The academic online journal Aliter is a new academic project of the Association for the Study of Esotericism and Mysticism (ASEM). The journal is a regularly published online periodical, the goal of which is to publish academic materials dedicated to the study of esotericism and mysticism in Russian and English. Over the last several dozen years, there has been a significant growth of interest in society towards these topics and thus a perceivable increase in scholarly research. However, up until this time the Russian-speaking academia had no specialized journal aimed at consolidating the scholarly discourse in this field of study.

The aim of Aliter is to foster research of different mystical-esoteric traditions and phenomena; to develop new and conceptualize old methods of scholarly research; to study the development dynamics of esoteric groups both past and present. Each issue is planned to include reviews of books and collections of articles dedicated to this topic. The journal does not limit itself to the history of Western esotericism, but also includes corresponding phenomena in Eastern countries, as well as Russia and other FSU countries.

The journal accepts materials split into the following categories (subject to change):

1. Western esotericism and mysticism;
2. Eastern esotericism and mysticism;
3. Esotericism and mysticism in art and literature';
4. History of "secret societies”;
5. Mysticism and esotericism in the FSU;
6. Methodological aspects of esotericism and mysticism;
7. Reviews.

The Latin title of the journal means "Alternately,” chosen to denote the "otherness,” the alternative status of the mystical and esoteric manifestations of religious culture. The editors stress that this journal is purely academic, is not attempting to popularize or advertise esotericism and mysticism, does not publish materials that advertise these movements, and does not involve itself in a biased, ideological discourse towards any of these movements.

The journal invites papers from scholars from all humanities disciplines who are interested in esotericism and mysticism and adhere to a strict scholarly approach to this subject. Papers that have not previously been published or published in a print run of no more than 100 copies are accepted. The papers need to be sent in electronic form (.rtf format) to aiem.asem@yandex.ru, as well as to include an abstract in either Russian or English and information about the author (full name, year of birth, academic degree, place of work and position, home and work address, contact phone and E-mail). Publishing a paper in Aliter is both free and unpaid. The article should be up to 80,000 characters long. The papers undergo strict selection and peer review. If a paper is accepted, it is edited in close collaboration with the author. The editors reserve the right to decline any materials that are not up to strict scholarly standards, include biased opinions, and/or are full of grammar or stylistic mistakes.

The journal is published regularly no less frequently than once per year, with each issue containing 5-8 materials. Every issue of the journal is available on the ASEM website with a separate website as a future possibility. The editors believe that Aliter will take its due place among other similar journals and will make a significant contribution to the development of the academic study of mysticism and esotericism.

Editors:
S. V. Pakhomov (editor-in-chief) (St. Petersburg, Russia)
B. Menzel (Mainz, Germany)
K. Y. Burmistrov (Moscow, Russia)
V. Zhdanov (Erlangen, Germany)
Y. Y. Zavgorodniy (Kyiv, Ukraine)
S. V. Kapranov (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Y. L. Khalturin (Moscow, Russia)
Y. A. Shabanova (Dniepropetrivsk, Ukraine)

Secretary: K. V. Zorya (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Consulting Board:
W. Hanegraaff (Amsterdam, Nederlands)
M. Sedgwick (Orhus, Denmark)
L. A. Filippovich (Kyiv, Ukraine)
R. V. Svetlov (St. Petersburg, Russia)
I. Semetsky (Sidney, Australia)
A. P. Zabiyako (Blagoveschensk, Russia)

The journal is published by the Association for the Study of Esotericism and Mysticism
Postal address: 190000 St. Petersburg, Russia, а/я 96
E-mail: aiem.asem@yandex.ru