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Submission Guidelines for the Word Hoard

What to Submit:

Academic works: we invite submissions of proposals (500 words) or full submissions (3000 - 5000 words). Please see the detailed Academic Citation and Formatting Guidelines below.

Creative works: we invite full submissions of any length and in any form, textual or otherwise.

Book reviews: we invite submissions of proposals (250 words) or full reviews (1000 - 1250 words). Please see the detailed Book Review Guidelines below.

  • Works must be relevant to the Word Hoard's current issue theme, as detailed in our call for submissions. Feel free to interpret this this theme broadly.
  • Works must be submitted electronically to wordhoard.editors@gmail.com. Submit textual works as Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or RTF files; submit non-textual works in common, easily accessible file types (e.g., jpeg, MP3).
  • Works must be accompanied by a biographical statement (up to 40 words), which may include include institutional affiliation(s), research interests, current projects, etc. Please include this biographical statement only in the body of your submission email and not in any of your submitted files.
  • Submitted works cannot have been previously published, nor can they be forthcoming in any publication (print or electronic). We make some exceptions for works published in a working-paper series or in a small-run, non-digital format (e.g., a chapbook or broadside).
  • By submitting work, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another publication (electronic or print) and that he or she will not submit the material to another publication (electronic or print) until the completion of the Word Hoard’s editorial decision process. In return, we pledge to respond to submissions less than two months after our call for submissions closes.

If you have questions or concerns about these submission terms, please contact the editors at wordhoard.editors@gmail.com.

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Peer Review Process:

Word Hoard editors and volunteers blind vet all submissions. As such, please ensure that all submitted documents are free of identifying information. Please include a biographical statement (up to 40 words) only in the body of your submission email and not in any of your submitted files.

  • All academic submissions (i.e., articles and essays) will be blind vetted by peer reviewers. All academic submitters can expect, along with notification from the editors, detailed and constructive feedback on their submissions from these peer reviewers.
  • All creative submissions will be blind vetted by a rotating board of active, published creative writers who volunteer at the Word Hoard.
  • All book review submissions will be blind vetted by the Word Hoard’s editors.

Following the vetting process (i.e., approximately two months after our call for submissions closes), our Content Editor-in-Chief will be in touch with submitting authors regarding the editors' final decisions.

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Academic Citation and Formatting Guidelines:

The Word Hoard uses the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) citation and reference format. Please follow the most recent edition of the MLA guidelines for in-text citations, works cited, and document format. In addition, please follow Word Hoard house style:

  • Use endnotes, ensuring that footnotes have been converted to endnotes prior to submission.
  • Use the em-dash, the long dash with no space on either side.
  • Use a single space after periods.
  • Use Canadian or British spellings rather than American spellings, except in quoted text.
  • Accompany all epigraphs with both the full name of the author(s) and the work(s) from which the epigraphs have been taken; included these works in your Works Cited page.

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Book Review Guidelines:

If you wish to submit a book review to the Word Hoard, please include the following information about the work you are reviewing:

  • full author name(s), or full editor name(s) in the case of an anthology or edited collection
  • full title and publishing information (i.e., city, publisher, year)
  • page count
  • listed price and currency (e.g., $35 CAD)

Reviews should provide an overview of the work’s main argument or thesis, of its goals, and of the effectiveness or utility of its analysis. In addition to overview and evaluation, reviewers are encouraged to engage how the text is pertinent to the Word Hoard's current issue theme, as detailed in our call for submissions.

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