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Acquisitions

Editorial Policies and Review Procedures

Dedicated to the dissemination of scholarly and professional information, the History Division publishing program provides quality resources. As the military history publishing arm of Marine Corps University, History Division is also a partner for university faculty and staff wishing to disseminate the results of their research. However, authors do not have to work for MCU or History Division to publish with this program. We publish on the long length of the Corps’ history through a variety of formats, including official histories, full-length monographs, commemorative battlestudies, and journal articles.

History Division does not publish classified material, fiction, or biographies. Authors are required to have their work reviewed and approved by their security staff prior to submission if the work in question is based on data that may be considered classified. Do not attempt to transmit data that may be considered classified as it will be considered and treated as spillage. History Division follows best practices to prevent plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, using Turnitin to evaluate all new manuscripts.

Manuscripts submitted by the author for consideration are first reviewed by the editorial staff. If the work seems to fit the editorial plan of the division, and if the work seems to merit further consideration, we will solicit expert opinions from at least two external readers with subject matter expertise. Two favorable reviews from consultant readers are required to continue consideration of a manuscript. If the readers recommend that the author revise a manuscript, we will ask the author to complete such revisions and resubmit before having the work evaluated further.

A final decision to publish requires two favorable reviews from consultant readers and the approval of the History Division director, who reviews each project, the readers’ reports, and any other pertinent documentation to reach a decision. Further revisions, as well as the author’s cooperation with copyediting, proofreading, fact checking, and text formatting, may be required as conditions of publication. For more information on military history naming conventions, please refer to the History Division Writing Guide.

Submission Guidelines

Articles for Marine Corps History must be between 4,000-10,000 words, including footnotes, and formatted according to Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition). Marine Corps History  publishes twice a year, and the editors are currently looking for new articles and book reviews on all topics within the long history of the Corps: Civil War, Spanish-American War, Banana Wars, WWI, WWII, Korea, Cold War, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, women and minorities in the military and focus on some aspect of the Corps either directly or indirectly, including foreign marines and joint operations. We are particularly interested in masters and PhD students who are ready to venture into scholarly publishing.

DEADLINES: Summer issue (February) and Winter issue (August).
Author guidelines provide more detailed information on submitting to Marine Corps History.

Longer manuscripts for books or battlestudies may be submitted at any time throughout the year. These manuscripts will be between 80,000 and 150,000 words, including footnotes, and formatted according to Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition). Length will vary depending on the format of the publication and the topic.

Book Proposal Guidelines

In 500–2,500 well-chosen, polished words, the proposal should provide the following:

1. Subject, scope, and thesis.

2. Core contribution: what's unique, significant, exciting?

3. Comparison to the most important, germane books.

4. Intended audience.

5. Reasons for undertaking the work.

6. Research methodology.

7. Length of work (preferably in words) and number of illustrations (what kind?).

8. Table of contents (preferably annotated sufficiently to convey both the chapter's coverage and how it develops the overall argument).

9. Status of proposed work: if not begun or finished, what is the schedule for completion?

10. Qualifications of author.

History Division welcomes e-mailed proposals and will contact prospective authors regarding partial or full submission of manuscript.

For information or to submit an article or book review, contact the senior editor at mcu_press@usmcu.edu.