West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studies
Suggested Mission and Submission Guidelines
Since 1939, West Virginia History has been the premier source of scholarship and research on the history of the Mountain State. Now published in a new series by the West Virginia University Press, West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studies will have two issues a year—in the spring and fall.
WVH publishes peer-reviewed research articles on the political, social, economic, and cultural history of the state and its regional context. It also publishes peer-reviewed articles that employ public history methodologies, which includes but is not limited to documentation of public history projects, material culture analysis, and analyses of public history methodologies within the context of the state and region. The journal also publishes peer-reviewed articles on West Virginia history education. These articles are about 8,000 to 12,000 words in length.
WVH covers the field of history in West Virginia in a section titled: Updates, Reflections, and Issues. This includes essays, interviews, and commentaries on topics of interest in West Virginia scholarship, preservation, museums, archives, education, and organizations. These essays are about 2,500 to 5,000 words.
WVH publishes reviews of books and media, including exhibits, programs, films, television shows, plays, albums, podcasts, and websites, about West Virginia history. Reviews are 500 to 600 words, but review essays can be longer.
Submitting an Article Manuscript
Submit your manuscript to wvhistory@wvupress.com as an e-mail attachment. Hal Gorby and Lou Martin are the co-editors of WVH. Correspondence regarding editorial matters should go to:
Hal Gorby, Co-Editor
West Virginia University
Department of History
220A Woodburn Hall
Morgantown, WV 26506
Email: wvhistory@wvupress.com
The homepage for West Virginia History is https://wvupressonline.com/journals/wv_history.
Please submit your manuscript as a Word file (Times New Roman, 12-point) e-mail attachment. To facilitate our policy of anonymous manuscript review, please go to "Properties" in the document and strip out any identifying information. Do include the title of the submission on the first page. The author's name and address (both postal and e-mail) should appear in a separate Word document, along with a 250-word abstract.
Within the Word file, all lines should be justified at the left margin only and should double-spaced, including quotations and notes. Articles should not exceed 12,000 words in length, including endnotes. Quotations longer than eight lines should be set off from the text by indenting 0.5” but not by single spacing. WVH follows the Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.).
We can accept a limited number of illustrations in either glossy photographs or 300 dpi TIF files. Supply each illustration with a caption, accompanied by a source line and such acknowledgments as are required. Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions in writing before providing them to WVH.
Submitting a Review
Please use the following formats as a header for reviews:
Book
To Save the Land and People: A History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia. By Chad Montrie. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003. Pp. xviii, 245.)
Media
Coal Country, film, written and directed by Phylis Geller, Evening Star Productions, 2009.
The Children of Mother Jones, museum exhibit, curated by Shaun Slifer, West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, 2023.
“Chasing the Moon,” television documentary series, written and directed by Robert Stone, American Experience, PBS, 2019.
“Remembering Floods and Recovering from a Disaster,” produced by Bill Lynch, Inside Appalachia, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 2023.
Reviews should be double-spaced and between 500–600 words in length. Please submit the review as a Word file (Times New Roman, 12-point) e-mail attachment.
Please include in book reviews a brief summary of its scope, purpose, and content, and an explanation of its significance in the literature on the subject. Include also an evaluation of the author’s use of available sources, organization and presentation of material, and achievement of his or her overall purpose. For media reviews, include a brief summary or description, analysis of its execution, and a discussion of its broader significance. Your evaluations may be favorable or unfavorable, but the review should avoid personal references, should express criticism in a respectful and balanced manner, and should avoid irrelevant digressions. Do not list typographical or other minor errors; mention them only if they significantly impair the value of the book. Please supply page numbers (e.g., 22 or 22–23) for all quoted phrases and passages. If you refer to other books or articles in your review, please provide complete bibliographical information, including the exact page citation. We will copyedit your review prior to publication and will silently correct any errors we might find and edit for clarity and accuracy.
Please complete reviews three months from the date you accept the assignment or inform the editor of your need for an extension.