Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

This study examines the academic community of Korean Buddhist Studies, the status of Buddhist Studies in Korea, and the IF(Impact Factor) of Korean journals in Buddhist Studies. Advances in academia are made through collective intelligence and the academic community is its representative. Therefore, we must carefully analyze problems in the academic community in order to advance Buddhist Studies in Korea. The academic community of Buddhist Studies in Korea has a much broader membership when compared with other academic communities. This characteristic likely originated from the need to incorporate the field experience of Buddhist monks and activists into the community. Consequently, the professionalism and academic status of Buddhist Studies has suffered damage. Furthermore, it has resulted in a deterioration of the impact factor of journals of Buddhist Studies. The academic community of Buddhist Studies in Korea has three distinctive features. First, the composition of the community is quite unique in comparison to other academic communities. Second, many scholars are involved in the field to whom Buddhism is their personal object of individual attention and faith. Third, many participants in the academic community are Buddhist activists who are not professional scholars. These features act positively to expand the scope of the academic community. But it also seems to contain the problem that the boundaries of academia and religion is not clear. To address this problem, the academic community of Korean Buddhist studies needs improvements to its structure. Furthermore, the members of the academic community should not force academic or religious authenticity upon another.