Send article manuscripts to:

Jim Downs, Editor
Gilder Lehrman–NEH Humanities Professor of Civil War Era Studies and History
Weidensall Hall
Room 202
300 North Washington St.
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400
CivilWarHistoryKENTSTATEUP@gmail.com

Basic Formatting Guidelines
Most popular word processing programs in either PC or Mac platform may be acceptable, but Microsoft Word is strongly preferred.

• The text should be double-spaced in 12-point type.
• Text pages should be numbered consecutively.
• Include the author’s name only on a separate title page.
• Avoid acknowledgments or citations that might reveal the author’s identity to referees.
• Manuscripts should run between 40 and 60 pages (approximately 10,000 to 15,000 words including notes).

Basic Submission Guidelines
The author’s name should appear ONLY on a separate title page, and nowhere on the article, notes, or abstract because all articles are subject to blind review.

• Send an electronic copy as an email attachment to CivilWarHistoryKENTSTATEUP@gmail.com.
• Please be sure to include:
  • a 125-word abstract.
  • a short (2-3 pp) updated c.v.
  • Information regarding illustrations, photos, tables, or charts. Please note that authors are responsible for supplying print-ready artwork (see “Illustrations” below) and for obtaining written permission and paying related fees for the use of copyrighted material.

Books for Review

Submit TWO books for review to:

Civil War History Book Review Editor
Civil War Institute, Campus Box 435
300 North Washington Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325

The Article Review Process

Civil War History receives more than 100 submissions a year. Of these, 13, or about 1 in 10, will eventually be published in CWH.

Initially, the editors read each submission to verify its suitability for CWH and to identify experts to serve as external referees. Depending on the nature of the particular piece, the editors will seek anywhere from 2 to 3 referees; 2 is the usual number.

The review process is double-blind to ensure author-referee anonymity and may take anywhere from three to six months to complete. Referees are asked to include—and go beyond—a recommendation about publication. Once all referee reports are returned to CWH, the editor, as a general rule, reaches one of four decisions:

• An article may be accepted outright;
• It may be conditionally accepted, pending specific changes;
• It may be returned for revisions with encouragement to resubmit;
• Finally, it may be returned outright.

Revise and resubmit is a typical outcome for a CWH submission. Authors should not interpret this decision as a polite rejection but, rather, as an indication that the referees recognize the manuscript’s promise and that the editor hopes the author will undertake the recommended revisions and resubmit the article to CWH.

The editor expects that manuscripts submitted to CWH are not under consideration by other journals or previously published in whole or substantial part (as a book chapter, for example). Kent State University Press holds the copyright of articles published in Civil War History. CWH authors who wish to reprint their article (in whole or substantial part) will need to obtain the Press’s permission.

Book Reviews
Every quarterly issue of Civil War History features a section devoted to book reviews—approximately 12-15 in each issue. Our reviews are generally 500-750 words in length, although the journal also publishes longer review essays (of 2,500 or more words).

If you are interested in writing book reviews for CWH please contact book review editor by letter. In your letter, identify the fields in which you are qualified to review and include a listing of your significant publications. CWH book reviewers are expected to have a record of significant (refereed) publication in the area in which they review.

If you are interested in submitting a book review, please contact:

Civil War History Book Review Editor
Civil War Institute, Campus Box 435
300 North Washington Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325

Civil War History Style Sheet

Style and Documentation
Follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, in matters of style and documentation. Follow Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary for spelling and hyphenation. Use American (first spellings) rather than British rules for spelling.

Insert any diacritical (accent) marks, preferably by using accents on the computer font being used, but as a last resort make an electronic note of the necessary accents, e.g. [Please add accent aigu over the second “e” in this word].

Footnotes should be embedded using the automatic footnote feature in your word processing software. If they cannot be embedded, include notes in a separate section following the article text.

Input & Output: Use one typeface throughout with the minimum of formatting. Except as listed below, avoid all typographic embellishments, including centering, bold face, italics, type ornaments (dingbats), and words typed in all capitals. Use underlining only for text that is to be printed in italics, e.g., the title of a book or journal or the name of a ship. Type one space after periods, one space after colons and semicolons. Never use letters for numbers (e.g., lowercase “ell” for the num one, or the letter “o” for the number zero).

Everything must be double-spaced, including text, extracts within the text, captions, notes, tables, and sources and notes to tables. Allow 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, left, and right. Submit to the editor an electronic copy; keep an identical copy for your records.

Hyphenation & Justification: Turn off the automatic hyphenation feature on your word processing application. Do not type hyphens to break words to the next line. Use a hard return (i.e., starting a new line by using the Enter key) only to begin a new paragraph, never to move to the next line.

Pagination: Number pages consecutively throughout the manuscript in the upper right-hand corner beginning with Arabic 1. Do not use running heads.

Headings: The Kent State University Press discourages the use of subheads and space breaks, preferring a carefully worded transition sentence. Where subheads are necessary, type them in upper and lower case and label in brackets [A head] or [B head] according to their level. Always leave one full line of space above and below all subheads.

