Submissions
Upcoming Journal Topics:
The editors seek manuscripts addressing the following topics (click on About F&H to read about the journal's philosophy and methodology):
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The effect of historical events on films or their genres or on cultural or aesthetic standards
- The effect of films or film genres on historical or cultural events
- The aesthetic or rhetorical construction of history itself, as rendered in film
- Use of motion pictures, television, and related audio-visual media in the classroom
- The history, holdings, and political and financial status of film and television archives
- New or controversial ways (aesthetic or rhetorical) of presenting history in film productions
- Reviews of books and video/films and broadcasts addressing important themes or events
Simultaneous submissions: Authors need decisions quickly, but journals must allocate their editing resources efficiently. When we send out a submission for peer review, we are asking colleagues to commit time and energy to it. If that paper should be withdrawn because of acceptance elsewhere, then our critical resources will have been misspent.
Moreover, academic journals survive on the originality of their research. Film & History cannot accept simultaneous submissions not only because they deplete the journal's (and other journals') resources but also because, in the event of duplicate publication, duplicate submissions threaten the journal's distinctiveness. Also, from a legal and logistical standpoint, all submissions must become the exclusive property of the journal because a publishing schedule requires sure and singular control over the material.
Fair use: The author of any contribution to Film & History is entitled to reproduce his or her own work for use in the classroom, for inclusion in his or her own book, or for distribution within the author's institution of employment. Otherwise, upon receipt of a submission, Film & History retains the right of publication, by which any submitted manuscript, after acceptance and editing (see "Peer reviewing and replies to the author"), may be printed in the journal, at the discretion of the editor, to satisfy the publication needs for a scheduled topic or issue.
If the journal receives a request for duplication of any of its material for academic publication, we usually grant the request for the nominal charge of an institutional subscription ($80), although we ask that, as a courtesy, the publisher contact the author for his or her approval, as well.
Style and transmission requirements: MLA style is preferred, but the editors will accept manuscripts in APA or Chicago style if this format is used in your scholarly discipline.
Initial submissions should be sent both by e-mail, as an attached file, and by postal mail. All subsequent versions will be transmitted only as attached e-files. Manuscripts chosen for publication will be returned with suggestions toward a final version, after which any further necessary revisions will be made by the editor.
Collegial support of the journal: With an acceptance rate of approximately 8%, F&H is the leading peer-reviewed journal in its field. We consider the investment we make in the authors accepted for publication to be the principal advertisement for our journal. Many journals require subscription before any submission is read. We do not, because we want to keep the process open to the best scholarship. However, we do require a subscription once an author (or a feature editor) has been accepted. This collegial arrangement cultivates on both sides the openness, integrity, and mutual resources of academic scholarship. Please see our subscription page (http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/subscriptions/index.php) for information on how to subscribe.
Peer-reviewing and replies to the author: Manuscripts undergo two stages of peer review, requiring approximately six months. The first stage is a screening report, indicating whether the manuscript is publishable in our journal--a manscript might be deemed publishable but not presently for our journal (see "Levels of rejection" below). The screening report is a feasibility assessment; it calculates both the degree of editing a manuscript would require and the value our readers would derive from the edited version. If deemed publishable for our journal, the manuscript is then forwarded to the second stage, a longer review, which measures the manuscript more deeply against current scholarship in the field. After either the first or second stage of peer-reviewing, an author whose submission has been rejected may ask to receive the information--typically condensed and transferred to e-mail--from the reviewing report(s). (We do not automatically transmit reviews to rejected authors.)
In the case of acceptance, final decisions about the style of the published version of an author's manuscript represent a compromise between editors and authors. We lean, of course, toward our authors’ choices in most cases—except those involving pleonasm. Statistically, most of the editing choices in a manuscript fall within this category, representing compression and re-organization of the original argument and/or its examples. The goal at Film & History is elegance. Pleonastic or bombastic prose may be exchanged at the editor's discretion for more elegant language.
Decisions about argument also represent a compromise whenever matters of clarity, accuracy, evidence, organization, logical flow, or any other matters related to efficacy are involved. We strive to make the author's argument as effective as possible. If any dispute should arise, an author may, with editorial consent, publish limited correction(s), or the author may request a retraction of the article. Uunder no circumstances, however, may an essay that has not been edited according to the recommendations of peer review be published in the journal.
Levels of rejection: There are two forms of rejection: publishable and not-publishable. Many publishers prefer not to say that a manuscript is "publishable" if it has been rejected; they note its virtues but then emphasize its limitations, leaving an author to believe that the work had not reached a certain level of quality. Publishers are insulated in this way from charges of arbitrariness. As a result, however, some rejected manuscripts are never affirmed when they should have been. All publishers must make decisions based on space and money, not just on quality. If an author has written a publishable article (notes toward revision notwithstanding), the editors at Film & History believe that he or she should know this distinction--as should, perhaps, the author's department chair, college dean, or provost.
Submission: Send article-length manuscripts (4000 - 7000 words) to the following address and e-mail:
Loren Baybrook, Editor, Film & History
Department of English, Radford 203
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, WI 54901
Book and Film Reviews (500 - 1500 words) should be sent to the editors of those divisions: Paul Cohen (paul.m.cohen@lawrence.edu) for books and Cindy Miller (cymiller@tiac.net) for films.
For further inquires, contact the editor:
PHONE: (920) 424-0976 (Center for the Study of Film and History)
FAX: (920) 424-1043 (English Department)
FilmandHistory@uwosh.edu
Peer Reviewers
Please use the Reviewer's Form (save the form to your computer first)
E-mail the completed form to FilmandHistory@uwosh.edu (or to the designated Feature Editor)
