Author submissions

If you are interested in reviewing for HAR, please send a CV and a brief proposal (~250 words) to our editors at reviews@histanthro.org.

In the proposal, please note which work(s) you would like to review, your interest in the material, and how you intend to evaluate the work (what other literatures, specific works, theories, experience, etc., will you draw upon to contextualize the work under review?). If you have a working title, please include this as well.

We encourage longer review essays that offer a unique entry point to the work(s) under review.  Examples include essays that: review multiple, thematically-linked titles; consider the pedagogical value of a work; reflect on a work’s reception by a specific community (of scholars, ethnographic subjects, etc.); and many other possibilities.

Commissioning process

Our editorial team commissions review essays year round. Reviews are assigned to a lead editor when they are commissioned. This editor will be in touch with you after the review is commissioned to: (1) secure review copies; (2) provide feedback on your proposal; and (3) set the timeline of the development of your piece.

After your first draft is submitted, reviews go through editorial review and our editors may request some changes to the draft to make sure the review speaks effectively to our readership. The vast majority of commissioned reviews that reach draft stage end up getting published in our pages; however, our editors may reject an essay for publication if it is not the right fit for HAR after editorial review.

Technical guidelines

  • HAR Reviews essays are generally 1000-1500 words in length (excluding footnotes). Longer essays are possible especially for reviews considering multiple titles, but please be in communication with your editor if your review will exceed 1500 words.
  • HAR adheres to the Chicago Manual of Style.
  • All direct quotations should be accompanied by a page number in parenthetical citation.
  • Footnotes may be included if these are desirable.
  • We encourage hyperlinking to related resources mentioned in the review essay. These may be suggested by the author or added by editors.
  • Images, especially for exhibition reviews, are encouraged but permission must be obtained from the gallery for use of personal photographs or from the copyright holder.