studies in the contemporary academy” sounds a touch grandiose, well, that seems in keeping with the spirit of the Boss himself. 
 
 Photo by manu_gt500/Flickr
– There's already a Bruce Springsteen college course, so really, this was inevitable: There now exists an academic journal devoted solely to the study of the Boss. It is named, appropriately, BOSS: The Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies. The Daily Dot notes that the editorial advisory board is "well-credentialed," with members who have backgrounds in psychology, music, literature, and history, among other things. The open access journal will publish "scholarly, peer-reviewed essays pertaining to Bruce Springsteen," and that's it. Its mission: "to encourage consideration of Springsteen’s body of work primarily through the political, economic, and socio-cultural factors that have influenced his music and shaped its reception." Or, as the managing editor puts it to the Daily Dot: "The goal is to provide a stable home for Springsteen Studies." He adds, "We’re at the right time here. The kids who listened to him in the '70s and '80s, some of them grew up into academics." The first edition comes out in June, and BOSS is currently accepting submissions between 15 and 25 pages for the second edition, which is out in January.