WRITE FOR US

MERIP welcomes submissions for possible publication, whether in our magazine Middle East Report or on our website for Middle East Report Online. Send submissions to submissions@merip.org.

Middle East Report is a digital quarterly magazine, which you can find in the Magazine section of our website. Each issue addresses a theme or topic in the contemporary Middle East. Members of our editorial committee decide on the theme and solicit articles in advance for the issue. Sometimes they will choose to publish an unsolicited submission if it fits the theme or merits inclusion in an issue.  

We also publish single articles, reviews and updates in the Current Analysis section of our website as Middle East Report Online.  Although of the same quality and editorial oversight, these articles are not published in Middle East Report magazine. These writings reach a large audience through dissemination on our website and our MERIP mailing list. 

 

Format

Middle East Report (MER) Articles

  • Articles that appear in Middle East Report magazine are solicited in advance by an editorial team to address a particular theme or case study for a future issue of the magazine. Editors contact authors and provide suggestions for an article in the context of the broader theme. Occasionally, editors will choose to run an article submitted independently.
  • Editors will solicit articles ranging from 1,000-3,000 words depending on the theme of the issue and word count of the magazine (usually 34,000 words total). They will provide a timeline for submission and the editorial process.
  • Articles should be original, deeply informed and researched, and concise but without using formulaic, autobiographical or highly academic scaffolding such as extensive personal, theoretical or methodological references.
  • All submissions will go through a two-part editorial process to meet MERIP style and standards. We do not typically publish articles in their first iteration.

Middle East Report Online (MERO) Articles 

  • Articles that appear in the Current Analysis section of the website are either solicited by editors or chosen from individual submissions sent to submissions@merip.org.
  • We primarily seek well-written analytical articles that provide a critical and contextual analysis of an important political, economic or social development. We do not typically publish short opinion pieces or personal blog-posts or about historical, cultural, religious or other subject matter of the Middle East that does not relate to the current political conjuncture.
  • Articles should be between 1,000-3,000 words; have a clear and direct title; a clear introduction of the subject of the article; a clear thesis placed early in the article; provide relevant contextualization for an informed but not necessarily expert audience; have multiple subheadings and a clear conclusion. They can have embedded endnotes that appear at the end of an article, but we discourage extensive references unless to directly support claims made in the article. Please follow our endnote style that can be found in any of our published articles.
  • We are also interested in interviews, reviews and dispatches that meets our editorial interests.
  • All submissions will go through a two-part editorial process to meet editorial and MERIP style and standards. We do not typically publish articles in their first iteration.

Interviews

  • MER and MERO publish interviews with well-known persons or with those who can give expression to popular sentiment on matters of importance in the region.
  • Interview authors must transcribe, edit, condense and even rearrange the interview to bring out the most important elements.
  • Interview authors should provide a paragraph (deck) to go before the interview, which briefly describes the interviewee and the subject of the interview and where, when and how the interview took place.
  • 1,000-3,000 words
  • Interviews are typically edited and condensed for publication through a two-part editorial process.

Reviews & Review Essays

  • MERIP offers critical assessments of books, films, exhibits, teaching materials and other pieces of cultural production that address MERIP’s areas of focus, which includes popular struggles, political economy, state power, social hierarchies and US policy in the Middle East and North Africa.
  • Reviews and Review Essays are written and edited for a general audience interested in MERIP’s areas of focus (rather than specialists). We will occasionally publish “Editor’s Bookshelf” review essays offering brief reviews of recent books and other items.
  • To submit materials for review consideration or a proposal to write a review or review essay please contact the MERIP Reviews editors at  reviews@merip.org
  • Materials for review can be sent to: MERIP Reviews, c/o Waleed Hazbun 58 Cherokee Hills, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404.
  • Reviews: 500-2000 words. Review Essays: 2000-4000 words. Editor’s Bookshelf: approximately 1000 words.
  • Reviews Editors: Waleed Hazbun, Atef Said and Curtis Ryan

