postmedieval welcomes submissions from both new and established scholars. We are committed to treating authors with respect and care throughout the peer-review process.

Below you’ll find 6 article-writing tips from the current editors as well as a list of frequently asked questions, with answers! For other queries, feel free to write to our Managing Editor at postmedievalED@gmail.com.

Six tips from the postmedieval editors

1.     A journal article should contribute to existing conversations by making a new claim—and should clearly state the nature of its distinctive contribution.

2.     Make sure you and your readers understand the meaning of central terms (e.g., of “affect,” “aesthetics,” “monster,” “romance,” etc.) and consider defining field-specific terms unfamiliar to non-specialists.

3.     Think about the ethics and politics of citation, in addition to its intellectual work. Inclusive citation practices work against the marginalization of certain groups of scholars and yield a more robust academic conversation.

4.     Beware of strawman polemics. Everyone wants some argumentative torque, but try to stage this without reducing the complexity of existing conversations.

5.     Usually more signposting is better. (It can always be pared down later.) Flag your thesis, evidence, analysis, counter-arguments, etc.

6.     For our journal, imagine a broad readership of pre-/early-modernists, working in several different fields. How can you make a specific claim that’s also understandable, and of interest, to a broader academic readership?

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the content of my article fit in postmedieval?

We publish theoretically driven scholarship on premodernity and its ongoing reverberations. Contributions are characterized by conceptual adventure, stylistic experiment, political urgency, or surprising encounter. The editors are committed to expanding the fields of knowledge and geography represented in the journal, by showcasing scholarship that reaches across disciplines, language traditions, locales, modes of inquiry, and levels of access. Our aim is to facilitate collaborative, ethical, and experimental engagements with the medieval—with its archives and art, its thought and practices, its traces and its enduring possibilities.

How long should my essay be?

For original-research articles, we anticipate a length of between 6,000 and 9,000 words (including notes and bibliography). However, this is not a strict limit, and we will consider shorter and longer pieces as well.

How should I format my article?

Formatting is not especially important at the moment of initial submission, although all published articles will eventually need to follow the journal’s house style (including Chicago author-date format for citations). For details, consult Presentation and Formatting.

How do I actually submit my piece?

To turn in your article for double-blind peer review, you will need to use the journal’s Editorial Manager submission system. The software will prompt you with further instructions. If you run into problems, feel free to write to our Managing Editor at postmedievalED@gmail.com.

How long would it take for my article to be published?

This depends on the peer-review process as well as publication schedule. The length of the review process depends on many factors: the availability and schedule of reviewers, the scale of revisions requested, and the process of reconsideration. Once an article is accepted, it will enter the production process and can usually be published in the Online first venue within three months of acceptance (fully typeset and publicly available). It is likely to be printed in an open-topic issue within the year.