Submission Policies

Who Can Submit?

Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in Iowa Historical Review. You need not be a University of Iowa student nor a history major to submit a paper.

General Submission Rules

All submissions must use Chicago style footnote or endnotes. A bibliography is optional. Authors must use a word document in 12-point Times New Roman font. We do not have any hard page limits or minimums for our articles, but we encourage both longer and shorter submissions and will evaluate the paper's length in relation to its topic and argument as part of the peer review process. There are some guidelines below for the average numbers for each type of article.  

Please include on a cover page with the title of your paper, your name, your institution, and an abstract of no more than 200 words. If applicable, please include the professor's name and course title for which the paper was written. Anyone can submit to IHR regardless of if you are a student at the University of Iowa or a History major. For all writings you must make it clear why your writings are historically significant and have a clear thesis in the abstract.   

  1. Historical Response  

  1. This is a shorter paper about a recent and controversial historical topic. It can be about any issue of historical controversy but must be grounded in primary sources and reliable secondary sources with a clear thesis. About 2-5 pages.  

  1. Short Primary Source Analysis  

  1. A historical interpretation based on one or two primary sources. Less than 10 pages.  

  1. Honor’s Thesis  

  1. Students in the History Honors Research Seminar are encouraged to submit their thesis for publication. Around 30-50 pages 

  1. Research Essay  

  1. Original research essay of any length. Authors typically submit papers from History classes. Essay must have clear argument and be based in primary sources with reliable secondary sources. About 10-15 pages 

  1. Review  

  1. This is a review of a historical movie, book, tv show, or play. If it has historical relevance, it is acceptable for submission. Please make sure you add enough historical context so anyone can understand what the item is about. Less than 10 pages.  

  1. Historical fiction  

  1. This is a fictional story based in primary sources and reliable secondary sources. These stories must be true to the period and cannot misrepresent real historical characters. Less than 50 pages.  


By submitting material to Iowa Historical Review, the author is warranting that the material has not been previously published, is not currently under review at another journal, and that the material will not be submitted to another journal until the completion of the editorial decision process at Iowa Historical Review. Please note: "publication" in a working-paper series or an institutional or disciplinary repository does not constitute prior publication. Questions about the submission terms can be addressed by contacting the editors.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any material in which they do not own copyright, to be used in print and electronic media and for ensuring that the appropriate acknowledgements are included in their manuscript. Prior to publication authors must clear the necessary reproduction rights for any images, photos, figures, music, or content credited to a third party that they wish to use, which fall outside of the fair use provisions described in U.S. copyright law. We request that our authors seek nonexclusive, worldwide rights in all formats and media, for one-time use from the rights holder of the material to be used. Upon submission, authors agree that the material does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Formatting Requirements for Initial Submission

Please submit your paper as a Microsoft Word file (do not submit a PDF). Include a cover page with the title of your paper, your name, your institution, and an abstract of no more than 200 words. If applicable, please include the name of the professor and course title for which the paper was originally written. Provide proper citation using Chicago style (endnotes or footnotes). A bibliography is optional. See style and citation advice at http://clas.uiowa.edu/history/teaching-and-writing-center.

Manuscript Review Policy

The editorial board will read each submission and contact the author as soon as possible with their decision, along with any request for revisions.

Rights for Authors and Iowa Historical Review

Authors retain copyright but grant exclusive first publication rights and a non-exclusive license to have the work reproduced in other ways, including in electronic databases and on-line. Once an author's work has been published in Iowa Historical Review, the author is free to use it in any way she/he wishes, so long as that use is consistent with the license given Iowa Historical Review to continue to use the work for the duration of its copyright in all languages, throughout the world, in all media. The journal does require that authors acknowledge in subsequent works the publication of earlier versions in Iowa Historical Review.

The author may include the officially published version of the article (version of record) in an institutional or disciplinary repository, provided the posting includes a prominent statement of the full bibliographical details, and a link to the online edition of the journal.

Attribution and Usage Policies

Requests for permission to reuse the articles should be sent to the author(s).

General Terms and Conditions of Use

Users of the Iowa Research Online website and/or software agree not to misuse the Iowa Research Online service or software in any way.

The failure of Iowa Research Online to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between Iowa Research Online and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party unless required by law.