We accept submissions in three categories: essays or book reviews based on secondary sources, essays based on primary sources, and miscellaneous historical reflections. Essay submissions must be historical, academic pieces with a clear thesis, analysis and support. But for historical reflections, we also encourage students to submit reflective writing pieces on the study of history, or what history means to them. This section of the journal is particularly open-ended to students. You may submit pieces that were assigned as part of coursework or essays done independently if they fit the academic criteria.
The Undergraduate History Journal is now accepting submissions to the 2025 journal. Deadline: April 18 at 5pm.
How to submit your work
Articles should be submitted in a word document (.doc or .docx) and should be sent to @email.
Review Process
Upon receiving each submission, the editorial board and an outside reviewer, whose identity will remain unknown to the editorial board, will determine the eligibility of the submission to be included in the journal. During this process, the author’s name and identifying information will be removed from the submission to allow those reviewing to concentrate on only the content. Based on the feedback from the editorial board and outside reviewer, it will be decided whether the piece is published in the journal.
Publication
The editorial board will then send a notification to the author, indicating that their article will 1.) be published as is; 2.) requires minor revisions; 3.) require major revisions; 4.) not be published in the journal at this time. The Editors reserve the right to alter usage to conform to the style guide issued by the Publishers. Authors may not supply new materials or request major alterations following the copyediting stage, so please ensure that all text is final upon acceptance.
Article Length and Formatting
- Up to 7,000 words
- US letter, 8.5 x 11 standard
- Double-spaced with 1-inch margins on each side
- 12-point, Times New Roman font
Cover Page
- Title of the article
- Contact information for the author (address, phone, and e-mail)*
- Author’s affiliation (majors and minors)
- Any acknowledgments that you wish to include
- Please provide a total word count and indicate the number of tables and/or figures as included.
* Contact information will not be shared publicly
Abstract
- No more than 150 words
- The abstract should not duplicate the text verbatim.
- Should include the research question, and clarify the sources, data and texts used throughout the work and give an indication of the overall conclusion or findings achieved.
Mechanics
Quotation marks
- Double quotation marks should be used for in-text quotations, direct speech, and publication titles, and also for constructed terms or concepts, for ironic effect, or for authorial commentary.
- In all cases, a period or comma precedes the closing double quotation mark.
Citations and Bibliography
- Notes should be presented as footnotes and full bibliographic information should appear at first citation.
- Citations should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style citation system. Please consult the Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide for reference.
- Any acknowledgments should be placed as an unnumbered note before the Notes section.
- Note reference superscripts should be in Arabic numerals (1,2,3 etc.) not Roman numerals.
- URLs should not be located in the main text when used in a bibliographical sense. URLs should be relocated to endnotes or the reference list.
- Please refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab's guide to the Chicago Manual of Style for examples and detailed descriptions.
Pre-Submission Check List
- All text, including headings, sub-headings, notes, and references, is set in a standard 12-point type, such as Times or Times New Roman, and the text is double-spaced with a 1-inch margin on all sides.
- The piece is no longer than 7,000 words with footnotes and references included.
- The abstract is no more than 150 words.
- There are no URLs located in the main text when used in a bibliographical sense (although names such as Amazon.com are acceptable). URLs should be relocated to endnotes or the reference list.