Journal of American Folklore, the quarterly journal of the American Folklore Society since the Society's founding in 1888, publishes scholarly articles, essays, notes, and commentaries directed to a wide audience, as well as separate sections devoted to reviews of books, exhibitions and events, sound recordings, film and videotapes, and to obituaries. The contents of the Journal reflect a wide range of professional concerns and theoretical orientations. Articles present significant research findings and theoretical analyses from folklore and related fields. Essays are interpretive, speculative, or polemic. Notes are narrower in scope and focus on a single, often provocative, issue of definition, interpretation, or amplication. Brief commentaries address these topics.

The American Folklore Society is an association of people who create and communicate knowledge about folklore. Founded in 1888, the Society: Publishes the quarterly Journal of American Folklore, the preeminent folklore journal in the world, and the bimonthly AFSNews Produces an annual meeting each October that brings together more than 500 folklorists to exchange work and ideas, and to create and strengthen friendships and working relationships Maintains the AFSNet web site as a means for communication among Society members and between folklorists and the world at large Supports the work of more than thirty interest-group sections Awards prizes and other forms of recognition and support for outstanding work Maintains active partnerships with other societies in the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Humanities Alliance Takes a leading role in national and international folklore projects