The Brown Journal of History is now accepting submissions from current undergraduate students at Brown University. (We do not publish work by authors who are not affiliated with Brown.) To submit a piece of scholarship for review, please click here.
In line with the university’s mission to promote excellence in undergraduate scholarship, BJH is committed to presenting compelling and original historical research to the wider community. We welcome essays that explore the past in its broadest sense and are grounded in primary-source analysis. Submissions often include seminar papers, honors thesis chapters, or research essays written for Brown courses. Authors should ensure that their submission can stand alone as a cohesive article; essays that lack proper framing or remain in an unedited form will not be considered.
Essays grounded in primary sources should not exceed 7,000 words, excluding footnotes. We follow the Chicago Manual Style for citations and formatting. While there is no strict minimum, we suggest a length of at least 2,500 to 3,000 words. Our editors can work with authors on expanding selected pieces during the editorial process.
To ensure a fair initial review, please remove all identifying information from your submission. Include a separate cover page with the essay title and a brief abstract of no more than 200 words. Submissions may include images, figures, or tables; these should have both a title and a caption and be placed at the end of the document, separate from the main text. Please submit your work as a Microsoft Word document or an equivalent file type.
All submissions undergo a double-blind review by a team of six to eight editors, who evaluate them based on originality, clarity of argument, subject matter, and writing style. Top-ranked submissions are then reviewed by the Editors-in-Chief for final selection.
BJH also accepts submissions for our new online blog on a rolling basis. These pieces are largely informal and may include book reviews, creative works such as historical fiction or poetry, student spotlights, and shorter essays that explore underrepresented or overlooked aspects of the past. Blog submissions are also reviewed by our editorial team and Editors-in-Chief prior to publication.
We also welcome historical art submissions for both the print journal and blog. These may include original illustrations, photography, digital art, or mixed-media pieces that engage with historical themes, events, or figures. Art submissions should be accompanied by a brief artist statement (around 100–150 words) explaining the historical context or inspiration behind the work. All artwork will be reviewed by our editorial team.
For questions about submissions, please don’t hesitate to contact the editors-in-chief, Derek Block (derek_block@brown.edu) and Michael Shui (siyuan_shui@brown.edu).