The Afrocentric Scholar

The Afrocentric Scholar, which was later renamed the International Journal of Africana Studies, is the primary journal of the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS). It was first published in 1992 by the Center for Black Culture and Research at West Virginia University under the editorship of William A. Little. The mission of the journal has from its inception been to encourage scholarly research that explores and analyzes the history of African people in Africa and the diaspora from an Afrocentric perspective. The overall goal of the journal is to provide an alternative and relevant framework for the study of African world people, their history and culture. The journal supports the mission of NCBS to promote academic excellence and social responsibility; it also provides Black Studies (also called Africana Studies and African Studies) scholars with their own space for intellectual debates about content and pedagogical approaches and to publish articles relevant to the field and to African people's lived experience. The journal therefore supports the intellectual growth of the discipline by publishing scholarly articles that provide teaching and learning materials for Black Studies courses.

The journal solicits articles on relevant issues confronting African world societies and written from the perspective of African people's experience. The journal's emphasis is on generating and promoting new ideas regarding the nature of the challenges confronting African world societies, as well as the causes of and solutions to those challenges. The journal's guiding philosophy is the principle of respect and appreciation for African world indigenous and contemporary knowledge systems.

The journal was published as The Afrocentric Scholar until 1996, when its name was changed to the International Journal of Africana Studies. The change of name reflected the controversy within NCBS regarding whether Afrocentricity was the defining paradigm for African American Studies. In 1999, Loyola Marymount University became the institutional sponsor of the journal. The International Journal of Africana Studies publishes articles by major African leaders and thinkers in the African world.