Submissions to Places

Editorial Guidelines

FOR ARTICLES: We seek lively and original writing that explores contemporary architecture, landscape and urbanism. We define these areas broadly, and our approach is expansive, extending to allied fields including geography, planning, policy, history, ecology, media, technology, et al. We publish peer-reviewed scholarship, essays and observations that blend research-based rigor with personal experience and journalistic edge, and reviews of books, exhibitions, events, and projects. We are open to other formats and genres, too. We will occasionally publish fiction—fiction in which cities and landscapes are central to meaning, mood and narrative, as in the stories of, say, Calvino, Borges and W.G. Sebald. We seek writing that probes hard questions and innovative ideas, and that balances the high-altitude concept with a sharp focus on the messy, complicated details of lived experience, of real places and politics. We like idiosyncratic, hard-to-categorize work. Whatever the form, we value clear, supple prose, accessible to a sophisticated public as well as professional and academic peers.

FOR PEER REVIEW: We are committed to the tradition of refereed scholarship and seek strong, well-argued work that offers new ways of understanding contemporary environmental, building and urban design. We send articles submitted for review to a minimum of two readers, usually scholars and/or professionals with relevant expertise.

FOR ILLUSTRATIVE AND AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIAL: We are interested in a range of media—photography, video, film, animation, mapping, et al.—that illuminates the experience of contemporary cities, buildings, and landscapes. We especially like illustrative or audio-visual work with a strong point of view, a critical stance. Visual work should be accompanied with explanatory texts and captions.

Submissions Guidelines

Send manuscripts, proposals, or queries electronically, to editors [at] placesjournal.org. Put “Places submission” in the subject line. Submit texts as attachments, preferably in Microsoft Word or a compatible program. Include detailed contact information. It will expedite the process if we can reach you via phone

Indicate whether you are submitting an article for peer review. Manuscripts for review should include an abstract of up to 250 words. Submit attached images or media files in formats (jpegs, tiffs, et al.) that ease transmission.

If you are submitting work to another publication, please let us know. We will reprint a text under certain circumstances, for instance, if it has never been published in English, or if it has appeared only in a small-circulation publication for a limited readership. Let us know if your submission is part of a larger project, e.g., a chapter of a book in progress.

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Places Peer Review Policy

Places uses a process of double-blind peer review. We submit articles to two or more reviewers based on their knowledge of a subject and familiarity with Places’ editorial focus. While we do not reveal reviewers’ names to authors, we do share some or all of their comments, along with editorial direction based on the reviews.

We ask reviewers to consider the following questions:

1. What aspects of the article are most relevant for Places? Please rate the importance and timeliness of the article for designers, planners, scholars, public officials, and other readers of the journal.

2. Is there a professional and/or scholarly literature that already covers this topic? Is there an additional professional and/or scholarly literature that should be referenced or considered to improve the article?

3. Is the article clearly written? Does it make a well-structured and coherent argument?

4. Does the article break new ground for a specialist audience in terms of research or theory? Or does it make existing specialized ideas interesting and/or accessible to a more general audience?

5. What do you recommend for this article?

Publish with minor editorial revisions.

Request major revisions, rewriting, and resubmission.

Reject as inappropriate for Places.

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Submissions to Places

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