American Quarterly publishes essays that contribute to our understanding of the United States in its diversity, its relations with its hemispheric neighbors, and its impact on world politics and culture.
In addition to traditional scholarship, we include reviews of books, events, and digital projects, as well as items for the “Forums” section of the journal. We accept submissions year-round, outside of special issues, which have their own deadlines as specified in their respective calls for submissions.
Before submitting, please review our submission guidelines and policies below. In addition to our general style and formatting guide, please follow the specific guidelines for research essays, and reviews as well as proposals for forums, special issues, and praxes pieces.
Given the large number of submissions we receive, we can only evaluate one submission per author at a time. Please await a decision from us on your current submission before making a second submission. We also do not accept submission of works that are being reviewed by another journal.
For general inquiries, please email us at aq@nd.edu.
Format: Essays should be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font, including block quotes and endnotes, with 1 inch margins. Notes should appear at the end of the article.
File types: Authors should submit their manuscripts as Word documents (.doc or .docx), not PDFs.
Citations: Citations should follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th ed.’s notes and bibliography system. Initial citations should appear as full endnotes, with later references to the same text appearing as shortened notes. Use Arabic numerals. Because we ask for full endnotes, authors should not include a separate bibliography.
For example:
- Tiya Miles, The House on Diamond Hill: A Cherokee Plantation Story (The University of North Carolina Press, 2010).
- Miles, House on Diamond Hill, 54.
- Jennifer Nash, “Black Feminist Arithmetic,” American Quarterly 77, No. 4 (2025): 593-611.
- Sandy Stone, “The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto,” in The Transgender Studies Reader, ed. Susan Stryker and Stephen Whittle (Routledge, 2006), 221-235.
- Iván Chaar López, “The Idea That Latinx People Constitute an ‘Invasion’ in the US Is Nothing New,” The Guardian, August 16, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/16/us-mexico-border-hispanic-invasion-latinx-history.
Images: Authors should disembed images from their manuscript files and replace them with callouts (e.g., [See Figure 1]). Please submit images as separate files via ScholarOne and include the author’s last name and figure number in the file name (e.g., SmithFig1.jpg). American Quarterly requires authors to submit images with a resolution of at least 300 dpi at a size of no less than 4 x 6 inches in either TIFF or JPEG formats.
Captions: Please submit image or figure captions in a separate document. Each caption should clearly correspond to a specific figure number.
Permissions: Authors are responsible for getting proper written permission to reproduce images, illustrations, or other figures (both in print and electronically) from their owners. An argument for fair use may occasionally justify including images that are discussed in an essay. However, authors must consult with the editorial office well in advance of their essay’s publication if they want to claim fair use for an image. We recommend that authors begin seeking image permissions early, even if AQ ultimately rejects their manuscripts.
Specific Guidelines
Length: Essays should range from 5,000 to 10,000 words, including endnotes.
Abstract: Please include a title and abstract of 200 words or less to the first page of your essay. The body of your essay should start at the top of the second page.
Anonymity: Do not include any information that will reveal the author’s identity in the abstract, main text, endnotes, or supplementary files.
How to Submit
All essays should be submitted to AQ through our ScholarOne page: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aq.
Review Process
American Quarterly reviews manuscripts using a triple blind review process.
1. Editor and Associate Editor Review
First, our Editor and one Associate Editor concurrently review every submission. At this stage, the manuscript is evaluated primarily in terms of its fit with the journal, how it addresses existing scholarship and the field at large, and its overall rigor and quality of research and writing. Based on the reviews, the Editor decides whether to reject the manuscript or send it to external review.
2. External Review
The manuscript that has passed the review by the Editor and Associate Editor is sent to two external readers for a blind review. The readers are given 4-6 weeks to submit a report in which they evaluate the manuscript and provide recommendations to accept, reject, or request revisions. The readers are asked to provide constructive feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript and suggestions for further improvement.
Once the two external reviews are submitted, the Editor weighs the readers’ reports and decides whether to reject the manuscript or ask the author to revise and resubmit their essay. For authors asked to revise and resubmit, the Editor provides comments on how to strengthen the manuscript based on the two readers’ reports as well as the Editor’s and Associate Editor’s review.
3. Board Review
The managing editor will send manuscripts that have been revised and resubmitted to the Board of Managing Editors. The board will review the revised manuscript, readers’ reports, and the original manuscript. They will assess the overall quality of the revised manuscript and how well the author has addressed the issues raised by the external reviewers. The board will discuss the manuscript at one of their quarterly meetings and collectively decide to accept, reject, or ask for further revision.
An accepted manuscript will move to the production stage. The managing editor will communicate with the author and assist in preparation for publication. AQ typically publishes manuscripts 1-2 years after initial submission.
