Pacific Historical Review

The editorial offices of Pacific Historical Review are located at 487 Cramer Hall, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97207-0751; telephone: (503)725-8230; Fax: (503)725-8235. All articles for publication, books for review, and editorial correspondence should be addressed to David A. Johnson, Editor, at that address.

Articles must be typed double-spaced; notes must be typed in the same size font as the text, starting on a separate sheet, and also double-spaced. The author’s name should appear ONLY on a separate title page, and nowhere on the article or notes, because all articles are subject to blind review.Authors should submit four copies of their article and four copies of a 125-word abstract. Preferably, authors will send electronic copies of the article and abstract in either MS Word or RTF format as e-mail attachments; a Macintosh or IBM-compatible 3.5" or compact disk containing the article in either MS Word or RTF format will also be accepted. Since the abstracts are sent to potential referees with our request for their reading of the entire article, these also should not include the author’s name anywhere on the page.

The editors are interested in broad, interpretive studies that span disciplinary boundaries, as well as focused, archivally-based case studies that offer a significant addition to scholarly knowledge and understanding.

• U.S. expansion to the Pacific and beyond
• The American West in the twentieth century
• Borderlands, cross-cultural, and comparative history
• Colonialism and imperialism
• American interaction with the Pacific Rim
• Historiography and methodology

Submitting an Article: Basic Format Guidelines

• The text should be double-spaced and printed with a 12 point typeface.
• Include endnotes rather than footnotes.  
• Endnotes, like the text, should be double-spaced and printed with a 12 point typeface.
• The endnote section should begin on a new page that follows the text of the article. 
• The text and endnote sections should be numbered continuously.
• Include your name only on a separate title page; repeat the title at the top of page one of the text.
• Avoid acknowledgments that might reveal your identity to referees.
• It is often impossible to avoid citing one's own work; please be aware that the way in which you do so might well reveal your identity to referees.
• Text length of manuscripts should run between 20 and 30 pages (approximately 6,000 to 9,000 words).  The endnote portion should run no more than half the length of the text.

Download the PHR Style Sheet (148K)

Submitting an Article: What to Include

• Cover letter
• Four hard copies of a 125-word abstract (authors from the United States and contiguous countries only)
• Four hard copies of the article manuscript (authors from the United States and contiguous countries only)
• Electronic copies of the manuscript and abstract should be sent as an email attachment in either MS Word or RTF format; if this is not possible, submit both the manuscript and abstract files on a Macintosh or IBM-compatible 3.5" or compact disk. For other formats, please contact the editorial office
• Charts, tables, copies of photographs, or other illustrations that are meant to accompany the manuscript. Please note that authors are responsible for paying reproduction fees and obtaining permissions use copyrighted materials; however, the editors will gladly write supporting letters to the holders of copyrights for authors seeking remission of the fees

The Article Review Process
The Pacific Historical Review receives approximately 100 submissions a year. Of these, 16, or about 1 in 6, will eventually be published in the PHR.

Initially, the editors read each submission to verify its suitability to the PHR and to identify experts to serve as external referees. Depending on the nature of the particular piece, the editors will seek anywhere from 2 to 5 referees; 3 is the usual number.

The review process is double-blind to ensure author-referee anonymity and may take anywhere from three to six months to complete. Referees are asked to include‹and go beyond‹a recommendation about publication. Once all referee reports are returned to the PHR,the editors, as a general rule, reach one of four decisions:

• An article may be accepted outright; 
• It may be conditionally accepted, pending specific changes; 
• It may be returned for revisions with encouragement to resubmit;
• Finally, it may be returned outright.

Revise and resubmit is a typical outcome for a PHR submission. Authors should not interpret this decision as a polite rejection but, rather, as an indication that the referees recognize the manuscript's promise and that the editors hope the author will undertake the recommended revisions and resubmit the article to the Review.

The editors expect that manuscripts submitted to the PHR are not under consideration by other journals or previously published in whole or substantial part (as a book chapter, for example). University of California Press holds the copyright of articles published in the Pacific Historical Review. PHR authors who wish to reprint their article (in whole or substantial part) will need the Press's permission to do so.

Book Reviews
Every quarterly issue of the Pacific Historical Review features an extensive section devoted to book reviews--approximately thirty in each issue. Our reviews are generally 500 words in length, although the Review also publishes longer review essays (of 2,500 or more words).

If you are interested in writing book reviews for the PHR please contact the editors by letter or email.  In your letter, identify the fields in which you are qualified to review and include a listing of your significant publications.  PHR book reviewers are expected to have a record of significant (refereed) publication in the area in which they review.