THE BLACK SCHOLAR is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the exploration of cultural, political, social, and economic issues affecting Black Americans and other peoples of African descent across the world. To provide full range for the development of Black thought in a climate where fora are still limited, we emphasize writings by Black authors. The journal retains its policy of publishing both academic and non-academic intellectuals from a variety of professions and walks of life and its choices are the sole responsibility of its editorial staff. Prospective writers should familiarize themselves with recent issues of the journal.
TBS publishes articles, essays, interviews, and reviews. We do not publish unsolicited fiction and poetry. Because we strive for a public, Black/Africana Studies and interdisciplinary space of intellectual exchange, we discourage highly specialized or professional language and encourage open, argumentative work that is well written. Strive for an essayistic tone and target your submission to an engaged, informed, but general audience. For blog submissions, please scroll down.
If you have any questions about the submissions process, contact the managing editor at hanks [at] theblackscholar [dot] org.
Submissions to the Journal
Submissions to TBS must be original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere. To avoid having your submission returned or rejected please read the below guidelines before submitting.
Full-length scholarly articles for peer review must range in length from 5,000-7,500 words maximum (minimum requirement does not include images and tables). Literary essays or public commentary articles that are not for peer review must range in length from 3,000-6,000 words maximum. Guest edited issues may have a smaller word count range for manuscripts, so defer to the guest editor’s Call for Papers. Depending on multiple factors, the peer review process can take anywhere from 2 months to a year.
Book reviews should be approximately 750-1,500 words. A review essay may be longer at 1,500-3,000 words, especially if the book or books are of special importance. Please email all book reviews and review essays directly to our book reviews editors, Ashley Howard and Paul J. Edwards.
General Information:
- You will be asked to submit two versions of your article, one with author details and one anonymous version. Please make sure your name does not appear anywhere in the anonymous version, including in the endnotes.
- Word counts are inclusive of endnotes and images, with images counting as ~250 words each.
- Please submit an abstract of 100–200 words that clearly states the nature and point of the article/essay. (Note: Abstracts are for peer review purposes only and will not be published.) 3-5 keywords should also be submitted. A biographical statement of 50–75 words, suitable for publication, must accompany all submissions.
- Written permission to use any copyrighted material must be obtained beforehand and included in your submission, this includes text from poems and song lyrics. Permissions must grant use in both online and print versions of the issue.
- We require electronic submissions, in Word format, only. Do not submit manuscripts in PDF. To submit articles, please go to http://www.editorialmanager.com/rtbs.
- Please contact PRSHelp@informa.com for assistance with any technical difficulties you experience while submitting to the Editorial Manager system.
- Unless we’ve peer reviewed the manuscript, we do not give feedback on rejected submissions.
- To ensure that your submission is processed smoothly and without delay, please thoroughly review our publisher’s instructions for authors.
- Any submission that does not adhere to our guidelines will be returned to author or will be rejected.
Style Guide
Our required guide is the latest Chicago Manual of Style. Here are a few general pointers:
- We require endnotes for all bibliographic information, elucidation, etc. Endnotes must correspond to superscript numerals in text, placed outside punctuation. Use 1,2,3, etc., not i, ii, iii, as superscript numerals. Do not submit a bibliography or works cited section. With no bibliography or works cited, full details must be given in an endnote at first mention of any work cited. Subsequent citations can then use the short form or a cross-reference.
- Keep your format clean and simple. All submissions must be in 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced, with 1″ margins. Do not underline, or use multiple fonts/font sizes or text colors. Remove all mark ups from Tracking Changes.
- Our required reference style is fully explained here. Our article style is here. Please review to avoid your submission being returned or rejected.
- As a rule, TBS capitalizes Black.
Book Reviewers should note the following variations from the main style guidelines:
- Book Title: Publication details of books under review should include the number of pages and the price of paper and cloth editions where appropriate, e.g. Virtual Realities and Their Discontents, by Robert Markley (ed.). Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins Press, 1996. $32 cloth, $12.50 paperback. 171 pages.
Photographs, Tables, and Figures
- Written permission from rights holder to reproduce the images, specifically stating permission to use in both online and print versions of TBS, must be obtained by authors prior to submission and included in the manuscript file.
- Images, tables, and figures must be submitted in EPS, PS, or JPEG files of a high resolution not lower than 600 dpi for grayscale, or 300 dpi for color. More information on submitting digital artwork can be found here. Note: All images in the print version of the journal will appear in grayscale. Color figures will be reproduced in color in the online edition of the journal free of charge. If it is necessary for the figures to be reproduced in color in the print version, a charge will apply.
- All images, tables, and figures should be submitted separately (one image per file) with the desired position in the text indicated by a numbered note within the text (e.g., INSERT figure 1 here). Image descriptions and credit must be included where image placement is marked in the text.
- All images, tables, and figures count towards total allowable word count (see above).
- Visual material should be well considered and accompanied by discussion or assessment within the text.
- Images, tables, and figures must be submitted when manuscript is initially submitted.
Submissions to The Black Scholar Blog
THE BLACK SCHOLAR welcomes original thought pieces and editorials on topics of contemporary or historical interest that are relevant to the mission of TBS. The goal of the blog posts are to inspire traffic, and to bring a real-time or current voice of TBS into dialogue with mainstream or newsworthy happenings, as well as invite and encourage new voices in Black Studies to provide commentary on timely topics. Your post should be geared towards our primary audience of academics and the public interested in current and historical issues of concern to Black Studies. TBS is an online outlet to engage and cultivate differential Black political conversations and cultural expressions from across the Black world while maintaining its core commitment to tough-minded thinking and an emancipatory project. Thus we welcome submissions (in English and in translation) from anywhere in the world as long as they meet the criteria articulated on our website and in the journal. All disciplines and fields are welcome as long as they appreciate the unique opportunity TBS offers to speak to others outside one’s area. Perhaps most important, we imagine ourselves as the forum for ideas and conversations that have yet to emerge.
Guest Blogging Requirements for THE BLACK SCHOLAR Blog:
• Short, well-written and high-quality original articles related to basic issues confronting Afro-America, the diaspora, and Africa. We ask that all content be original and not be published elsewhere, although we will consider reposting on a case-by-case basis at our discretion.
• As long as the vision aligns with our mission, we are open to more creative submissions that may fall outside the typical article format.
• Please include a 50 word max bio. We also welcome links to your personal website and social media accounts. You must include a photo of yourself.
• If you would like to include a photo, audio, or video that is relevant, please make sure to have the appropriate attribution included and a permanent link to the media artifact.
• We request that blog posts generally range from 750-1500 words.
• Please submit in a Word document along with any hi-res image files (including attribution) attached separately. All images must be in JPEG and at least 600 dpi.
• TBS reserves the right to edit and adapt your guest blog content as needed, particularly to fit our formatting or space constraints. We will be sure to work with you on any suggested changes or edits.
How to Submit:
Please email your completed article to ChukWu [at] the blackscholar [dot] org, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
