Author Guidelines

History of Media Studies (HMS) accepts articles in English or Spanish. For research articles, the journal employs double-anonymous peer review by default—though other, more open options are available by request. We are committed to a humane, care-based, and developmental review process, with the goal to improve manuscripts through collegial exchange. (See our guidelines for peer review.)

Please read these guidelines before submission. Questions for the editors are always welcome.

The journal has three overlapping aims:

1. to address the absence of publishing outlets for rigorous work on the history of the overlapping fields of communication research, cultural studies, film studies, information science, media studies, speech, and rhetoric.

2. to provide a platform for scholarship on these fields’ complex institutional, social, and intellectual histories from around the world, reaching beyond the North American and Western European lens of much existing literature.

3. to take advantage of open access, multimedia publishing, on the assumption that historians of media studies might illuminate these fields’ pasts in dialogue with new forms of scholarly communication

Please note the journal's editorial focus is on the history of media and communication studies, as distinguished from the history of media and communication as such. Please ensure that your manuscript falls within the journal's scope.

What We Publish

Research articles

Full-length articles, based on original research, are generally 14,000 words or fewer, inclusive of footnotes and bibliography. Authors are encouraged to include images and other media when appropriate, including archival materials. Research articles generally undergo double-anonymous review (with other, more open options available by request).

Commentaries

Commentary essays are generally 2,000 to 4,000 words, inclusive of footnotes and bibliography. Authors interested in submitting a commentary should contact the editors at [email protected] in advance of submission. Commentaries generally undergo a single, anonymous review (with other, more open options available by request).

Book reviews and review essays

Single-book reviews are generally 800 to 1,500 words, inclusive of footnotes and bibliography. Authors interested in submitting reviews essays, covering more than one work, should contact the editors at [email protected] in advance of submission. Book reviews and review essays, based on these guidelines, generally undergo review by editors.

Overlay re-publication

History of Media Studies is committed to re-publishing relevant, refereed articles that appear elsewhere under an open license. Authors or others interested in such a re-publication should contact the editors at [email protected]. Overlay re-publications undergo review by editors for suitability and the journal’s editorial standards.

Replies

Brief “reply” essays, responding to work published in History of Media Studies or other scholarly journals, are encouraged for submission and, in some cases, solicited by editors. Replies are generally 1,000 to 2,000 words, inclusive of footnotes and bibliography. Authors interested in submitting reply essays should contact the editors at [email protected] in advance of submission. Replies generally undergo a single, anonymous review (with other, more open options available by request).

Up from the archives

History of Media Studies publishes archival materials, generally introduced by a contextualizing essay of 3,000 to 6,000 words. Up from the Archives collections generally undergo double-anonymous review (with other, more open options available by request). Authors interested in submitting an Up from the Archives collection should contact the editors at [email protected].

Up from the stacks

History of Media Studies re-publishes article-length work of historical significance, generally introduced by a contextualizing essay of 3,000 to 6,000 words. Typically, re-published articles are in the public domain. Authors interested in submitting an Up from the Stacks collection should contact the editors at [email protected], who can help to determine public domain status. Up from the Stacks introductory essays generally undergo double-anonymous review (with other, more open options available by request).

Research Notes

The journal encourages submissions of research notes, which are short (500- to 2,000-word) reports on exploratory findings, conference dispatches, or new initiatives. Authors interested in submitting a research note should contact the editors at [email protected].

Bibliographies

History of Media Studies invites submission of annotated bibliographies centered on specific areas in media studies fields’ histories, particularly on geographies, topics, or epistemologies that fall outside the North American, English-language scholarly literature. Bibliographies are typically introduced with a handful of orienting paragraphs, and include explanatory annotations for each entry. Authors interested in submitting a bibliographic collection should contact the editors at [email protected].

How to Submit

1. Submitted manuscripts must be Microsoft Word .docx or Markdown text files.

2. Manuscripts should be in English or Spanish. (If you plan to submit a Spanish-language manuscript, please contact the editors.)

3. If you are opting for anonymous review, please remove author names and other identifying information from submitted manuscripts.

4. Citations should conform to Chicago Style (17th ed.) Notes & Bibliography.

5. Full-length article submissions should generally be 14,000 words or fewer, including footnotes and bibliography. See the guidelines above for other articles types.

6. Submit your manuscript using our online form. (If the submission type requires contacting editors first, please email the editors at [email protected].)

Questions? Please contact us.

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