Submissions

We are open to submissions for our general issue, to be published on a rolling basis starting in February 2023. We are also open to submissions for our fourth issue, a special issue entitled ‘Boundaries and Margins,’ following the theme of GIFCon 2023. Submissions for the special issue are open until 31 July 2023. For further details, view our Call for Papers.

Mapping the Impossible operates with a rolling submissions window, meaning that we are always open to submissions for our general issues. If you would like to submit a paper, please first consult About This Journal, Information for Authors, our policies on Plagiarism and Copyright, and our Style Guide. Then, follow the instructions below.

While we do not offer full payment for papers at Mapping the Impossible, we are pleased to be able to provide a small, token reward for each paper we publish. For more details, please see our Rewarding Research page.

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Submitting a Paper 

Mapping the Impossible exclusively accepts academic papers between 3000 and 5000 words in length, including references but excluding bibliographies. Along with your paper, we ask you to submit a 300-500 word long abstract, and a 100 word long biography. Please attach these to an email as separate Word documents, each clearly labelled with your name. For instance: TerryPratchettSubmission.docx, TerryPratchettAbstract.docx, TerryPratchettBiography.docx

Please note that we ask for your paper to conform to the Mapping the Impossible Style Guide when you submit it. Your paper should also be anonymised as far as possible when you submit it (except for the file name!), as per our double anonymous review policy. 

When you’re ready to submit, send your email to journal.for.fantasy@gmail.com with the subject line “Submission – [your name][date of submission]” You will receive a confirmation email within seven days, to say that we have received your submission.

The board meets at least once a month to discuss submissions, and you should expect to hear back from us within five weeks.