Paragraphs and Line Spaces: Begin new paragraphs by typing a hard return. Use a tab for paragraph indents; do not use the space bar. Do not insert extra space between paragraphs. Line spaces or breaks should be avoided.

Extracts: All extracts should be double-spaced. Indent prose extracts from the left margin using the command in your program for changing the left indent. Poetry extracts should follow the original form exactly for indentations and stanza breaks.

Footnotes: All notes must be double-spaced. If using Microsoft Word, use the automatic footnote feature.

Tables: Use tabs, not the space bar, to define columns. Make sure the hard copy and the e-file match. Type all tables double-spaced on pages separate from the text, and number them consecutively. Always make explicit reference to each table within the text and indicate its location in the text on a line, thus: [Table 1 about here]. A horizontal rule should be inserted below the table title, below the column headings, and below the table itself. Do not insert any vertical rules in the tables. Notes and sources should be double-spaced below the final rule. Table notes must be indicated by superscript letters. Save each table as a separate electronic file. (See sample table file here .)

Illustrations: For photographs submit 300 ppi greyscale TIFF files at full size: at least 5 x 7 inches or 1500 pixels x 2100 pixels. For line illustrations submit 1200 ppi bitmapped TIFF files at full size: at least 5 x 7 inches or 6000 pixels x 8400 pixels. Do not embed images in your electronic manuscript file; instead submit them as separate e-files with placement indicated in the text: [Figure 1 here]. Send a hard copy of any illustrations.

Permissions and Fees

Kent State University Press requires a consent-to-publish agreement from authors before articles can be published. Upon acceptance of your article, you will receive a consent-to-publish agreement from the editor. Complete the form, sign, and return it to the Press.

Material quoted or paraphrased from primary and secondary sources and tables and artwork reproduced or adapted from any source may require permission for use. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission and paying related fees for the use of such material. The editorial process cannot begin until the editor has received copies of all necessary releases.

Please note that authors are responsible for paying reproduction fees and obtaining permission to use copyrighted materials; however, the editor will gladly write supporting letters to the holders of copyrights for authors seeking remission of fees.

Civil War History Book Review Editor
Civil War Institute, Campus Box 435
300 North Washington Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325

Permissions Department
Kent State University Press
1118 Library
PO Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242-0001

Permission requests may also be made via email to journals@kent.edu.

Include the following information:

Your Information
Name
Address
City
State / Province
Zip / Postal Code
Country

E-mail address
Phone number
Fax number

Civil War History Information
Article Title
Volume Number
Issue Number
Exact Page Numbers
Author(s)

Information About Your Publication
Your Title
Publisher
Type of publication
Book
Electronic
Both Book and Electronic
Course Pack
Other (please specify)
Publication date
Month / Season
Year
Format
Cloth Paper Both
Other
Print run(s)
Sales territory
Pages
Selling price(s)

Other pertinent information not included above.

Permission will be granted for only one version of your publication in the English language. Any other use requires additional permission. Permission does not include electronic or other rights unless specifically stated.

Policy on Self-Archiving and Institutional Repositories

KSU Press allows authors of articles published in its journals to post pre-print and post-print versions of their articles on their personal websites and within institutional repositories.

A pre-print is the un-refereed version of an article. We ask authors to acknowledge its future publication and identify the journal, the year of publication, and the publisher. Please indicate that the article is a “working paper.”

A post-print is the final published version of the article. Twelve (12) months after publication, authors may mount post-prints of their articles on their own web sites and/or institutional repositories on not-for-profit servers. Authors may not use the publisher-generated PDF.

For post-prints, please include the following credit line: This article was published as [complete bibliographic citation as it appears in the print journal]. No part of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or distributed, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photographic, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Kent State University Press. For educational re-use, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center (508-744-3350). For all other permissions, please contact journals@kent.edu (330-672-7913).

Full page: $175
Inside back cover: $200
Back cover: $225
Bleeds: add 10%

Contract discount on four insertions per year: 10%
Agency commission: 15%
No cash discount

Mechanical Requirements:

Full page: 4.4″ x 7.4″ inches
Trim size: 6″ x 9″ inches
Artwork may be submitted as a PDF file (set to the size of the ad; no crop marks). Please e-mail to cbrooks@kent.edu

Contract and Copy Regulations:

Ad content subject to approval of publisher

Ad Reservation Due Dates:
March issue: November 7
June issue: February 7
September issue: May 7
December issue: August 7

Ad Copy Due Dates:
March issue: December 7
June issue: March 7
September issue: June 7
December issue: September 7

Order and Inquiries:
Journals Department
The Kent State University Press
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, Ohio 44242-0001
Phone: 330-672-7913 or 330-672-8092
E-mail: cbrooks@kent.edu

Watch an interview with former CWH Book Review Editor Brian Craig Miller.

Hear an interview with former CWH Editor Lesley Gordon regarding new data on the Civil War dead.