Submission Guidelines

 

*****

The Middle Ground Journal Submission Guidelines

The Middle Ground Journal: World History and Global Studies (ISSN: 2155-1103), is an open-access, double-blind peer-reviewed, and nonprofit journal published by the Midwest World History Association (MWWHA), an affiliate of the World History Association. We do not charge fees of any type to authors, reviewers, or readers. Please read this Submission Guidelines page in its entirety for information on our open-access policy and detailed instructions on style and formatting. More information on the journal also available at: https://www.facebook.com/middlegroundjournal . Please address all inquiries to the journal’s Chief Editor (please see Editorial Staff).

Contributors are solely responsible for the opinions, analyses, and conclusions of their essays. The editors and MWWHA disclaim any responsibility for the opinions and analyses of the contributors and those who submit comments. We have made every effort to alert our contributors on the importance of respecting intellectual property rights. If one of our contributors has mistakenly submitted an image that is not open sourced, please email the Chief Editor and we will remove the image(s) immediately. The contributors are solely responsible for all of words and images they submit for publication.

Please include your full name and institutional affiliation when you comment. The Middle Ground Journal reserves the right to refuse to post comments for any reason.

Submissions to The Middle Ground Journal will be accepted on a continual basis. For questions about the suitability of thematic topics, please contact the Chief Editor and, when doing so for the first time, please attach your brief curriculum vitae. We invite the submission of articles and essays, translations and reviews of books, films, and other materials related to world history or global studies. We also encourage reviews of world history and global studies textbooks and reflective presentations of teaching materials. While we publish invited reviews, we also welcome reviews of books and other materials you already possess but ask that you contact the Chief Editor before writing the review. The Middle Ground publishes two issues annually, spring (February to April) and fall (September to November), also on a continual basis.

All submissions should be emailed to the Chief Editor as an attached file, to chiefeditor@themiddlegroundjournal.com. The format for submission is Microsoft Word, default layout, Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced. In the body of the e-mail message, include current contact information and brief biographical data that should appear with the article. Submission to The Middle Ground Journal in this manner will constitute your acknowledgement that you have studied these guidelines, and have agreed to the conditions therein.

Please consult the current issue as a model for the preferred style. While we prefer the Chicago Manual of Style, as an interdisciplinary and global journal, we welcome other commonly accepted citation styles on a case by case basis; please, contact the chief editor about using an alternative citation style. We appreciate when authors thoroughly proofread their submissions.

Articles

Article Submission Length

Articles should be between 2,500 and 7,000 words. Longer submissions will be considered at the discretion of the Chief Editor.

Abstracts, Key Words, and Short Titles

Each article or essay should be accompanied by an abstract of approximately 50 words. The abstract should be clearly marked at the beginning of the file. Authors should also include up to ten key words that will be included with the published file to help search engines index articles. The short title should be a compressed title of the paper.

Reviews

Review Template

Title: Subtitle.  Author First Name, Author Last Name. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Number of pages, including front matter. Price. Hardcover or Paperback or eBook ISBN: number.

[Text of Review]

Name of reviewer, affiliation of reviewer (if available)

Please do not use in-text citations or foot- or endnotes in the text of a book review.

Review Submissions

Reviews should be between 500 and 1,500 words. Longer submissions will be considered at the discretion of the Chief Editor.

Please note that reviews are copy-edited by our editors, and changes that do not change the meaning of the original text will not be returned to reviewers for approval.

Editing Procedure

All research articles are double-blind peer-reviewed. Many of the “On Teaching” essays are as well. Essays marked as “Column” and “Report” are edited, usually by two, often by more editors. While we seek to be a responsive and thoughtful journal, please remember that all editors are volunteers with other duties and tasks. We ask that all authors thoroughly copy-edit and proof-read materials they submit, and we will return material without further editing until this has been accomplished. The Chief Editor and assistant editors, in consultation with peer reviewers, will supervise all changes necessary for publication. All acceptances are conditional upon completion of all changes deemed necessary by the editors. All decisions by the reviewers are final. Conflicts between reviewers, author, and/or assistant editor will be resolved by the Chief Editor. Reviewed, edited, and accepted pieces will require at least six to twelve months for publication.

Please note that because of the educational mission of the journal, your submissions and correspondence may be used to teach student interns. An important part of their education is in scholarly professionalism and confidentiality. Confidential information is never shared with student interns.

Copyright & Permissions

The Middle Ground Journal grants open-access to all not-for-profit and educational institutions, provided that 1) the piece(s) are reproduced and/or linked in their entirety, without editing or alterations, 2) full and written/printed credit is given to The Middle Ground Journal and to the author(s), and 3) that such a reproduction is not for a fee of any kind. Teachers and students are warmly invited and encouraged to use this journal in their classes. We encourage you to please let the Chief Editor know when you reproduce our work on an open-access basis.

If you wish to link to anything in The Middle Ground Journal, please inform the Chief Editor.

Each issue is copyrighted as a periodical. Individual authors retain the rights to their own works; however, they must grant permission to The Middle Ground Journal to include said works as part of the contracted issue of the journal, and as part of a permanently archived electronic database.

Fall 2022