IRAQ is a highly respected, refereed academic journal devoted to studies of the history, art, archaeology, religion, economic and social life of Iraq, and to a lesser degree of neighbouring countries where they relate to it, from the earliest times down to about AD 1750. It also publishes texts concerning these subjects, with translations and comments. IRAQ was launched in 1932 by the newly founded British School of Archaeology in Iraq (Gertrude Bell Memorial), since 2007 known as the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, by whom copyright is held. It has been the main vehicle for preliminary reports on fieldwork in Iraq, but has also published articles on a wide variety of subjects, some final excavation reports, Festschrifts and conference proceedings. It was bi-annual until 1984, but is now published annually in the late autumn. Volume 70 will appear in 2008.

The British Institute for the Study of Iraq was established as the British School of Archaeology in Iraq on January 14, 1932 in memory of Gertrude Bell, the pioneer archaeologist responsible for setting up the Iraq antiquities service and museum. The School sponsored important fieldwork and surveys in Iraq and Syria, and had a resident director in Baghdad when sanctions in the 1990s forced it to move its fieldwork to Bahrain, Kuwait and Syria. It was renamed on December 12, 2007 the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, thus reflecting its widening remit, namely to advance research and public education relating to Iraq and neighboring countries in anthropology, archaeology, geography, history, philology and related disciplines within the arts, humanities and social sciences. It is currently providing grants for Iraqi scholars and books and other equipment to The Iraq Museum and other institutions to participate in the rebuilding of Iraq's heritage.