Submissions

Articles

Please submit article manuscripts by email, as a PDF or Word-compatible attachment:

  • Preferred manuscript length is 8,000 to 12,000 words, exclusive of endnotes
  • Please use 12-point type for both text and notes.
  • Double-space text and notes, with notes placed at the end of the manuscript text.
  • Author's name and institutional affiliation on title page only.
  • Illustrations, tables, and maps that significantly enhance the article are welcome.
  • Regarding general form and style, please follow the Chicago Manual of Style or  our house-style guide for examples of specific treatments. [Download as a PDF file]
  • Please include a working postal address, with telephone and email information for home or office, as well as for extensive holiday or sabbatical residences.

The refereeing process for manuscripts is double blind. Referees are members of our editorial board and other specialists in the academy most appropriate to each manuscript. We have no quotas of any kind with regard to authorship, topic, chronological period, or methodology—the practitioners via their submissions determine what we publish. Authors must guarantee in writing that the work is original, that it has not been previously published, and that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere in any form.

The time from acceptance to publication is typically less than a year. During this period, accepted manuscripts undergo a rigorous fact-checking and editing process. As time permits, we will copyedit the manuscript, which includes checking every citation and corroborating every quotation and statement of fact insofar as is possible given our library holdings as supplemented by interlibrary loan. We will also read the manuscript very closely as to style, grammar, and vigor of argument. The edited manuscript will be submitted to the author for consideration before publication. (In the highly unlikely event that, in the process of fact checking, we find so many errors in the footnotes and quotations that in our judgment the evidentiary legitimacy of the manuscript is called into question, we reserve the right to withdraw our offer of publication.)

The Southern Historical Association (SHA) at the University of Georgia holds the copyright for all material published in the Journal. After a work is published in the Journal, the SHA will grant the author, upon written request, permission to republish the work, without a fee, subject to the author giving proper credit of prior publication to the Journal. All other reprintings by third parties require the approval of the author and are subject to any reprint fee that the author requests. The SHA sets a standard fee of $100 in addition to whatever fee, if any, that the author requests.

Book Reviews

The Journal's editors make every effort to identify the most qualified person to review each new book on southern history. In an attempt to be sure that we do not overlook willing, qualified reviewers (who have a Ph.D. or other terminal degree), we invite scholars in the field to complete this online form to tell us of your interest in reviewing and the areas in which your research makes you competent to evaluate new work. The Journal does not accept unsolicited book reviews.