Dispatches

  • Dispatches report recent news that has not already been covered in the general press and result from ongoing or recent experience in region under discussion. They should present a story in a detailed way, with first-hand material and a feel for the place in question. They can also provide a compelling update regarding a development or location.
  • Pitches for unsolicited dispatches will be considered, if the material suggested for review is of interest to our editors and a non-specialist audience.
  • 1,000 to 2,000 words

Illustrations

  • Authors can help us by supplying photos, cartoons, maps or line drawings. Such submissions should be high-resolution. Illustrations supplied by authors must come with permission granted from the photographer or artist for one-time use in the magazine or on the website. The editors reserve the right to illustrate all MER features as they choose.
Style
  • We seek clear, direct, readable writing that fits our magazine style–we will edit out formulaic academic or autobiographical writing.
  • Capture readers’ attention in the lead paragraphs rather than through a lengthy buildup; make sure to make clear the point of the writing early in the piece.
  • Keep sentences short, crisp and in the active voice–we will edit out passive voice in most situations.
  • Avoid jargon and unfamiliar acronyms.
  • Identify all acronyms and people.
  • Avoid signposting (e.g., “This article argues that,” “as I show below”) and other conventions of academic prose. Resist the temptation to mention the concepts of theoreticians unless they are central to the argument of the article. In such cases, the concepts should be explained with concrete illustration.
  • The first person should be avoided unless necessary to a particular point. Expect the editors to rewrite aggressively to eliminate it.
  • Heads and subheads should be succinct and jargon-free; if they are not, expect the editors to make them so. Heads and subheads are the editors’ prerogative.
  • End-notes should be used very sparingly, to identify the source of a fact or interpretation that is not commonly known. Do not use end-notes to convey extra information; if the information is important, it should be in the main text. Do not use end-notes to direct the reader to additional reading or alternatives to the interpretations advanced in the article. If such alternative interpretations are worth mentioning, they should be in the main text.
  • MER does not print bibliographies or in-text references.
  • MER generally uses the International Journal of Middle East Studies system for transliteration of Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish. It is rarely necessary to use foreign words. Do not use them when the English equivalent will do (and there is no reason, in such instances, to provide the foreign word or words in parentheses).
  • Please include a one-sentence description of how you would like to be identified in the biographical note that will appear with your article.
  • In general, refer to the Chicago Manual of Style on questions of mechanics and usage. A more thorough MER style sheet is available upon request.
  • When articles are submitted in languages other than English, authors should expect MER to exercise significant editorial discretion to render them into smooth and idiomatic English.
Submissions & Editorial Process
  • MER uses Microsoft Word. If at all possible, manuscripts should be written using this program.
  • Manuscripts should be sent via email as attachment files to submissions@merip.org.
  • Manuscripts are circulated to members of the Middle East Report’s Editorial Committee, and occasionally to outside readers with special expertise.
  • We inform authors of editorial decisions as quickly as possible, usually within 2 to 3 weeks.
  • If an article is promising but needs reworking, we will return the manuscript with suggestions for revisions. A revised manuscript may be circulated for a second review.
  • We reserve the right to edit all manuscripts to improve readability. Editorial changes will be cleared with the author before publication.
  • Please note well that it is not possible for the editors to make specific comments on the reasons for the rejection of unsolicited manuscripts.
Copyright & Compensation
  • Middle East Report holds the copyright for all articles published in our pages, unless special arrangement is made prior to publication.
  • Requests for reprint permission should be sent to editor [at] merip [dot] org.
  • Middle East Report does not republish material that has appeared elsewhere in English.
  • Under special circumstances we pay a modest fee for contributions, but it is rare.
Editorial Policy
  • EDITORIAL POLICY:  MERIP publishes materials that are edited for publication in magazine form, rather than for an academic journal or a blog-post, emphasizing informed and analytical approaches accessible to a wider audience through a deliberate editorial process.  The editor and editorial committee select writings based on an evaluation of their fit, quality and importance based on current editorial priorities and if selected they edit submissions and work with writers to meet MERIP style and standards.   

    As an independent and critical magazine, we seek submissions of any kind that address contemporary political, economic, social and cultural power relations in the contemporary Middle East, the role of the United States and other outside powers and popular struggles in the region. We seek to address the informed general public as well as those with expertise and professional interest in Middle Eastern affairs. 

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