Submissions and Policies

Check out the “Algorithmic Folklore as Transcultural Storytelling” Gathering call for papers!

  • Audience: ebr articles target academics, independent researchers, and practitioners interested in literary studies and its intersections with the arts.
  • Types of Submissions: We accept unsolicited articles, essays, interviews, and book/media reviews.

Submission Types

Articles

Articles are subject to a double-blind peer review process.

  • Submission Requirements: Submissions are typically between 5,000-8,000 words.
  • Submission Process: Submit articles via ebr‘s open journal system, here.

Essays

Essays on ebr are creative non-fiction pieces. Essays are not subject to a peer review process.

  • Submission Requirements: Submissions are typically between 5,000-8,000 words.
  • Submission Process: Submit articles via ebr‘s open journal system, here.

Interviews

Interviews should engage with artists, thinkers, scholars, and critics in literary studies and its intersections with the arts, humanities, and sciences. Interviews are not subject to a peer review process.

Reviews

Reviews on ebr are more essayistic in tone, allowing authors to experiment while ensuring the final review is informational and engaging. Reviews will be subject to a single open peer review.

  • Submission Requirements: Reviews are typically between 2,000-4,000 words.
  • Submission Process: Book reviews can be pitched to staff@electronicbookreview.com.

riPOSTes

  • Purpose: Encourage continued conversation through short responses to published essays.
  • Submission Length: Can be a few paragraphs or a few pages.
  • Submission Process: Proposals for riPOSTes on recent essays (up to 1 year) should be sent to the managing editor at staff@electronicbookreview.com. Submissions are reviewed by ebr editors and at least one editorial review board member.

Submission Process

All submitters must review the rules of publication ethics before submitting.

Peer Review Process

  • Initial Screening: Two or more ebr editors assess the suitability of a submission.
  • Double-blind Peer Review: One or two referees, typically an editorial board member and a previous contributor, provide short evaluative reports with specific publication recommendations.
  • Feedback: Positive reports include comments for the authors, initiating intellectual conversation. Substantial responses may appear as ripostes or standalone essays. Reviewers recommend publication, revision, or rejection, usually within 300-500 words. Reviews are typically completed within a month or two.

Publication Process

Staging and Proof-Reading: After acceptance, submissions are formatted on ebr’s staging site, and authors receive a link for further proof-reading.

Publication Frequency

Model: ebr publishes on a quarterly basis, roughly every three months, unless mitigating circumstances have occured. These issues are published within a two week period spanning the last week or first week of March/April (Spring), June/July (Summer), September/October (Fall), and December/January (Winter). Each publication will be stamped with an initial publication date and a last modification date, should any modifications occur.

Open Access Policy

Principle: ebr provides open access to promote a robust media ecology by making research and scholarship freely available to the public.

Guest Editing

Proposals: We welcome proposals for guest-edited collections of essays that fit within current ebr threads and conform to our peer-review policies.

Submission Guidelines

Format

ebr accepts essays in .docx or .odt format after the submission has been accepted for publication

Images

  • Separate from body text.
  • Include captions.
  • Indicate in text placement of image.
  • Use PNG, GIF, or JPG formats only. PNG is preferred.
  • 72 pixels per inch.
  • Width: 500-1000 pixels.
  • Authors are responsible for seeking permissions or checking for fair use on copyrighted media.

Standard Guidelines

  • Title and Author: All contributions should have a title, author name, current email address, and a biographical blurb, no more than 200 words.
  • Terminology: Use “Internet,” “World Wide Web” or “Web,” and “website,” “web page.”
  • Dates: Use formats like 1980s, ’80s, and 20th century (as opposed to ‘twentieth century’).
  • Pronouns: Anchor pronoun references clearly. For example, in “this idea…,” “this” must link explicitly to the concept mentioned in the previous phrase or sentence.
  • Commas and Punctuation:
    • Use the serial comma (e.g., men, women, and children).
    • Use a single space between sentences.
    • Place commas inside quotation marks.
    • Use “Burroughs’” for singular possessives ending in ‘s’.
    • Do not use spaces between points of ellipses…
  • Gender, Ethnicity, Cultural Specificity: Avoid using masculine pronouns generically. Use gender-neutral nouns and pronouns. Avoid terms that are sexist, racist, or culturally inappropriate.
  • USA Spelling: Use American English spellings (e.g., center, color, apologize, traveler).
  • MLA Format:
    • Use in-text citations when quoting or summarizing someone else’s work.
    • Example with one author: (Smith 23).
    • Example with multiple authors: (Smith and Johnson 45).
    • Works Cited:
      • One Author: Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
      • Multiple Authors: Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
      • Digital References: Include a URL.
  • Titles: Italicize titles of works. Use quotes for titles of poems, essays, stories, or items in a collection, book-length volume, journal, or similar.
  • Endnotes: Use endnotes for commentary and references, not footnotes. Number them with Roman numerals, and list them at the end of your submission for easier HTML formatting. Limit to 20 endnotes.
  • Numbers: Spell out numbers below 20.
  • Quotations: Use double quotes, not single quotes.
  • Hyphens and Dashes: Use a single (non-formatted) hyphen – like this – to indicate a dash.
  • Author Bio: Approximately 200 words. List affiliations, significant publications, and other relevant details.