Submissions

We need the best history papers we can find, and we welcome a chance to consider your best work. Essays are accepted on a "rolling admissions” basis and are eligible for the next four issues of the journal. Deadlines to be considered for specific issues are August 1 (Winter), November 1 (Spring), February 1 (Summer) and May 1 (Fall).

We are frequently asked what types of papers we look for and are most likely to publish. There is no set criteria for this, but here are a few suggestions: 1) Having an interesting and informative topic that readers will learn something from. 2) Writing in an engaging and clear manner that will make your paper easy and enjoyable to read and 3) Having a substantial bibliography showing that you have done abundant research and using many of these sources in your paper through your endnotes.

Even if your work does not get immediately published (we only publish around 5% of essays we receive), we always suggest to students who are applying to college in the near future that they include on their college application that they submitted a paper to The Concord Review (include the title and the length of the paper) and that it is still being considered for publication. We have been around since 1987 so many college admissions officers are familiar with our work, and realize that any student submitting a paper to TCR is serious about their academic work and would do well in college.

Essay Requirements

• You may submit a paper to The Concord Review if you completed the paper before finishing secondary school.
• You must be the sole author. If at any point during the review process we discover that your work is not an original paper, we will notify your school, which could result in withdrawal of college admissions, among other things.
  
• The paper must be in English and may not have been previously published except in a publication of a secondary school that you attended.
• Essays should be in the 5,000-10,000 (or more) word range, with Turabian (Chicago) endnotes and bibliography (we do not accept papers with footnotes). The average paper that we publish is over 8,000 words and we occasionally publish papers over 15,000 words. Please note that your total word count should include your endnotes and bibliography. So an 8,000 word paper with an additional 2,000 words from the endnotes and bibliography should be labeled as a 10,000 word paper.
• Essays may be on any historical topic, ancient or modern, domestic or foreign, and must be submitted electronically. 
  
• Essays should have the notes and bibliography placed at the end (Chicago Style). Use only Arabic numerals for endnotes, not Roman numerals. URLs in endnotes should have the accessed date noted per Turabian style. All endnotes should end with a period.
  
• Use only one single font family (e.g., Times or New Baskerville, but not both) throughout.  You may use any font styles (bold, italic, superscript, etc.) within that single font family. If you need non-english characters or diacritics not available in your main font, you may use other fonts for the instance of a non-english word or diacritic.
  
• Do not break any line in the middle using a carriage return. Only use returns to end paragraphs.
  
• The Concord Review does not publish charts, photos, graphs or other graphics in essays.  Please remove them before submitting.
  
• Files must be in MS Word or RTF format only. We DO NOT accept Apple Pages, GoogleDocs, PDF, etc.  You must convert them to MS Word or RTF before submitting.
  
• The filename of your document should be your first and last name followed by an underscore and the first 3 words (ONLY) of your essay title.   Include spaces.  Use an underscore in place of a colon in the filename. DO NOT INCLUDE COMMAS or any other punctuation. Your first and last name should be the ones you used in filling out the form.
  
• • For example, if your name is Marie Jones, and your essay is titled, "The Founding Fathers: Some Bicentennial Reflections" then your filename would be:
  • CORRECT:
  • • Marie Jones_The Founding Fathers.docx
  • WRONG:
  • •  thefoundingfathers.docx
    • historypaperforMrSmith, purposes, methods, and devices through time.PDF
      

• Submit only one file.  Endnotes and Bibliography should be included at the end of the essay document.

• Please complete our online Submission form (below) and then pay the submission fee (see prices below) after completing the form. 
  The author will receive the next four issues of the journal's  Electronic Edition.  For an additional fee plus shipping and handling, the author can receive the next four issues of the Print Edition.

We will typeset papers in InDesign here.

For issues regarding the application form, file formats, etc. contact membership@tcr.org

For more information about the content of your essay contact nasson@tcr.org nasson@tcr.org nasson@tcr.org

Acceptance Procedure

Essays are accepted on a "rolling admissions" basis. Authors whose essays will be published are notified by letter the month before their paper comes out. The Concord Review is published quarterly, and issues arrive in September, December, March and June. Essays are eligible for at least the next four issues. We publish about 5% of the papers we get. A guideline:

"When in doubt, send it in."

Author Benefits

Each author who submits a paper and submission fee, receives the next four issues of the journal in eBook form.  For an additional $30 plus shipping costs, authors may receive the Print Edition of the journal.  Authors may purchase copies of the issue in which his or her essay is published in our bookstore.  Individual reprints of their published essay (TCR Singles) can be created with a minimum order of 12 copies.  Many authors have included their reprints with their college application materials. The Concord Review is the first and only journal in the world which publishes the academic work of secondary students, so our reprints usually make a distinctive contribution to an author's college application materials.

Academic Standards

The best way to judge the quality of the history essays we have published is to read several of the issues of the journal. We have published essays of fewer than 4,000 words, but we also receive and have published essays of 21,000 words. The average is about 8,500 words, with Turabian (Chicago) endnotes and bibliography. We advise that the author should prepare with considerable reading on the topic and that the essay go through at least one draft before it is polished and proofread for submission. We have not yet received essays from history students at all of the perhaps 40,000 eligible secondary schools around the world, but there is already a high level of international competition, and we have published essays from 46 countries so far.

[We are a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) non-profit Massachusetts corporation.]