Article Submission Guidelines

The Humanist is a social issues-oriented bimonthly that applies the philosophy of humanism—a naturalistic and progressive outlook informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion—to broad areas of social, political, and personal concern. Though learning about humanism is useful for authors, the best way to know the sort of material we publish is to look at a few issues of the magazine (see Archives). Copies are also widely available in public libraries in hard copy, microform, or CD-ROM, on select newsstands, and in cyberspace on networks like CompuServe, Datastar, Dialog, and Nexis.

We accept unsolicited, complete manuscripts as well as queries. For articles already written we prefer that the manuscript be sent without a prior query. Recent, previously published material will be considered if it appeared in a non-competing, low-circulation periodical or a purely local publication. Excerpts from forthcoming or just-released books will also be considered.

Our preferred length for feature articles is 1,500-3,000 words. Appearing in the back of the magazine, a number of our regular columns on specialized topics (for example, popular culture, the environment, civil liberties, human rights, literature, philosophy, and humanist living) have changing authors, as does “First Person,” a column devoted to the recounting of enlightening life experiences. Column length is 700 to 1,400 words. Book and film reviews generally range from 700 to 1,200 words. Editorials (500-1,500 words) and shorter news items are placed in our “Up Front” section at the beginning of the magazine.

In addition to our regular staple of nonfiction prose, we consider humor, poetry, short fiction (1,500 words or less), and cartoons. Illustrators and photographers should submit samples of their work. Photos and artwork intended to accompany a manuscript may be submitted in high-resolution electronic form. Manuscripts can still be submitted in hard copy though we greatly prefer e-mail. Hard copy manuscripts will not receive acknowledgment of receipt unless an e-mail address is supplied.

All submissions should include full contact information (address, phone, fax, and/or e-mail) as well as a brief two- or three-sentence biographical statement about the author. Manuscripts can be mailed to the Humanist, 1777 T St, NW, Washington, DC 20009-7125. Material that authors wish returned must be accompanied by an appropriate SASE.

Manuscipts sent by email can be sent as file attachments in MS Word or embedded in the body of an email, single-spaced with a blank line between each paragraph. An accompanying message should provide the above-noted contact and bio information. Email manuscripts to editor@thehumanist.org.

When submitting material to the Humanist, authors, artists, and photographers need to be aware of the following facts:

• The Humanist is a non-profit magazine of opinion.
• The opinions voiced in the Humanist do not necessarily reflect hose of the editors or publisher.
• The editors receive a significant volume of submissions.
• Some submissions may need to be circulated for peer review before a decision can be made.
• Due to the volume of mail received, the editors regretfully cannot offer individual critique or explanations as to the grounds for a given rejection.

Material submitted to the Humanist may also be submitted by the author simultaneously to other publications. In this way, any reporting delays on our part will not hold up potential publication elsewhere.

The Humanist is widely available in various forms (online and in hard copy, microform, and CD-ROM) in various places (libraries, newsstands, public gatherings, cyberspace, and by subscription), and is indexed in the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature and other leading indexing and abstracting resources. Authors and other contributors give implicit permission for such publication when they submit materials. Because of this wider publication, our articles are frequently discovered by book and magazine editors who contact us for author and reprint information. This provides a good reason for authors, artists, and photographers to consider publishing in the Humanist and to keep us up-to-date with your contact information.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Editor, the Humanist