SUBMISSIONS
Dylan Review was founded to provide a forum for rigorous intellectual exploration of Bob Dylan’s art. The journal publishes peer-reviewed critical articles, invited reviews and review essays, as well as opinion pieces, editorials, and a regular column. The editors’ founding premise is that Dylan is a singular American artist whose songs, performances, and other art have continued to challenge fundamental values and institutions for a half century. Through our commitment to interdisciplinary discourse, Dylan Review opens conversations and hosts debates on all aspects of Bob Dylan’s body of work, encouraging scholars, authors, and listeners to participate. The Review contains multitudes, and you, our serious readers, are what validate our content.
Please send all submissions through our submission form. Files must be uploaded in Microsoft Word format, either as a .doc file or a .docx file. The Dylan Review does not have submission periods, but welcomes submissions at any time of the year. We tend to be speedy with our replies, though sometimes the editorial and peer-review process means authors may wait several months for a decision.
All submissions must follow the Dylan Review Style Guide. If you have questions, please consult Angus Gibson, angusgibson@dylanreview.org.
If you encounter an issue when submitting the form, please send your submission to editors@dylanreview.org
Submissions
The Dylan Review does not have submission periods, but
welcomes submissions at any time of the year. We tend to be speedy with our replies, though sometimes the editorial and peer-review process means authors may wait several
months for a decision. If you have questions, please email editors@dylanreview.org.
Reviews
The Dylan Review seeks qualified reviewers for books, albums, exhibits, films, and any other media relevant to the field of Bob Dylan studies. Reviews should run no longer than 4,000 words, unless the editors specifically grant an exception. Like the best imaginative scholarship, reviews should engage all dimensions of Dylan’s work–musical, poetic, philosophical, political, and cultural–with clarity and originality. Please query before submitting a review, as the editors are actively pairing reviewers and new releases and may have already assigned your proposed title.
Articles
Article submissions should address an informed readership and should avoid rehearsing familiar aspects of Dylan’s discography and biography, or even the more familiar criticism. (For example, articles should not repeat the global repercussions of his “going electric” at Newport in 1965.) Dylan Review is a research-driven intervention into the field and the editors reserve the right to reject submissions that do not contain a scholarly apparatus or a reasonable justification for omitting one. Like the best imaginative scholarship, articles should engage all dimensions of Dylan’s work–musical, poetic, philosophical, political, and cultural–with clarity and originality.
Upon submitting a manuscript, a contributor will receive email confirmation. The article will then be assigned to an editor who will determine if it merits consideration by outside reviewers. The peer-review process can take up to 12 weeks from the time of submission. After the reviews are completed, the editors will contact the contributor with the reviewers’ feedback and our publication decision. If the reviewers recommend revisions, and the contributor agrees to the changes, the editors will expect to receive the revised manuscript within a prescribed time.
Article Proposals
The editors will read proposals for articles, Song Corner essays, or reviews. Please provide a brief abstract of the topic, in addition to an expected word count.
Song Corner Essays
The Dylan Review seeks scholarly essays on individual songs. Essays should focus on only one song (while freely referencing others) and should be 3,000 – 7,000 words. Please include the appropriate scholarly apparatus.
Poetry
The Dylan Review welcomes submissions of poetry inspired by Bob Dylan’s work, including Dylan’s music, lyrics, performances, sculpture, and painting. There is no length limit–short or long–or prescribed form or style. We will consider submissions of up to five poems, no more than once every six months.
Letters
The editors invite letters and comments for future issues. As much as possible, please confine commentary to topics raised in articles or interviews in the DR, at least as a starting place for your remarks. The editors encourage lively discussion but will not tolerate or publish language or images we consider offensive.
