Author Guidelines

Article types

The Faulkner Journal is devoted to academic study of arguably the most important American writer of the twentieth century. His work has long encouraged an uncommonly rich variety of interpretive methods, and the editors welcome a range of scholarly approaches, including biographical, historical, theoretical, and textual. The Faulkner Journal encourages the diversity of critical biographical, archival, and creative work being done in William Faulkner studies. In particular, we seek submissions that put fresh perspectives into play with important earlier Faulkner research.

Articles should be submitted via Scholastica. If you have additional questions, issues or require further information, you can email the editors:

Julie Beth Napolin, The New School napolinj@newschool.edu
Rebecca Nisetich, University of Southern Maine rebecca.nisetich@maine.edu

In addition to insightful essays, most issues contain book reviews. Book reviews are assigned by the book review editor, Solveig Dunkel. Inquiries related to book reviews may be directed to: dunkel.solveig@gmail.com

Submission requirements

Authors should submit their manuscripts online via Scholastica

The Faulkner Journal requires submissions in Word (.doc or .docx) format. Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Manuscripts should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins, in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font. Submissions should be at least 5,000 words in length and should not exceed 10,000 words, including endnotes. An abstract of around 100 words is also required. Please ensure any images are at least 300 dpi.

In addition to your manuscript and abstract, we also ask that you attach a brief author biographical statement as an additional file along with your submission.

The Faulkner Journal now adheres to a double-blind review process. Thus no information that would identify the author (including name, affiliation, and expressions of thanks to those who have helped with the project) should appear anywhere in the manuscript. Authors referring to their own prior published work should cite it as a third party would.

Please note that the journal will not consider work currently under review elsewhere. Once a manuscript has been submitted, we are unable to accept further revisions.

NOTE: It has come to our attention that communications sent via the Scholastica system occasionally get caught in spam/junk mail filters. To ensure that messages from The Faulkner Journal reach you, please provide a primary cc address in your author profile, if possible, and check your spam/junk mail folders periodically to make sure that our correspondence has not been diverted from your inbox.

Publication Ethics

The Hopkins Press Journals Ethics and Malpractice Statement can be found at the ethics-and-malpractice page: https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal-authors/ethics-and-malpractice

Peer Review Policy

Submission Policy: All submissions to The Faulkner Journal must be original work, and may not be under consideration elsewhere. We print essays that are in the range of 5,000-10,000 words, excluding footnotes (we do not consider longer work).

Type of preliminary review: Upon receipt, the editorial group at The Faulkner Journal carefully screens submitted work for suitability. “Suitability” covers a wide range of considerations and does not always reflect negatively on the caliber of the submission. If the editors decide that the article is suitable for the journal, it will be sent out to two external reviewers. Typically, one reviewer will be a member of the editorial board and another, external reviewer will be selected based on expertise. Upon receipt of the two external reviewers, assuming they are in agreement, we will send a publication decision to the author: reject, revise and resubmit, or accept. If there is a marked disagreement between reviewers, then we will send the article to a third external reviewer before issuing a final decision. In general, if we sent out an essay for review, we believe that the essay has the potential to appear in the journal.

Type of review: We have a double blind review process, meaning that any and all identifying marks must be removed from the essay prior to its being sent to readers. In general, we specify a two-month period for the completion of reviews. We ask readers to submit a report of approximately 400-500 words, though suggested revisions may run longer. The criteria for review include: 1) original contribution to the field of study; 2) engagement with critical debates in the field, or in the study author and/or literary work; 3) coherence and development of the essay’s argument; 4) supporting evidence for the essay’s claims. Readers generally recommend reject, revise/resubmit; accept without revisions. The latter recommendation is rare.

Revisions/Re-review: In the majority of cases, peer reviewers recommend revisions. The essay is returned to the author with two reports, and the time for revisions in ordinary circumstances is around 6 weeks. When resubmitting a revised article, we ask that you include a cover letter detailing how you have responded to the reviewers’ recommendations. If the requested revisions are minor, the essay is then reviewed by the editorial group. If the requested revisions are more ambitious, the essay is returned to the original readers. After acceptance, the essay is assigned a publication date.

Publication details

After a manuscript has gone through peer review and been accepted for publication, the piece will be copy-edited and formatted by JHUP editors before it is printed. Wherever possible, authors will be sent the proof pages for a final review before publication, though only minor changes will be possible at this stage. We aim for a three-month turnaround from the point of an article being accepted to it being published.

Guest-Edited Special Issues of The Faulkner Journal

The Faulkner Journal editors welcome proposals for special issues that are timely and focused, and that have significant research potential. We are particularly interested in expanding the focus and reach of the journal, and welcome proposals that put Faulkner’s work and the field of Faulkner Studies into conversation with new contexts, comparative analyses, etc. Guest editors are selected by TFJ’s co-editors, with the advice and input of the Journal’s Editorial Board. Decisions are based on the relevance, timeliness, and overall strength of submitted proposals as well as the available space for special issues in the journal’s schedule.

Below are the requirements for submitting a proposal for a guest-edited special issue of The Faulkner Journal:

Guest editor information: Full name, affiliation, contact details. Please include a list of relevant experience/publications within Faulkner studies.

Objective, scope, and rationale of the special issue: Explain why the topic is important and timely, and how the special issue will address it. Identify or list the specific research questions you want to address and the scope of the special issue. Describe the potential impact on Faulkner studies and related fields of study. Please include a working table of contents or a description of the proposed organization of the issue. (300-500 words)

Contributors: Have you already identified the potential authors? Is this a group of papers that will be developed out of a conference panel? Or will this be a general call for papers on the topic? If identified, please include the following information:

1. List of potential authors and/or articles to be solicited for contributions in the special issue (5-10 articles).
2. List of potential reviewers for the manuscripts (4-5 reviewers).

Timeline: This should include call for proposals, authoring, editing, revising, permissions, etc. (12-18 months is typical).

Send proposals to the co-editors via email (see above) or Scholastica.

Copyright

JHUP holds the copyright for all articles published in The Faulkner Journal and the copyright is non-negotiable.