American Quarterly publishes 2-4 book review essays per issue that provide an in-depth discussion of the current literature of the field of American studies, broadly defined. These essays typically consider 4-5 book titles, published within the past two years, and address a broad readership of scholars from diverse disciplinary perspectives. Out of the many possible titles, we select a small number of books for review because of the importance of their topics, methods, and theories for scholars working within the American studies tradition.
Reviewers have the responsibility to summarize authors’ arguments fairly and accurately, to locate books under review within a broad scholarly context, and to emphasize the theoretical and methodological implications of any given work for future research in American studies. While reviewers have the right to make normative judgments about books under review, personal attacks, ridicule, and distortion are not acceptable. The primary purpose of the book review section, in our view, is to foster a respectful and rigorous scholarly dialogue, rather than to deliver personal judgments or disagreements.
Specific Guidelines
Length: Reviews may be up to 5,000 words, including notes.
Title: Reviewers should include a title for their review at the beginning of the first page.
Citations and Formatting: After the title of the review, each review should cite the title, author, place of publication and publisher, year, number of pages, and price, including both the cloth and soft cover prices if a paperback is available, of each book in the review. These citations should appear between the title and body of the review essay.
For example:
Spaces of Hope. By David Harvey. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. 293 pages. $24.95 (cloth). $17.95 (paper).
All other citations in the body of the review and the document’s format should follow our general style and formatting guidelines.
Bio: Reviewers should submit a short biography of about 75 words that will appear on the contributors page of our journal.
How to Submit
American Quarterly only publishes solicited review essays. A potential reviewer may propose a book review by sending a one-page proposal and current CV to our book review editors via email. Please send your files as Word documents to Patrick Timothy McKelvey (pmckelv2@nd.edu) and Selina Lai Henderson (slai.henderson@dukekunshan.edu.cn).
American Quarterly regularly publishes 1-2 event reviews per issue. These review essays typically explore events in historical, cultural, science, and art museums; art and historical organizations; libraries; and other venues. Because these reviews are often of events that are no longer on view or that readers will not be able to see, they are intended to address broader issues in the field related to material culture, visual culture, and museum studies. It is therefore important to provide enough description of the event(s) under review to orient the reader.
Authors are invited to expand the format of traditional reviews, by addressing any of a range of exhibitions or events. Review essays may, for example, address:
- Museum and gallery exhibitions, including related printed material, educational programming, and related Internet resources.
- Performance based events (art, dance, new media, theatre, activism)
- Media events and texts (elections, television broadcasts, sports, web-based events and publications, pop cultural phenomena, etc.)
- Film, video, streaming media events, programs, and festivals
- Music/sound performance and recording, radio broadcasts, and festivals
All reviews should situate the subject in the context of American studies. They should also provide information about the importance and/or success of the event/exhibit; its public reception, education and/or pedagogical elements; design elements; curatorial staff; and funding sources when relevant to, for instance, the content or point of view of the exhibition. In some cases, it is worth noting how long a project took to come to fruition; in other cases, the debate about an exhibition is its most interesting element.
Specific Guidelines
Length: Reviews may be up to 5,000 words, including notes, and may include up to 6 images. We will also consider proposals for shorter reviews of single events (e.g., a small gallery exhibit) of 2,500–4,000 words, with up to 3 images.
Citations and Formatting: The review should begin with a header listing the full name to the exhibition, the institution, the curator and/or designer, the dates of the exhibition, and the catalogue information if applicable.
For example:
Raven Halfmoon, Flags of Our Mothers, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut, June 2023–January 2024, and Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, Nebraska, May–September 2024.
All other citations in the body of the review and the document’s format should follow our general style and formatting guidelines.
Bio: Reviewers should submit a short biography of about 75 words that will appear on the contributors page of our journal.
Protocol: For a museum exhibit, the author should contact the museum or institution, tell them they are reviewing for American Quarterly, and request that the institution send a catalogue and press materials. You can request a walk-through of the exhibition and discuss the exhibition with the curatorial staff (or the education and marketing departments), if you think it is appropriate.
American Quarterly is also open to proposals for reviews of other cultural forms that are of interest to American studies scholars, including reviews of films, televisions shows, websites, and music.
How to Submit
A potential reviewer may propose a book review by sending a one-page proposal and current CV to our event review editors via email. Please send your files as Word documents to Sarah Leavitt (leavitt.sarah@gmail.com) and Susette Min (ssmin@ucdavis.edu).
AQ will publish digital project reviews on a regular basis. Reviews should be addressed not merely to scholars of digital media and methods but to the broader American studies audience, taking careful note of both the methods involved in creating the digital project and the theoretical arguments developed in it. Each review should strive to include a fair and accurate summary and assessment of:
- the project’s genre
- its principal participants and their roles
- its scope
- its presumed audience
- its efficacy as a scholarly intervention
- its usefulness as a teaching tool, if applicable
The digital projects review section draws attention to high-quality, relevant scholarship that, because of its mode of publication, may not receive adequate recognition in, and interrogation from, the wider American studies field. For the creators of digital projects, post-publication peer assessment is especially critical, since prepublication peer review outlets and opportunities are often so limited.
