Focus and Scope

The Indiana Magazine of History documents and investigates the changing culture of Indiana and the Midwest. The editors welcome original, critical writing or annotated primary documents that highlight the challenges faced by past residents of the state and its surrounding region, that add historical perspective to contemporary issues, or that deepen public understanding of historical thinking and its application to our region.

Peer Review Process

The IMH is a peer-reviewed journal. After determining if a submission has the potential for publication, the staff sends the work to one or more reviewers with relevant expertise. The process is “double-blind”: neither the reviewer nor the author knows one another’s identity. The work is accepted for publication, returned with suggestions for revision and resubmission, or rejected as unsuitable for the IMH. Once the editors have accepted a work for publication, the author is asked to sign an agreement that transfers copyright to the trustees of Indiana University while guaranteeing the author’s own right to republish in the future.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides open access to all material dated two or more years prior to the present date; current material is accessible to subscribers.

 

Submissions

Generally speaking, submitted works fall in one of four categories: articles, documents, critical essays, or research notes. (Please note that the IMH does not accept unsolicited book reviews. To be considered for future review assignments, send a c.v. and letter of inquiry to the editor.)

Articles should be based on original research and should present a clear and well-supported thesis that contributes new information or a new interpretation to subjects of interest to our readers. Authors should demonstrate their awareness of other relevant work on their topic and should be prepared to show how their own research fits into that existing body of work.

Edited documents should present original material, hitherto inaccessible to most readers, that helps to highlight broader issues in Indiana and midwestern history. The editor of such a document should indicate in accompanying notes its significance and relation to other material already published or better known.

Critical essays provide authors with an opportunity to present original interpretations of existing material, and to reflect more broadly on the history and culture of the state and its surrounding regions.

Research notes should highlight the interpretive challenges and opportunities created by specific historical sources or new research methods.

For more information onsubmissions, see the Submissions page.

Journal History

Published continuously since 1905, the Indiana Magazine of History is one of the nation's oldest historical journals. Since 1913, the IMH has been edited and published quarterly at Indiana University, Bloomington. Today, the IMH features peer-reviewed articles, research notes, annotated primary documents, reviews, and critical essays that contribute to public and scholarly understanding of midwestern and Indiana history. To learn more about the history of the IMH visit the journal's December 2005 centennial issue: IMH 100: 4 (Dec. 2005).