Submit a paper

Please look carefully at the style and format of the current History & Policy papers when preparing your own piece for consideration. There is room for some variation in presentation, but papers should generally have the following characteristics:

  • 2,000-4,000 words of text
  • an accessible style appropriate to a non-academic audience
  • no unexplained technical terms or concepts and no footnotes
  • a short list of further reading at the end
  • graphical rather than tabular display of any quantitative information
  • short paragraphs, in several sections with clear sub-headings
  • an executive summary in bullet points to summarise the argument and the main policy implications
  • clear policy relevance with an emphasis on constructive policy proposals, recommendations, or 'lessons from history', which may be challenging for policymakers, but should not be defeatist in their implications

Editorial process

Editing a new paper and preparing it for publication normally takes at least 6-8 weeks:

  • We welcome contributions from historians of all periods and themes, based in the UK or abroad
  • You do not have to be based in a higher education institution or have completed a doctorate in order to contribute to History & Policy, but your paper must be based on peer-reviewed or published historical research
  • We accept proposals for new papers at any time and also approach historians directly for contributions
  • We are not prescriptive about what themes should be addressed, provided the current policy relevance is clear and the historical content is of a high quality
  • We aim to publish new papers to coincide with current and emerging policy issues and appreciate us as much notice as possible of your intention to submit a draft

The site editors and our editorial team are always happy to advise people on early drafts and work with historians to make their contributions suitable for publication as History & Policy papers. For further advice, please contact Alastair Reid (email: ajr49@cam.ac.uk) or Simon Szreter (email: srss@cam.ac.uk), or a member of the editorial team:

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