Writer's Guidelines

We accept manuscripts from a variety of disciplines, as long as the work focuses on the Appalachian region. Major fields of interest include anthropology, art, cultural studies, ecology, economics, education, environmental studies, ethnography, film, folklore, health care, history, gender studies, geography, geology, literature, media, music, political science, sociology, and studies of sustainability. We like well-documented, well-developed articles that feature primary source research. We like photographs and illustrations. The documentation style we use mostly follows Modern Language Association style, though we veer from it occasionally. We tend not to accept a 10-page conference paper, but much prefer the "long version" that allows a scholar to flesh out ideas. We are a peer-reviewed journal, so your work will be sent out to scholars for recommendations about acceptance, revisions, etc. In this interdisciplinary publication, we appreciate your willingness to define discipline-specific terminology and work to make your writing accessible to a wide readership. Appalachian Journal seeks genuine contributions toward a scholarly understanding of the Appalachian region and will consider articles from non-scholarly sources if the material is fresh and informative.

We also publish poetry; reviews of books, films, music, exhibits; interviews with movers & shakers (as long as the interview covers new ground); black & white photographs, photographic essays, and/or images of artwork accompanied by an artist's statement about work's relevance to the Appalachian region.

For manuscript submissions of ARTICLES, we offer these guidelines:

  1. Send your manuscript in electronic form and/or paper form. (If you query the editor first, you can send the article as an e-mail attachment. But we will not open uninvited attachments, so please query first. We prefer Word or .pdf files named to reflect the contents of your submission.)
  2. Please prepare a title page with your working title for the article, author's name and contact information (USPS mailing address, e-mail address, phone number), a brief biographical note, and a paragraph abstract of the article, including preferred documentation style, if any. The "formula" for a "bio note" usually is name + professional info (occupation, education, publications) + a bit of personal info (hometown, place of residence, important roles, work, or personal connections).
  3. Unless we hear otherwise from you, we use Modern Language Association documentation style. As an interdisciplinary journal, we can use the documentation style appropriate to your discipline (Chicago, APA, etc.) We understand that peer-reviewed publications are important to writers and scholars' professional lives, and we are open to using a documentation style that is prevalent in a specific discipline. When that is important to you, please let us know.

We also are glad to have your recommendations about potential illustrations--with captions and credit lines that identify the images and the sources of photographs or other illustrations. (Illustrations are not at all required for initial submissions. But if you send them, we prefer .JPG or .TIF files, at least 300 dpi. If your work is accepted for publication, we will request a headshot photo of you, 300 dpi, 4"x6").

For POETRY submissions, we appreciate receiving a "batch" of several (5-7) poems (one copy of each) and a brief biographical note. Also, please also include your contact information (name, mailing address, phone, email). We want only unpublished poems for consideration. We do not prefer simultaneous submissions, though we will consider them. (Please let us know when something you've sent us has been accepted elsewhere.) If you query the editor first, it is possible to send your poems as an e-mail attachment. But we will not open uninvited attachments, so please query first. We prefer Word (.docx) files or .pdfs. Please use the subject line "Poetry Submission." When corresponding via email with Appalachian Journal, it is helpful to include a "signature" with your contact info, in addition to your name. If you are submitting via USPS, please include your e-mail address to make it easy for us to acknowledge that we have received your work.

Submit your work to

Sandra L. Ballard, Editor
Appalachian Journal
Belk Library / Box 32026
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608

ballardSL@appstate.edu