Atlanta Studies is an open-access, multimedia web-based journal that features work from the scholars, writers, artists, and activists who are writing the next chapters in our city’s story. Examining Atlanta from a wide range of perspectives – both within and beyond academia – we offer thoughtful analyses of the city and metro region’s past and present for a public audience. We keep a finger on the intellectual pulse of Atlanta, while finding innovative ways to communicate and collaborate.
We welcome a variety of contributions to Atlanta Studies, including long-form articles, shorter notes, visual interventions (including map and photo essays), interviews and reviews. All submissions to Atlanta Studies should substantively engage with Atlanta (broadly defined) as the primary object of study, rather than the research simply being locating in the city or broader metropolitan region.
All submissions to the journal should not have been published previously, nor be under simultaneous consideration for publication, in any other academic journal or other publication. Should your work be found to have been published or submitted elsewhere, your submission will be withdrawn. Please review the submission guidelines below to ensure that the submission and review process is as streamlined as possible.
All submissions, as well as any questions, should be directed to the journal’s Executive Editor at atlstudies@gmail.com.
Atlanta Studies publishes longer-form articles of up to 5,000 words that substantively analyze a significant issue or history relating to the Atlanta metropolitan region. Articles feature the rigor and intellectual grounding typical of scholarly journal articles in other publications, yet are written with a general audience in mind. All submitted articles should include citations as endnotes.
Atlanta Studies publishes shorter notes of 500–1,500 words that provide a brief analysis or argument relating to a significant issue or history relating to the Atlanta metropolitan region. Notes frequently offer new insight into a current event, initiative, or project or summarize recent or forthcoming research for a public audience. Notes should include citations where relevant, either as endnotes or embedded hyperlinks. Notes may also adopt a more conversational tone than articles.
We are also happy to consider publication of Visual Notes, such as map or photo essays that are predominantly graphic in nature, accompanied by shorter text explaining and situating the visuals. The accompanying text can focus on a description of key takeaways, how the visual was made, or other elements, though the visuals themselves should be the primary focus and should largely stand alone.
Atlanta Studies publishes reviews of 1,000–1,500 words of recent books, films, television shows, digital projects, exhibitions, events, and other forms of art and scholarship that directly relate to Atlanta or engage issues pertinent to the city. Reviews should critically engage the work’s key arguments, assess its contribution to larger intellectual/artistic conversations, and convey the significance of the work to a multidisciplinary and public audience with interest in Atlanta. For reviews of works not explicitly about Atlanta, the reviewer should clearly explicate the relevance of the work to Atlanta.
While Atlanta Studies solicits reviews of specific texts, we also welcome unsolicited submissions. We recommend contacting our Executive Editor at atlstudies@gmail.com with any suggested or proposed review materials.
Interviews or Other Publication Types
Atlanta Studies is also open to other publication formats beyond those listed above, including, but not limited to, interviews with scholars, artists, policymakers or other practitioners. Those interested in submitting an interview or other non-traditional publication for review should contact the Executive Editor via email at atlstudies@gmail.com prior to submission to confirm that the piece is appropriate for publication in Atlanta Studies.
Atlanta Studies has a diverse readership, including those inside and outside academia. Our publication reaches scholars from across the academy, students, activists, planners and policy makers, religious leaders, and members of the general public.
We take pride in our audience’s range, as well as in our reach beyond metro Atlanta. Our publication reaches a growing readership in the thousands of viewers each month, a third of which live outside Georgia. Authors should keep this audience in mind when seeking publication in Atlanta Studies. First, our readers – diverse in age, education, and discipline – will not all know the terms and context related to the author’s research. Second, our national audience might not be aware of Atlanta-specific places and events. To reach this broad audience, please strive to include all relevant background information and write in a jargon-free, accessible style.
Atlanta Studies adopts the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, notes and bibliography system, but we also have a few house rules and style preferences.
For primarily textual submissions, please submit a Microsoft Word document (.docx, .doc) or rich text file (.rtf). Authors should plan to send separate image, sound, and video files prior to production, even if the media appear embedded in the text. For all media files, please use the largest, highest quality version available.
Though Atlanta Studies is an open-access, web-based publication, everything we publish nonetheless undergoes a rigorous peer review process by our editorial staff, editorial board and ad hoc peer reviewers. The journal offers prospective authors the opportunity to produce credible public-facing work in a timely manner while still undergoing a critical review process.
Articles submitted to Atlanta Studies undergo a rigorous single-blind review by at least two peer reviewers, which may include members of our editorial and advisory boards. Upon review they will recommend either acceptance, rejection or revision and resubmission. Revised and resubmitted articles will be re-reviewed by these two reviewers who will recommend either acceptance or rejection.
Notes, reviews and interviews similarly undergo single-blind review by at least one reviewer and one member of our editorial staff. Rather than recommending acceptance or rejection, reviewers typically offer recommendations for revision and are often able to work directly with authors toward a publication-ready version of the submission.
Final publication of all submissions is subject to approval by the journal’s Executive Editor up until the time of production. Misrepresenting the nature or authorship of the submission, including previous publication, are grounds for submissions to be denied publication.
As an open access journal, Atlanta Studies is available freely on the internet. One benefit to publishing with Atlanta Studies is that under our author agreement, authors retain copyright for their contributions, with publication rights granted to the journal. Third parties wishing to reproduce original content from Atlanta Studies not published under a Creative Commons license (see below) must seek permission from authors and acknowledge Atlanta Studies as the site of original publication.
Atlanta Studies also offers our authors the option of distributing their new work published in the journal under the CC BY-NC-ND Creative Commons license. Under the CC BY-NC-ND (attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives) license, users may copy, distribute, display, or perform a work, but only for non-commercial purposes. However, users may not make derivative works, such as those “consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship.” Authors might choose this license if they wish to permit greater distribution of their work without permission than would be possible if retaining copyright, but still restrict commercial entities from republishing their scholarship, and prohibit all from making modifications to their work without permission.
