Submit to Nomos Journal

Specific guidelines for each category are outlined below, but be sure to see our general format guidelines before submitting.

1. Written work should always be in American English. If you are an international writer, please adjust the language setting in your word processor before finalizing and submitting your work.
2. Quoted material should be placed in double quotation marks. Single quotation marks should only be used as second-level punctuation. Example: “Please format your ‘quotes’ like this.”
3. Periods and commas should be placed within closing quotation marks. Example: “This is how it should appear,” he said. “Just like this.”
4. Separate sentences with a single space.
5. Please use serial commas (i.e., the “Oxford comma”).
6. In instances that require a dash, please use the “en dash” with a space on both sides.
7. Please use this format for possessive words already ending in “s”: Hermes’ and Socrates’ (not Hermes’s and Socrates’s).
8. Please feel free to use contractions.
9. Use “a” before words that start with a consonant sound; e.g., eulogy, historic, etc. Use “an” before words that start with a vowel sound; e.g., hour, LSAT, etc.
10. Numbers up to one hundred should typically be spelled out, along with larger numbers that are “round” (e.g., twenty thousand instead of 20,000). Years can remain numerical (e.g., 2015, not two thousand fifteen), but centuries should be spelled out (e.g., nineteenth century instead of 19^th century).
11. Titles of books, films, magazines, newspapers, albums, and television shows should be italicized. Chapter, article, episode, and track titles should be placed in double quotation marks.
12. Embedded hyperlinks to relevant, reputable, and reliable online sources are preferred over formal citations. In cases where source material does require formal citation, endnotes should be used and formatted in accordance with the latest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style.
13. Do not include bibliographic reference lists with your work.

Articles engaging the scope of the journal tend to follow a traditional format for academic pieces, but much more concise and accessible to a public audience. A “conversational” tone is preferred in most instances. These should be 1500-3000 words in length, but exceptions can be made – just clear it with us first. Supporting artwork or photography, though not required, is also preferred and encouraged; you must have either the rights to any accompanying images or the permission to use them.

Essay submissions include all types of creative nonfiction (e.g., reflective, opinion, critical, narrative) that address our scope. Essays should also be 1500-3000 words in length, with the possibility for exceptions as well. Supporting artwork or photography follow the same guidelines as Articles.

Poetry that is selected for publication will reflect our scope either through elements associated with self-transformation and self-exploration or the creative use of rhyme and rhythm in an engagement of meaningful cultural productions and practices. Multiple styles and formats will be accepted, and exceptions can be made in terms of typical formatting procedures. We realize that pairing poetry with accompanying artwork or photography might be against the norm in certain instances; if you would prefer to avoid doing so, we can use a generic image (or our logo) instead – just let us know.

Photography might capture a unique manifestation of something meaningful in the world, or a scene that critically engages meaning-making processes. Photographs should also be titled or labeled; a brief descriptive passage is optional, and likely depends on the nature of the piece.

Artwork should follow the same guidelines as photographs. Realist and conceptual works are considered, along with abstract and visionary pieces that explore religio-spiritual dimensions and the inner workings of the psyche. Artwork should also be titled or labeled; a brief descriptive passage is optional, and likely depends on the nature of the piece.

Interviews that are not conducted by members of the editorial team should be queried prior to submission. Guidelines for these will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

You’re interested in joining the team at Nomos Journal – fantastic! As you’re brainstorming and deciding on your column’s scope, here are some pointers and things to keep in mind:

Remember, our take on “religion” is broad. So, columns might revolve around the intersection between religion and film; religion and television; religion and popular literature; religion and comics/graphic novels; religion and art; religion and celebrities; religion and popular festivals; mysticism and popular culture; religion and yoga/meditation; religion and tarot/astrology; mind-altering substances/practices and popular culture; religion and online social networking; religion and video games/gaming; or religion/a-theism in the media – to name a few. But columns exploring meaning-making in digital culture and new media would also be welcome additions.

Please feel free to browse current and previous columns and posts for typical writing style/tone. Written posts are usually 750-1,250 words.

We would also be interested in creative columns that focus on personal accounts and reflections; experiences traveling around the world; columns that mainly feature artwork, photography, video clips, music, or uniquely include multimedia in some way; themed or sequential “webcomics”; satiric/ironic pieces; or even something akin to a Socratic dialogue! In other words, we welcome and encourage creativity and unique styles that may seem a little less “orthodox,” so don’t shy away from pitching something outside the norm!

Experience is preferred, though not necessarily required. Please send an updated CV/resume and recent writing sample(s); if previous work is accessible online, include URLs (no more than two or three examples). Please also provide a working column title with your idea. If we move forward with your proposed column, we’ll want a tentative (and brief) description for each of the first four posts (the minimum commitment we require). You should hear back from us within a couple weeks, but feel free to send another message if it is taking longer.

You will be contacted within a few days to indicate we’ve received your submission; if you haven’t heard from us after a week, please send another message. All items will go through an initial screening by the editorial team to determine suitability for publication and adherence to the journal’s scope. Full consideration and review is usually completed in about two weeks. If you haven’t heard from us after that, please check in. You will be contacted with a decision after the review period.

What’s in it for you? Well, the answer many publications peddle – especially those, like us, that cannot offer monetary compensation in the traditional sort of way – is we’re a platform that assists contributors in gaining more exposure and audience for their work. And, sure, in many ways, that’s true. But, there’s a bit more to it for us. Ideologically, we side with the desire to create a robust intellectual “commons,” which is why the work in Nomos Journal will always be open and accessible. So while exposure and audience might be professionally titillating, the expansion of public knowledge and spheres of debate and critical inquiry are even more intellectually stimulating for us – and this is an expansion that we encourage all of our contributors to actively take part in facilitating (that means help us self-promote and network your own work in Nomos Journal, folks!). And even though we lack the resources to reasonably compensate our columnists and contributors, we do have some options in place for their readers to offer their own support: columnists and contributors have the option to include a link to services like Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, or PayPal (or others) with their work, and we strongly encourage them to do so.

All authors retain sole ownership and copyright of work published in Nomos Journal, but assign Nomos Journal the right to publish their work under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authors agree to not hold Nomos Journal accountable for any unauthorized use of their work; e.g., failure to seek permission of use and/or the failure to grant proper attribution. Authors also give discretionary permission to the editorial team to associate accompanying images with written work published on the website. Any additional or unique agreements and stipulations will be agreed upon prior to publication.

As of 2018, all work published in Nomos Journal is copyrighted by its respective author(s) and licensed for publication under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Prior to this, and unless otherwise indicated in post-2018 publications, work is considered “All Rights Reserved” by respective authors and must be treated accordingly: material published in Nomos Journal may be freely accessed by individuals and institutions, but any reproductions must be first granted permission by the journal’s chief editor and the respective author(s). Unauthorized use of material in Nomos Journal includes, but is not limited to, failure to seek permission of use and/or the failure to grant proper attribution in accordance with either an author’s copyright or the license under which the work has been published. All accompanying images appearing on the website, unless otherwise indicated or given explicit attribution, are the property of the corresponding authors or have been reproduced with permission from those holding the rights (which may either be explicitly indicated or located within the metadata of the image).