Submissions

We accept submissions for our blog all year round and for our journal during an annual 2 month period. Please read on for more details, but these are the basic points you need to know:

Any undergraduate student (or those who have graduated from their undergrad degree within the last year) can submit to us. You do not need to study philosophy at Lancaster University to submit, you can study physics at Harvard University for all we care!
First and foremost, we are a philosophy journal. All submissions to our journal must be philosophy papers/reviews and all submissions to our blog must be at least philosophy-related. That said, we welcome philosophy papers for our journal from all areas of philosophy, such as political philosophy, legal philosophy, philosophy of mind, psychological philosophy, moral philosophy, philosophy of religion, etc. There is an area of philosophy covering any discipline you can think of, including maths, science and business!
You can submit coursework. As long as the coursework is edited in accordance with the word count, referencing style, and any other submission requirements particular to Ethica, coursework that has been already submitted towards a degree programme can be submitted towards Ethica.

Journal

Ethica accepts two forms of submissions for the journal:

Papers, which are to make an argument. Strong papers will demonstrate clarity, accuracy of thought and intellectual independence. They will reach conclusions by reasoned argument rather than assertion, and manifest critical and attentive reading of any texts discussed and a solid understanding of philosophical ideas and theories. Exceptional papers will display a grasp of the literature and be able to situate themselves within it.
Reviews, which are a summary of a philosophical work, followed by a description of what contribution it made to the field (if any). The aim of a review is to enable readers to decide whether to read a piece of work (and if they do read it, how to get more out of it). Therefore, reviews must aim to provide the reader with helpful information. Reviews should demonstrate accurate understanding of the reviewed text and an awareness of the literature in which the text situates itself. The function of a review is not to argue against the content (this is for papers). Any book or paper, from any time period or philosophical area, can be the focus of a review from Ethica.

Eligibility: Authors must be an undergraduate student or alumni having graduated within 1 year. Both students from within and outside Lancaster University can submit content for the journal.

File type and format: Our preferred document type is Microsoft Word .doc, but if needed, authors can send submissions in using the .pdf format. The submission should be marked with its discipline, such as: ‘philosophy of logic’, ‘philosophy of maths’, ‘philosophy of mind’, ‘epistemology’, ‘philosophy of language’, ‘value theory’, ‘metaphysics’, etc. Where a paper overlaps between more than one area, the author should choose the one they feel is most prominent.

Abstract: Submissions must include a brief abstract of 100-300 words on the first page. This does not count towards the total word count.

Word count: Submissions must adhere to the set word-range of 3,000 to 6,000 words for papers and 1,000 to 2,000 words for reviews. The abstract has its own word limit of 100-300 words, and so this is not included in the total word count for the paper. The title, footnotes and bibliography are also not included in the total word count. However, things such as subheadings and figure headings are included in the word count.

References: References should follow the Chicago 17th edition referencing style, in the author-date system. The in-text citation consists of the author(s) name and year of publication (and page number where relevant) given in round brackets. The complete reference list should appear alphabetically by name at the end of the paper in an organised bibliography. You can find a complete style guide here.

Figures: If a paper includes figures (such as tables, graphs, diagrams, etc.) or artwork, authors must be clear when referring to these figures. Title all figures numerically, e.g., ‘Figure 1’, which could be referred to as, “with reference to Figure 1.”

Coursework: As long as the coursework is written in accordance with the word count, referencing style, and any other submission requirements particular to Ethica, coursework that has been submitted towards a degree programme already can be submitted towards Ethica. However, it is also worth noting that you will not be permitted to self-plagiarise by submitting the same essay, or parts of the essay, towards a university assignment after publication in our journal.

Revisions policy: Ethica recognises the importance of feedback within academics and therefore offers a review and revision process. If you are invited to revise your submission after it has gone through our peer-review process, the journal will also request the revised submission to be formatted or edited according to our suggestions for amendment.

Plagiarism agreement: By submitting to Ethica, authors are agreeing that their submission has not been submitted for publication in their current forms or in a marginally different form elsewhere. Authors can submit work to Ethica that they have written for university assignments; however, they cannot submit work for a university assignment after that same piece has been published in the journal.

To submit to Ethica, please email it to ethicajournal@gmail.com.

For any queries, please refer here.

Blog

Ethica welcomes submissions from any undergraduate student in the world, and alumni having graduated within 1 year. Both students from within and outside Lancaster University can submit content for the blog. We welcome instructional posts (such as “How to write a philosophy essay”), and summaries of theses and commentaries from academics within the Philosophy department at Lancaster University. We look for blog posts that will transfer Ethica's high standard of writing to a succinct discussion on topics either within a focused discipline of philosophy or that extend beyond academic philosophy and philosophers. Ethica’s blog aims to provide an informative and accessible platform for philosophical inquiry and for philosophy students to engage more with the discipline.

