Below you can find the guiding lines for submissions to The Commoner. If they do not fit your scheme of things, get in touch and let’s work it out. See also back issues for further info…
Questions, inquiries and submission proposals can be sent to submissions@thecommoner.org
- The Commoner editorial collective solicits and welcomes submissions in multiple formats, including essays / commentaries, full-length articles, themed symposia, book reviews, and creative or multimedia submissions. Our primary publication language is English, but we do accept submissions in languages other than English if accompanied by an English abstract or brief synopsis.
- Book reviews – we solicit and welcome volunteered proposals for reviews of books, book series and special issues / collections. We publish reviews in three formats: standard book reviews, extended reviews and commentaries, and book symposia. For all the details click here.
- Essays and commentaries are original interventions or reflections on a topic, theme or event, of approximately 1,000-1,500 words in length. Essays and commentaries may be single- or multi-author works and should focus on articulating and explaining a clear position or argument. Essays and commentaries are subject to review by at least one member of the editorial collective.
- Original conceptual or research articles are journal-style articles of 8,000-10,000 words in length. Original conceptual / theoretical and research articles should adhere to standard practices of good scholarship. Standard stylistic, formatting and referencing expectations apply, and submissions will go through a process of collegial editorial and peer review.
- Themed symposia take a virtual ‘round table’ format, involving a chair / organiser, a discussant and 3 or more contributors who each offer an individual ‘micro-commentary’ or intervention that responds to a question or provocation proposed by the chair. Each individual contribution should concisely put forth a unique argument, intervention or claim in response to the chair’s question or provocation, and, if appropriate, should use illustrative examples drawing from their own research or practical experience. Symposia should include a ‘discussant’ to offer a response and evaluation of the arguments put forth. In some cases, the role of chair and discussant can be served by the same individual. Symposia may take one or several ‘rounds’.
- Creative or multimedia submissions will come in many shapes and formats, including audio, video, painting, zine, drawing or any other format that is amenable to online exhibition. If you have an idea for a creative submission, please contact the editorial collective by email with a brief description.
- Stylistic considerations – In the interest of opening up ideas, debates and scholarship to as wide an authorship and readership as possible, all submissions, including original conceptual / research articles, should be written in clear language, accessible to a transdisciplinary readership that includes scholars and non-specialists alike. Sometimes this will require the author to ‘unpack’ or explain complicated ideas, theoretical concepts and disciplinary language. In such cases, authors of essays and commentaries may request an additional word allowance of up to 500 words.
Questions, inquiries and submission proposals can be sent to submissions@thecommoner.org