Submissions

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Author Guidelines

The Word is continually soliciting research papers and blog content related to hiphop culture for its online-only publication. We are an open peer-refereed journal. We define a research paper as having limited scope and a clear argument that arises from recognizable research methods. On our blog we publish a wider range of articles about hiphop and hiphop studies as well as audiovisual content. To learn more about hiphop studies, visit our Resources page.

We hope The Word's journal and blog will contribute to the hiphop community at Stanford and to the growing presence of hiphop studies nationally. To that end, we're pleased to announce that we're opening submissions for our Fall/Winter 2020 issue to undergraduates from any school. Submitters must be an undergraduate at any school or be within one year of post-graduation.

Research papers can be anywhere from 2500-6000 words (or about 10-20 pages) and should contribute to the interdisciplinary field of hiphop studies through original research and/or analysis.

Other submissions considerations:

  • Research articles and blog articles should be cited using MLA or APA style.
  • You must own the copyright for all images, sound, and video used, including samples or excerpts, or have written permission from the creator to use them.
  • Research involving human subjects must have Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval.

Upon submission, your paper will be read and discussed by our Editors and our Editorial Board. Papers may be accepted, accepted with revision, or rejected. We may also ask you to adapt an excerpt of your paper into a shorter piece for the "Decoded" section of our journal. We accept content on a rolling basis and are currently preparing for our second issue, to be released in Fall/Winter 2020. To submit blog or multimedia content, please look at the guidelines on the Submissions page of our website. For questions, please contact us at thewordjournal@stanford.edu.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • The text is double-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.

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