Why write for eSharp?

Since 2003, our editorial processes at eSharp have been developed, through co-operation with journal editors and academic publishers, to reflect the standard in academic arts and social science journals; meanwhile, our peer-review system is rigorous enough to ensure high-quality research output. But eSharp is not the kind of traditional academic journal to which, we hope, you will be submitting later in your career. eSharp is designed rather as a stepping-stone towards traditional academic publication: we provide you with special support during the publishing process.

'I was extremely pleased with the feedback provided by the reviewers. Although given the restriction of word limits I couldn't fully incorporate everything these comments were most useful and are much appreciated.'

Rory Johnstone, contributor to Issue 4

Your submission will be anonymously reviewed by two postgraduate (or recent postdoctoral) readers with relevant research specialisms. Your article may be accepted, returned for revision or rejected, but whatever the case, you will receive detailed feedback on your work, in terms of content, language and conformity to academic conventions. Whereas traditional journals (and supervisors) may concentrate their comments only on what are perceived to be crucial issues, eSharp's readers take care to offer comprehensive feedback to give you a rounded view of the strengths and weaknesses of your work. Accepted articles are scrutinized by our copy-editors to ensure conformity to academic and disciplinary conventions, and proofs returned to you for final checking.

The eSharp team knows how important it is for postgraduates to disseminate their publications quickly and efficiently, both in order to advertise their work and to develop their publications lists. At traditional journals, the lapse of time between article submission and publication is often a year or more, and the circulation of the publication is often restricted by cost. At eSharp, the period from submissions-deadline to publication is always under six months. eSharp is both open-access and increasingly included in major electronic arts and humanities bibliographies, ensuring the widest possible readership for your work. Contributors retain all rights to their work: you assign eSharp only non-exclusive rights to reproduce your article electronically, and to be recognised in any reprintings as the original place of publication.

Our authors use eSharp articles to showcase their work with short but significant contributions to their fields. As eSharp is interdisciplinary, we bring coherence to each issue by specifying a theme. Relevance to this theme is an important criterion in our selection process.