Aims and Scope
The Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric (JCR) is a peer-reviewed publication that publishes original scholarship that promotes critical engagement with rhetorical dimensions of current events (those of the past 18 months or so). In promoting the practice of public intellectualism, JCR offers an outlet for scholarship that is both intellectually rigorous and accessible to lay audiences. To this end, JCR specifically seeks to publish scholarship that evidences how rhetorical criticism and theory can help promote a more informed public that is better able to take part in a democratic society. Essays in JCR add to public discussions of current events and help the general public understand more fully the critical and theoretical underpinnings of public debates and controversies, political discourse, social movements, and media events.
JCR is primarily an outlet for works of rhetorical criticism and theory. We are open to other related methodologies and perspectives under the broad purview of rhetoric.
All manuscripts submitted for publication consideration must be original work that has not been published previously and is not currently under review by any other publication outlet.
Submissions
Please send an electronic copy to the editor in Microsoft Word format with all identifying information removed to facilitate blind review. Please provide a brief biography with credentials and professional contact information that will be included in the publication.
While we are not subject to the page limit constraints of print journals, authors should provide a rationale for considering manuscripts that exceed 12,000 words. Writing style should be accessible to a general audience and free of unexplained jargon.
Our house style is Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. Use footnotes rather than endnotes.
On the first page, provide a descriptive title for the essay that would make sense to a lay audience, an abstract of 100-200 words and a list of at least five keywords that describe your essay, both for purposes of sending to reviewers and for searching.
Articles accepted for publication will not be published without a signed Copyright Agreement on file.
Review Process
After considering the appropriateness (intellectual rigor, writing quality, and journal fit) for the journal, the editor will then send the essay out to two members of the editorial board. If the reviewers deem it acceptable for the journal, we will publish the essay. Because timeliness is part of the mission of this journal, feedback for revisions will be limited. Decisions will generally fall into the categories of accept, conditionally accept, or reject, rather than the traditional revise and resubmit common in academic publishing.
Manuscripts that are accepted conditionally will be given editorial direction for revision. Authors will be given two weeks to submit the revisions along with a detailed analysis of what the author has changed.
Copyediting of proofs is the primary responsibility of the author, so make sure that the draft that you send for review is clean and ready for publication should it be accepted.
Please direct queries to the editor. Because this is an online publication, email contact is preferred.
John H. Saunders
Editor, Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric
editor@contemporaryrhetoric.com