Scope
Post45 Journal publishes high quality, field-shaping peer-reviewed scholarship on any aspect of American literature and culture since the mid-twentieth century. As a diamond open access publication, all of our articles are freely available to scholarly and general readers interested in American literary and cultural studies. The online publication format allows for embedded film clips, audio, images, and other digital objects.
We are especially interested in projects that change our understanding of the field of post-World War II literature and culture, either by drawing attention to understudied subjects or by foregrounding new questions or methods. We emphasize historical and interdisciplinary approaches, and in most cases, do not prioritize articles on single authors or works if the author is already a subject of extensive scholarship.
One crucial aspect of ‘high-quality’ scholarship is that it is interesting for readers. It can be difficult, it can be trenchant, it can be polemical, it can be patient, but for it to have any hope of being field-shaping, it has to be read. When we ask you to send us your best stuff, by inclusion we also mean your best writing.
Post45 Journal does not currently publish book reviews or responses to published articles.
Format
Articles (up to 10,000 words including notes) should be submitted as .docx files and formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style, Notes and Bibliography system (without the bibliography).
Manuscripts should be anonymized prior to submission. Identifying information and references to the author's prior work should be adjusted or removed. Instructions for removing identifying information from file metadata will be provided in the submissions workflow.
We do not accept simultaneous submissions, previously published work, or manuscripts that substantially overlap with the author's already-published work.
Authorship
For co-authored submissions, the corresponding author confirms that all listed authors have seen and approved the submitted version. Changes to authorship after submission require written agreement from all listed authors and editorial approval.
Review Process
All research articles published in Post45 Journal are peer reviewed. Special issue introductions, afterwords, and interviews are not peer reviewed.
Upon submission, the editors conduct an initial review of the article for fit and promise. The editors either advance the articles to peer review or decline the submission.
Two experts in the article's field read each submission that advances to peer review, and we share their reader's reports with authors. The process is double anonymous. Informed by the reader's reports, the journal's editor makes final decisions about whether to accept, request revision and resubmission, or decline the article. When the reviewers' recommendations diverge, the editors may solicit a third reviewer.
For some special issues, in light of the ongoing difficulty of securing peer reviewers, we solicit one report from an external reviewer and one (non-anonymous) report from a guest editor of the special issue.
We aim to complete desk reviews within two weeks, and request that peer reviewers return reports within 10 weeks. Additional delays are possible when we receive a high volume of submissions, when we encounter difficulties securing two reviewers, or when reader's reports arrive later than expected.
Authors are always welcome to contact us at submissions@post45.org to inquire about submission status, timeline, and other aspects of the review process.
Sources and Research Materials
Authors are responsible for obtaining permissions for the use of any media not covered by fair use. For guidance on fair use principles, we recommend these resources from Columbia University Libraries and the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Post45 Journal does not require authors to secure permissions at the submission stage, but we recommend beginning the process as early as possible to avoid potential publication delays.
Post45 Journal does not require deposit of underlying research materials as a condition of publication, but encourages authors to make archival sources, interview transcripts, and similar materials available where possible.
When articles draw on interviews, oral histories, or other research involving human participants, authors are responsible for having obtained appropriate consent and, where required by their institution, ethical review.