Visual Studies is the official journal of the International Visual Sociology Association.

Visual Studies is a major international peer-reviewed journal publishing visually-oriented articles across a range of disciplines, and represents a long-standing commitment to empirical visual research, studies of visual and material culture, the development of visual research methods and the exploration of visual means of communication about social and cultural worlds. Visual Studies is a key resource for all disciplines that engage with images, society and culture, and sets the standard for the scholarly use of visual material.

The multidisciplinary character of the journal is reflected in its attention to visually-based research in sociology, anthropology, cultural and media studies, documentary film and photography, information technology, education, communication studies as well as other fields concerned with image-based study.

The aims of Visual Studies are to:

• Provide an international forum for the development of visual research.
• Promote acceptance and understanding of a wide range of methods, approaches and paradigms that constitute image-based research.
• Reduce the disparity in emphasis between visual and written studies in the social sciences.
• Promote an interest in developing visual research methodology in all its various forms.
• Encourage research that employs a mixture of visual methods and analytical approaches within one study.
• Critically reflect and contribute to the dialogue surrounding 'the visual' across the social sciences and humanities.
• Provide an arena for in-depth exploration of various approaches, particular methods, themes and visual phenomena.

Most articles published in the journal are accompanied by appropriate visual material, and the journal encourages visually-led submissions.

Visual Studies is published by Routledge on behalf of the IVSA.