Submissions

Thank you for considering Student Pedagogies for Social Change! We are so excited to work with you.

Please make sure to read all the submission guidelines below.

Issue-Specific Guidelines

Theme for Issue 1: Borders

While we do want creative interpretation of “borders,” we want prospective submissions to think about geography, nationality, cultural borders, sexual/gender borders, language, and/or disciplinary borders. We want students to think critically about how borders relate to national and/or geographical boundaries and what happens when borders become divisions.

Borders can also refer to nationality—how this notion can be expanded and critiqued—and what “nation” we identify with.

Borders can be physical or discursive and socially constructed. They can be historical and contemporary.

Borders can relate to the self—self-perception vs. outward perception. How is one's identity shaped by those around them?

Borders can be explicit, and they can be subtle/invisible.

What borders do you see but others do not? How does one's personal experiences influence their perception of various borders?

What borders exist for you and what borders do you want to dismantle or blur?

General Guidelines

For the first issue, we will have rolling submissions.

Because this is a student publication, we do ask that you are in middle school, high school, or college at the time of your submission.

All submissions must be primarily written in English, though you can include words and phrases in another language.

We ask that all submissions be titled:

First name last name - GENRE (Ex: Jane Park - POETRY)

If submitting multiple pieces, please place them successively in a single document.

Please see our "Genre-specific Guidelines" for more information on how many pieces you can submit at one time.

Please do not submit in more than two (2) categories. See individual guidelines below.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please notify the journal in the submission form. If your work is published elsewhere, promptly email the journal, as previously published works are not allowed at this time.

The journal reserves First Electronic Rights, though all rights revert to the author after publication. If you choose to publish the same work on another platform, please credit Student Pedagogies for Social Change as the first publisher of that work.

Response time: approximately 1–2 months, depending on when you submitted during the submission cycle. We try our best to aim for under 1 month!

No work that has been created or aided by AI for any part of its process will be considered.

The journal expects every piece to be your own, original work. Plagiarism is unacceptable and works found to not give credit where it is due will be rejected.

All submissions must go through our submission form; please do not email us your submission unless you cannot access the form.

We do not accept submissions promoting hate speech or discriminatory language, and work with these views will be immediately rejected. We understand that some of the submissions may be explaining hate speech directed at the author and how the author is processing or overcoming such discrimination or hate. The editors reserve the right to differentiate what constitutes promoting hate speech vs. explicating discrimination that was targeted.

We reserve the right to alter our guidelines as needed.

Genre-Specific Guidelines

Research-based articles (oral history projects, theory papers):

Submissions must be between 2,000 and 4,000 words.
Papers must adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, with abbreviated footnotes and a bibliography.
Must be a double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman Font Word Document or Google Doc.
Please only submit one (1) piece in this category.

Nonfiction:

In this category, we accept the following: personal narrative and essays.
Your submission must not exceed 3,000 words.
Must be in a double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman Font Word Document or Google Doc.
Please only submit up to two (2) pieces in this category

Fiction:

We accept a broad range of categories for this submission, including but not limited to: short story, flash fiction, science fiction, play/script.
Work should contain elements of social change, liberation, and/or contemporary or historical issues. The extent to which these ideas/issues are addressed is up to the author's discretion.
Word limits:
- Short story: 3,500 words
- Flash fiction: 1,000 words
- Science fiction: 3,500 words
- Play/script: 3,500 words
Your submission must be double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman Font Word Document or Google Doc.
Please only submit one (1) piece in this category.

Poetry:

We accept all forms of poetry.
We ask that your poems be in a 12 point Times New Roman Word Document or Google Doc.
Submit up to three (3) poems.

Art:

We accept up to three (3) pieces of art and encourage a wide range of styles and forms.
Please submit a PDF or JPEG.