Submission Information & Guidelines

Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies (NCGS) is published three times a year—spring, fall and a specially-themed summer issue—and accepts both scholarly articles and book reviews year-round. We welcome articles of 5,000-8,000 words on gender studies and British literature, art, and culture during the long nineteenth century. Submissions should conform to the most recent MLA Handbook and must include a brief biographical note which will be posted if accepted for publication. Submissions must not have been previously published, in whole or in part, either in print or online. Please send an electronic version of your submission in Word to both: Stacey Floyd (floydse@tiffin.edu) and Melissa Purdue (melissa.purdue@mnsu.edu). To facilitate the double-blind peer review process, please send two files—one with your article absent of all identifying information and another with your brief biographical note. Submissions under consideration at another journal are not accepted.

Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies publishes a diverse range of book reviews as well including short reviews of single works, multiple book reviews, short review essays (devoted to 2 or more recent books on a single topic), and full-length review essays (assessing recent developments in established or emerging areas of nineteenth-century studies). Scholars interested in reviewing recent publications should contact our Reviews Editor, Rebecca Soares, at Rebecca.Soares@asu.edu.

Publishers: To meet reviewers' accessibility needs, we are no longer soliciting reviews of books available in electronic format only. Publishers should be willing to supply copies in bound form to have their books reviewed in Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies.

Peer Review Process & Policies

Preliminary Review-

Submissions to Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies are initially reviewed by one or both of our editors. The editors determine whether the subject matter is suitable for the journal and whether the article meets basic academic standards regarding length, use of secondary sources, and style. In some instances, the editors may consult with members of the Advisory Board or experts in the field before determining whether or not the essay should be put forward for double-blind peer review. Essays that are not determined to be suitable for the journal will be rejected with minimal comments from this preliminary consultation process.

Peer Review-

All essays considered for publication are sent for double-blind peer review to two readers who are experts in the relevant field. Readers are asked to assess the essay according to significance, originality, use of relevant scholarship, presentation, and contribution to the fields of Victorian studies and gender studies. Readers make one of the following recommendations:

Once the editors have received both reports, they determine one of the following outcomes: to accept, to accept with revisions, to invite the author to revise and resubmit, or to reject. In all cases, the author receives those parts of the readers’ reports considered helpful in revising the essay.
The review process typically takes three months, though please be aware that occasionally readers request additional time and so the review process could take longer.

Revisions-

Essays that are accepted with revisions or that are invited to revise and resubmit are expected to reply to the suggestions in the readers’ reports, and/or the additional comments made by the editors, and to provide a summarization of these changes. In the case of a recommendation of revise and resubmit, the revised essays are sent out again to at least one reader for additional assessment.

NCGS Ethics and Malpractice Statement

NCGS is committed to publishing high-quality content and is dedicated to following best practices on ethical matters. Our expectation is that all involved in the publication process have a shared understanding and acceptance of our policies on publication ethics. All submissions to NCGS must be original. Our policies are closely aligned with COPE’s (Committee on Publication Ethics) Core Practices, which can be accessed here.

The editors’ chief responsibility is to determine which submissions to the journal will be published. They must ensure that decisions are made on the basis of the manuscript’s merit and that the author’s race, gender, religious or political beliefs, ethnicity, or citizenship are not considered. Information concerning a submitted manuscript should only be revealed to the corresponding author, reviewers, and editorial board members.

Editors and editorial board members will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the author’s explicit written consent. Editors will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors or institutions connected to the papers.

Responsibilities of Reviewers-

A potential reviewer should withdraw from the review process if they feel unqualified to assess the contribution, have conflicts of interest, or cannot provide an assessment in a timely manner. Manuscripts for review must be considered confidential documents. Information concerning the manuscripts should not be discussed with others without the approval of the editor. Reviewers should strive to be objective in their assessments. Reviewers’ comments should be clearly expressed and supported by data or arguments. Personal criticism of the author(s) is not appropriate.

Responsibilities of the Author(s)-

Authors will submit only original works and will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited. Knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Submitting the same article to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Manuscripts that have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere cannot be submitted. In addition, manuscripts under review by one journal should not be submitted to other publications while the manuscript is under review.

All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors are included on the article, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the article and have agreed to its submission for publication.

If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editors to retract or correct the paper.

Copyright Information

Copyright for all material published in Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies resides with the journal.

Authors are welcome to reprint their work elsewhere, as long as such publications include acknowledgement of the work’s prior appearance in Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies.

Authors are responsible for obtaining copyright permission for images reproduced in their articles, and for including any required credits. Permission to use copyright material must be cleared before sending Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies the final version of your article, and written evidence that permission has been granted and any fees have been paid must be provided to the editors. There are no article processing or submission charges.

Open Access Statement

Users can use, reuse, and build upon the material published in the journal but only for non-commercial purposes.