submission guidelines
Confluence is a free-access journal with a 20+-year history of publishing the best work from faculty, students, and alumnae/i of AGLSP member programs. Although still conceived as the premier showcase publication for work from AGLSP member programs, the Journal now accepts submissions from any institutions and areas of interest that reflect the interdisciplinary engagement that is constitutive of a liberal education. Confluence welcomes essays, research papers, short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, art pieces, and photography, as well as book reviews of interdisciplinary works of interest to the Liberal Arts community.
Confluence is published in print twice per year, while online content is updated regularly; because we do not wait for a particular print issue before publishing individual works, submissions are accepted and reviewed at all times.
All work published in Confluence remains the copyright property of the author. However, if the work is published elsewhere after publication in Confluence, we request that the new publication include the following footnote:
This work was previously published in Confluence: The Journal of the AGLSP ([volume], [issue], [year]); please visit www.confluence-aglsp.org for more details.
new special section of the journal:
HUMAN VALUES—INSIGHTS, IMPLICATIONS, APPLICATIONS
Liberal education bears the responsibility for providing the tools with which to question, to discuss, and to recognize and cultivate new manners of relating. As the voice for graduate liberal studies in North America, Confluence works to foster the kind of dialogue, engagement, and relation that constitutes the heart and the value of a liberal education. Work published in this section will deal specifically with applications of ‘liberal’ learning to questions of human values and contemporary challenges to the stability and security of human society.
style guidelines
Prose manuscripts may be up to 8,000 words in length and must be double-spaced. Poetry can be single-spaced, with each poem limited to 10 pages. All manuscripts should be set in Times New Roman, 12 pt. type. No more than one work of prose, three poems, three art pieces, or three photographs may be submitted. You may submit in two genres. If your manuscript is accepted for publication, you must wait at least one year before submitting a new manuscript of the same genre (i.e., if your essay is accepted, you may not submit another essay but you may submit fiction, poetry, or art). Manuscripts should NOT include the author’s name, and headers/footers should not be used.
The journal follows the Chicago Manual of Style footnote citation format, although you may use footnotes or endnotes in your manuscript. Bibliographies are not required; ensure that the first citation of any source includes the complete publication information in the footnote/endnote.
Style should be consistent throughout the manuscript, such as in the treatment of titles, abbreviations, and foreign words. Proofread carefully for possible errors of any sort, noting especially any foreign or highly technical words or phrases. Format and style of the manuscript are solely the responsibility of the author; even if your submission is accepted for publication, you may be asked to revise your manuscript if it fails to meet the journal’s style requirements.
All text, including tables, must be incorporated into the body of the manuscript. Any graphic material such as photographs or diagrams should be submitted as separate digital files (.jpeg, .pdf, .tiff.). The dimensions of graphics should be no greater than 4.25 inches wide by 6.5 inches high with a resolution of 300 dpi or greater. The placement of graphic material must be clearly indicated in the body of the manuscript. PLEASE NOTE: Currently, the print version of the journal does not include color; while full-color images will be published online, all such images will be converted to grayscale for print publication.
Prepare a short biographical statement as a separate document. The biographical statement should be from three to five sentences in length and should include the author’s institutional and program affiliation. After the biographical statement, also include full phone, e-mail, and mailing information.
Submit manuscript and biographical statement files to Editor@confluence-aglsp.org in Microsoft Word format. In the Subject section of the e-mail, state “Confluence Submission” and the title of your submission. Your submission will be acknowledged by e-mail and will be under review for approximately four to six weeks.