Accepted Genres, Submission Guidelines & Editorial Policies
Accepted Genres
Poetry (max. 6 poems per submission)
All forms of poetry welcome
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Rhyming, non-rhyming, long, or short—we'd love to read it!​
Fiction (max. 5,000 words)
Shor​t story
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Alternatively, a chapter or excerpt from longer work, such as a novel
Short play / screenwriting
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Alternatively, a scene or excerpt from longer work, such as a play or film script
Comic
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Alternatively, a scene or excerpt from longer work, such as a graphic novel
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Must include narrative elements in addition to still art
Nonfiction (max. 5,000 words)
Personal essay
Memoir / Narrative nonfiction
Opinion
Satire
Review (books, movies, restaurants, travel, etc.)
Photo essay
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Must include: original photograph, or another's photograph either with a creative commons license or with written, signed, verifiable permission from original photographer.
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Must include an accompanying essay
Art essay​
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Must include: original art, or another's art either with a creative commons license or with written, signed, verifiable permission from original artist.
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Must include an accompanying essay
Interview​
Journalism
Current events
Other​
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*Any and all work may be subject to clearance by the appropriate Feinberg School of Medicine administrative bodies. The editors and the FSM administration reserve the right to reject any piece deemed inappropriate for publication.
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Submission Guide
Work should be submitted as a document compatible with Microsoft Word, not as a PDF. Click here for the submission page.
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Before submitting, please ensure that your work is in keeping with the following formatting guidelines. Failure to do so may delay the processing of your submission.
Structure
All papers should have a title page as the first page of the piece. It should consist only of: (1) the title of the work, and (2) the date of submission. No more information is needed.
To ensure objectivity in the editing process, DO NOT INCLUDE THE AUTHOR'S NAME. We will be able to match the submitted work with the submitting author through our submission form.
Font and Formatting
The font should be: (1) widely available, (2) in a readable style, and (3) of a readable size. Good examples are Times New Roman, Arial, and Calibri.
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Do not underline or bold text for emphasis. Instead, use italics.
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When citing or referring to other works, use "quotation marks" for shorter works, such as poems, book chapters, short stories, songs, TV show episodes, etc. Use italics for longer works, such as whole books, films, video games, albums, etc.
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For quotations longer than three lines, use the indented, block quote form per the MLA guidelines (see below).
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Aside from the above specifications, all other formatting, including in-text citations, references, and general style, should be in accord with the Modern Language Association (MLA) Formatting and Style Guide, which can be found here.
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Editorial Policies
Our editors assess submitted work on a two-tiered system:
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First, a randomized member of the editorial staff receives an anonymized submission; reviews it for content, style, novelty, and fit with TCR's mission and vision; and gives the piece a score ranging from 0 to 5 based on these qualities. Pieces are then sent on for the next round of review.
(Note: Neither a piece's initial score nor its ultimate acceptance status is an evaluation of its inherent merit or quality. A piece may be rejected for publication solely because it is not right for us at that time. We encourage all authors to submit rejected works for subsequent issues. Moreover, a rejection does not mean that the piece didn't pass the first round of review; any and all pieces that are ultimately not accepted for publication may have initially received any grade from 0 to 5. Submitters will not be apprised, automatically or upon request, of either their scores or the identity of the editor who gave those scores. This is to ensure the integrity of the editing process.)
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Second, a randomized member of the senior editorial staff (which includes the Senior Editor[s] and the Editor[s] In Chief) will review the submission for publication. In order to be accepted for publication, pieces should be highly polished and edited for grammar, spelling, style, and usage, according to the Modern Language Association Formatting and Style Guide. Prior to publication, however, the editorial staff reserves the right to add or amend punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling so long as the semantic content remains unaltered.
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