Specific Guidelines
Length: Digital project reviews may be up to 5,000 words, including notes.
Title: Reviewers should title their review.
Citations and Formatting: After the review author’s title, each review should cite the digital project title; principal project authors or directors; the place and name of the publisher, if applicable; the dates of publication; the method of ‘publication’ (website, stand-alone application, etc.); the url of the project, if applicable; and any cost for accessing the project, if applicable.
Example:
Walt Whitman Archive. Edited by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. Lincoln: Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, c.1995-2015. Online. http://www.whitmanarchive.org. Accessed April 2015.
All other citations in the body of the review and the document’s format should follow our general style and formatting guidelines.
Bio: Reviewers should submit a short biography of about 75 words that will appear on the contributors page of our journal.
How to Submit
All digital project review essays are commissioned. Authors and directors of digital projects may suggest that their project come under review at the American Quarterly by contacting the digital project review editors. A potential reviewer may propose a project review by sending a one page proposal and a current CV to the digital project review editors as well. The digital project review editors will review proposals in light of reviews already commissioned and may suggest alterations accordingly. The digital project review editors will inform principal authors and directors that their digital projects are being considered for review prior to the commissioning of any reviewer.
Please send review proposals, notices of digital project publication, and completed reviews to the digital project review editors, Kim Brillante Knight (kim.knight@sjsu.edu), Khahn Vo (khanh_vo@brown.edu), and Kevin Winstead (kwinstead@ufl.edu).
Forums are placed within regular issues and consist of short pieces by scholars, activists, artists, etc. on particular issues of current interest to American studies. They are compiled by a convener (or multiple co-conveners) who frames the questions, solicits contributors, and edits the contributors’ submissions.
Specific Guidelines
Length: The entire forum should be less than 20,000 words.
Citations and Formatting: All citations and the document’s format should follow our general style and formatting guidelines.
How to Submit
Conveners should submit a 3-5 page proposal or any inquiries to aq@nd.edu. Please include “AQ Forum Proposal” in the subject line of your email. The proposal should discuss the forum’s theme, including specific topics, issues, and questions to be explored, and a list of potential contributors. American Quarterly reviews forum proposals on a rolling basis.
AQ will invite conveners of successful proposals to submit the forum in its entirety, which will be reviewed by our Board of Managing Editors. The board will decide whether to accept or reject the forum or request further revisions from both the conveners and individual contributors.
Special issues on themes of broad interest to American studies scholars are published every September and are compiled by guest editors. In consultation with the Board of Managing Editors, the guest editors compose a Call for Abstracts or Call for Papers, which is then circulated among the ASA membership and the larger scholarly community. Special issues consist of a set of peer-reviewed research articles and other forms of text as determined appropriate by the guest editors (e.g., a forum, book reviews, event reviews, digital projects reviews, praxes, or creative pieces). The guest editors oversee the review and editorial process for the entire issue, and the compiled content is reviewed by the Board of Managing Editors for final approval.
Specific Guidelines
Citations and Formatting: All citations and the document’s format should follow our general style and formatting guidelines.
How to Submit
To have AQ consider your special issue for publication, please send an approximately 3-5 page proposal or any inquiries to aq@nd.edu. Please include “AQ Special Issue Proposal” in the subject line of your email. The proposal should discuss the issue’s theme, including specific topics, issues, and questions to be explored, and a list of potential contributors. American Quarterly reviews special issue proposals on a rolling basis.
Praxes is a section for critical reflections on “doing” American Studies. Essays in this section centralize the practical dimensions of the discipline. They may be meditations on specific pragmatics of pedagogy or research, or they may offer answers to some of the most pressing questions of how we “do” American Studies in the world. At a time of unprecedented contraction and elimination of American Studies departments, Praxes submissions offer brief, timely, and grounded engagements with the discipline. They may take the form of a think piece, interview, syllabus, or something even more creative. (Introductions are highly recommended for more creative formats).
Tips for Success
- Strive to be “evergreen.” As only 1-3 submissions are published per issue, and as issues are planned months in advance, the subject matter should remain as relevant in a year’s time as it is in this moment.
- Avoid being overly theoretical. Submissions ought to suggest concrete practices over abstract concepts.
- Be specific. And be specific about American Studies. If your proposal can be extrapolated to a whole host of other disciplines or experiences, consider narrowing your submission’s scope.
Specific Guidelines
Length: Praxes pieces should be up to 2,000 words, including notes.
Citations and Formatting: All citations and the document’s format should follow our general style and formatting guidelines.
Please direct any questions to aq@nd.edu.
How to Submit
Please follow this link to submit to Praxes. The main body of the submission should be in Google Doc form. You are welcome to attach other media in the field provided. Praxes submissions remain in the running for publication for a year. For any questions, please email aq@nd.edu.