Submitting Articles

Amerikastudien / American Studies is committed to the highest scholarly standards. We welcome submissions from all countries and all scholarly research areas that make up American Studies, including literary and cultural criticism, history, political science, linguistics, and pedagogy. Articles submitted for consideration must
(a) make an original scholarly contribution to an existing topic or broach a brand new topic within the field of American Studies,
(b) clarify their connection to and relevance for American Studies as an academic field,
(c) meet scholarly criteria of due diligence, critical reflection, theoretization, argumentative integrity, and linguistic sophistication.

Article manuscripts should not exceed 60,000 to 70,000 characters (including spaces). Each piece must include the manuscript text, an abstract, notes, and a list of works cited and should use MLA-style parenthetical references for citations. Because Amerikastudien / American Studies follows a blind peer review system, articles should contain no references to the author. Manuscripts, forum articles, and reviews can only be accepted if submitted as computer files (MS Word file format). All documents must be formatted in our house style (modified MLA 7th ed.). Please refer to our style sheet for a detailed list of requirements.

Manuscripts may be submitted via email to the editorial office: amst@dgfa.de

Submitting Forum Proposals

The forum section critically discusses pertinent, current issues and maps controversial debates in the field of American Studies. It can house a variety of formats, such as interviews, dialogical short arguments (in the form of statement-response), or short-essay clusters. Please see past issues for examples. Forum contributions can be proposed via email to the general editor and are reviewed and approved/rejected by the editorial board. All style sheet requirements apply.

Submitting Special Issue Proposals

The editors invite submission of proposals for special issues. These issues allow for more in-depth exploration of current and relevant topics in the field. Proposals should include a cover letter as well as a 3-5-page exposé outlining the scope and content of the issue. Exposés should include the following information:

  • An Introduction that clarifies the topic and nature of the intervention the issue makes. This should also clarify the issues’ prospective contribution to the field of (German/European) American Studies.
  • Abstracts for all articles (350-500 words each). Like regular issues, special-topics issues may contain a maximum of 6 articles (60.000-70.000 characters each).
  • Short bios of all contributors, including contact information (500 words max.).
  • The prospective submission date for the completed issue (if accepted).

Proposals are reviewed by the editors during their biannual board meetings (usually in May and October). If approved, the editorial team will contact the applicants to set a submission deadline. If the editors require further revision, applicants may revise their proposal and resubmit it. Once the complete issue has been received, it is sent out for external blind peer review (approx. 6 weeks), which may result in approval, rejection, or acceptance with changes. Since the issue has already been conceptually vetted by the editors at this point, external reviewers usually require minor rhetorical revisions. Applicants/guest editors should try to produce thematic and argumentative cohesion among individual articles prior to submission in order to avoid major revisions.

Submitting Reviews

Amerikastudien/American Studies publishes reviews of recent publications (no older than three years) in the field of American Studies. We always welcome new reviewers and solicitations. If you would like to write a review on an American Studies title, please contact the Review Editor of Amerikastudien/American Studies, Prof. em. Dr. Christa Buschendorf or Prof. Dr. Antje Ortlepp. Reviews should generally not exceed 3-4 pages. For further details, see the review style sheet.

Peer Review and Editorial Process

Peer review takes about 2-3 months. Articles are sent to two outside referees for blind peer review. Referees may accept or reject articles, or require revisions and resubmission. In case of divergent verdicts, a third referee is included to make a final decision. The editorial team produces a report of the review and forwards it to the author. After being accepted, authors must prepare a final version of the manuscript for submission, including any conditional changes required by reviewers. At this point, the manuscript and the list of works cited must be formatted as per our house style. Upon reception by the editorial office, all manuscripts undergo proofreading by native speakers as well as copy editing by the editorial team. This process can take an additional four weeks, depending on the back log of issues and manuscripts as well as on semester times.

Contact

Editorial Office: amst@dgfa.de 

Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle
Philipps-Universität Marburg
FB 10: Fremdsprachliche Philologien
Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Nordamerikanische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft
Wilhelm-Röpke-Straße 6 F
D-35032 Marburg
Tel. (0049)(0)6421-28-24-345
Fax (0049)(0)6421-28-24-343
birkle@staff.uni-marburg.de

 

Prof. Dr. Birgit Däwes
Europa-Universität Flensburg
Seminar für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Auf dem Campus 1
24943 Flensburg
+49-461-8052836
birgit.daewes@uni-flensburg.de