Ethica accepts two forms of submissions for blog posts:

Evergreen content – this could be anything from study tips, degree related pieces, book / media recommendations, etc., and we are looking for these types of blog posts to be reasonably short, within a range of 300 to 700 words.
Philosophical posts – this could be anything from a philosophical book / paper review (less formal and shorter than the reviews published in the journal itself), an introduction to a philosophical idea or philosopher that you find interesting, a brief discussion on a fascinating philosophical concept or area, etc., and we are looking for these types of blog posts to be slightly longer, within a range of 500 to 1,000 words.

Submissions must:

adhere to the set word-range of 300 to 1,000 words (300 to 700 for evergreen content and 500 to 1,000 for philosophical posts);
include a full name and title;
be fully referenced (if applicable – not all blog posts will have references) in a consistent referencing style (whatever you're comfortable with / works best);
be submitted in the Microsoft Word (.doc) format, not in the .pdf format.

Submissions cannot be submitted for publication in their current forms or in a marginally different form elsewhere, and cannot have been submitted elsewhere for publication before being submitted to Ethica. This is to ensure the accessible nature of the blog is maintained – we would like to keep the blog posts distinct from any scholarly articles. Any submission is final and may not be modified.

If you are unsure about writing content for our blog or unsure about what kind of posts we are looking for, please feel free to contact us here and put forward any inquiry or idea. We will welcome any ideas that adhere to our criteria. Please click the PDF icon below to see a list of blog post ideas.

To submit a blog post to Ethica, please email it to ethicajournal@gmail.com.

For any queries, please refer here.

Why should I submit something towards the journal?

Publication in an undergraduate philosophy journal carries with it a lot of academic prestige. Therefore, it is something impressive to put on your CV! Not only that, but no matter your submission status, the Editors at Ethica provide each author with detailed feedback on their submission — therefore, submitting a piece of work is a great way to improve your writing! And finally, writing a philosophical paper or review is a brilliant way of exploring a topic you are fascinated by, without being constrained by the requirements of a standardised course at university.
When is the submissions period?

Submissions for the journal open from 1st December to 1st February annually. Submissions for the blog are accepted all year round, every year.
Do you have to be studying philosophy to submit something?

No. You can submit content no matter what subject you study at university, though the piece of work must be on a philosophical topic. Visit ethicajournal.com/submissions to view all submission requirements.
How long does it take to receive submission feedback?

All papers will receive quality feedback from our team of trained reviewers within 2 weeks of the submission deadline.
Are there limits to what I can write about?

As long as the submission has a general philosophical focus, you can submit a piece of work on any topic you find interesting. Visit ethicajournal.com/submissions to view all submission requirements.
I'm a first-year UG student, can I still submit?"

Yes. Our submissions are open to any undergraduate student and alumni who have graduated within the last year. This includes first-year students! That said, if you are at all worried about not meeting the standard of writing we expect for the journal at Ethica and are not wanting to submit as a result, please consider submitting something for our blog, which requires content to be less formal, more accessible and shorter in length than our journal entries. Visit ethicajournal.com/submissions to view all submission requirements.
Can I submit if I do(n't) go to Lancaster University?

Both Lancaster and non-Lancaster students can submit to both the journal and the blog! Visit ethicajournal.com/submissions to view all submission requirements.
Do you get paid for being published in Ethica?

Unfortunately not. It is rare that any author gets financially compensated for their contribution in an academic journal. However, all authors who successfully have their paper published in Ethica will receive a paper copy of the journal at a discounted price. Please see the ‘Why should I submit something towards the journal?’ FAQ to read more about the benefits of submitting content to the journal.
What is Ethica's acceptance rate?

We cannot provide a statistic for the acceptance rate because there is no fixed percentage. We assess each essay based on its merits and then from this we make a decision as to whether it can go through to publication. As a result, year-by-year the proportion of submissions that we accept will change because it depends completely upon the quality of submissions received.
Can I submit more than one piece of work towards the journal?

Feel free to submit as many pieces of work as you want towards the blog. However, students may only submit one piece of work (whether paper or review) towards each annual issue of the Ethica journal. Visit ethicajournal.com/submissions to view all submission requirements.
Can I submit coursework?

Yes. As long as the coursework is edited in accordance with the word count, referencing style, and any other submission requirements particular to Ethica. The submission must also not have been published in any substantive form elsewhere. It is also worth noting that you will not be permitted to self-plagiarise by submitting the same essay, or parts of the essay, towards a university assignment after publication in our journal. Visit ethicajournal.com/submissions to view all submission requirements.
Is there any particular referencing style expected?

Yes. Chicago 17th edition referencing style. Visit ethicajournal.com/submissions to view all submission requirements.
What is included in the word count?

The abstract has its own word limit of 100-300 words, and so this is not included in the total word count for the paper. The title, footnotes and bibliography are also not included in the total word count. However, things such as subheadings and figure headings are included in the word count. Visit ethicajournal.com/submissions to view all submission requirements.