Once we have announced that we are taking submissions - either for our full publication or short form - on our social media and website, please email your paper to historicalreview@rice.edu.
How do I submit a paper?
How do i get involved?
how long should submissions be?
We ask that your submission range from 10-25 pages. Papers may be slightly longer than this, but they must conform to the standards of submission outlined below.
Papers must be:
Historically focused (see below)
3000-7500 words (about 10-25 pages) in length
Double-spaced, 12 pt. font
Footnotes formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style with a bibliography included
Not previously published in any other journal
Lack any identifying information about the author
Written while an undergraduate student at Rice University.
what are the basic requirements for submissions?
When reviewing a paper, our board asks the following questions:
Is the paper historically focused?
Does the paper make an argument?
Does the paper use both primary and secondary sources? Are these sources authoritative, and does the author do a good job incorporating them into the paper? Is the paper simply a restating of the sources?
Is the paper well organized and structured?
Is the author’s writing of high quality?
If our board can answer yes to these questions your paper will most likely move on to another round of review. See our section on fall and spring deadlines for more details.
Submissions do not have to be from a history class - they can be from independent research or from a non-history class, as long as the paper is historically focused.
In the spring, our board reviews papers through a two round process. In the first round, two board members review each paper to determine if it meets the aforementioned criteria.
The papers that are chosen to move on to the second round will then be reviewed by two additional board members and a faculty reviewer. At this stage, the board will take all of the feedback provided into consideration and chose the best 4-5 papers to publish.
The fall deadline provides an opportunity for authors to go through the first round process in advance to get feedback on their papers and edit them before re-submitting for the spring submissions. This DOES NOT mean that papers submitted in the fall are guaranteed to pass the first round of reviews in the spring.
what do you look for in submissions?
In the spring, our board reviews papers through a two round process. In the first round, two board members review each paper to determine if it meets the aforementioned criteria.
The papers that are chosen to move on to the second round will then be reviewed by two additional board members and a faculty reviewer. At this stage, the board will take all of the feedback provided into consideration and chose the best 4-5 papers to publish.
The fall deadline provides an opportunity for authors to go through the first round process in advance to get feedback on their papers and edit them before re-submitting for the spring submissions.
In other words, the fall submissions allow for an author to get additional feedback before going into the official publication review process. This DOES NOT mean that papers submitted in the fall are guaranteed to pass the first round of reviews in the spring.