Changes: Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies and Theory Journals

Revision as of 21:28, 14 November 2014

Please share your experiences working with these journals! Feel free to add other journals to the list. Try to stick with this format: each journal should be separated by dashes, and responses under each journal should each have their own bullet.

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a/b Auto/Biography

two rounds of revisions before a final rejection, with no explanation given (or offered when requested).

Affirmations: Of the Modern

Angelaki

Arthuriana

Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly

boundary 2

For a time this was an academic journal but it is now a social club. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. The editor Bove was once worth reading and dealing with but alas, in the footsteps of Harold Bloom and Stanley Fish, his principal concern is now self-aggrandizement. Boundary 2 is his social club's newsletter.
ditto. also, before it went no-unsolicited, i submitted a piece there and got the most awful, demeaning, unsubstantiated rejection "feedback" (basically a single paragraph, riddled with typos and a variety of other errors) that i've ever received. piece ended up being accepted elsewhere, at a better publication, and while this experience really did shake my confidence (i was a grad student at the time) i was ultimately very glad i didn't publish at a place that so quickly thereafter became officially a clique publication.
x3 This board and the editor in particular are the worst of the worst in the academy. Nice enough people but the're just dominated by self importance. They want to "analyze the tyrannies of thought and action spreading around the world" -- ahh ahem -- that's the case and you don't accept submissions...irony anyone? Maybe you could start examining exercises of power through tyranical publicaiton control.
This is a closed and in-house, NOT peer reviewed jorunal. They publish stuff on China for example and have no one on the board in the field. The board of pals determines who and what gets in. THis is a bit gross really, even if you dont buy into objective meritoratic procedures. They publish some embarassing stuff from Lindsay Waters, who is not remotely an academic or scholar but "merely" the CE of Harvard UP. Basically this is the journal of the "friends of Paul bove" and "selected friends of paul". Paul is a smart dude but this is a bit too much. Also, they radically overturned their board of editors/pals some years ago, who objected to this type of clique-ishness.
It's also worth noting that of the fourteen members of the "editorial collective," there is exactly one woman. Tyrannies of thought indeed.
The attacks on Lindsay Waters here are completely unwarranted. Contrary to the insinuations of the poster above, Waters has a doctorate from Chicago and has published extensively. His editorial work at both Harvard UP and Minnesota UP has also been field changing. Look at his role in the publication of Theory and History of Literature at Minnesota, for example. To suggest that his work is embarassing, and that he is neither an academic, nor a scholar, is a really bizarre set of accusations, considering his (deserved) influence. Whatever your problems with boundary 2 as a journal, ad hominem attacks on other scholars are petty and pointless.
Waters is an academic press *editor,* a very influential and powerful if also notorious one, being at Harvard and all. That doesnt make him a scholar or researcher. And if you look at his writings (which you wont find in peer-reviewed/refereed journals or academic books I don't think---?) this speaks for itself. I have only seen him do journalism and chatty first person stuff. Nothing wrong with that but....... I trust this doesn't sound ad hominem, it is just plain as day. Anyway b2 is clearly a closed, in-house thing and rather insular and clique-ish or clubby, I must say.
You actually will find Waters' work in academic books and journals. As I mentioned above, he has a doctorate from Chicago and is trained as a comparatist. I think you need to learn a bit more about how academic presses work—book acquisitions editors at university presses quite often have doctorates, as well as their own research pursuits. Moreover, the position of an editor at an academic press is a scholarly position. Lindsay Waters is very, very, very well versed in scholarship because that is what his job demands, even if it isn't a tenured professorship (something he very well could have pursued). This is why we have Bataille, Adorno, Benjamin, Blanchot, Deleuze, etc widely available in English translation. I can guarantee that Waters' scholarly work as an editor has had an influence on your own work, through his role in the circulation of "theory" in a North American context. One has to be both a scholar and a researcher for such an intervention to occur, whether or not that scholarship falls into the narrow parameters you're offering.
Is that you Lindsay? :-) Sorry if I hurt your feelings, sir. You know you are not behind all of that, and not all by yourself old chap. But regardless I do not know of any academic/scholarly publications WRITTEN BY YOU. I think that is the point here. Feel free to prove me wrong by listing them here. "I think you need to know more about how academic writing works." And why does this journal have him on board? That's the other germane question/comment.
If you don't know of any academic publications written by Waters, you could always do an author search on JSTOR. 20-30 publications come up, some are in B2, and some are in other journals. It kind of seems like a waste of space to list them all, though... But really this doesn't have anything to do with B2, which doesn't accept submissions anyway. Oh well.
Hey since someone asked I looked! 2 essays by Mr Waters from 1978, on Byron and some Italian poet of days gone by. Everything else is a b2 club-pub or some personal journalistic thing, like what Paul De Man, my true love, once said to me.... He's an important guy (to some anyway) because he is the CE of HUP, nothing else. The clubbiness indeed fits b2, as noted above. In fact I dont know what defines b2 intellectually other than this in-crowd clubbiness. There is no other line of inquiry or field. That's the problem.

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

From CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture: "Articles are submitted to the journal on its website directly, submissions are acknowledged, and the evaluation (double-blind peer review) is sent 3-4 months after submission in a composite evaluation from the comments by 2-3 readers. Publication follows max. one year after submission, normally earlier in the next available issue. Criteria for publication: a) Original research not published elsewhere prior to submission or submitted elsewhere, b) Submission is within the purview of the journal’s Aims & Scope <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweblibrary/clcwebaims>, c) Authors receive notification about the suitability of the paper for publication, d) Following peer review, authors whose papers are accepted or accepted conditionally receive readers’ comments in a composite evaluation (authors of papers evaluated against publication do not receive readers’ comments)." The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles in regular, thematic, and special issues, review articles of scholarly books, and research material in its Library Series. ... The total download of the journal's material since its pdf format 2007- has been over one million. The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press print & e-books monograph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/comparative-cultural-studies
Absolutely unprofessional. After submitting my article, the editor acknowledged he had received it and never heard from him again. When, after several months, I inquired about the status of my article, the editor told me that it had been rejected a while ago and, as per their policy, I would receive NO feedback whatsoever. A total waste of time. (restored 05/12)

The editor was unprofessional and at times belligerent in his correspondence. No readers reports were ever provided and the peer review process was very unclear (and possibly non existent). Interesting that the editor is on here trying to pitch for his journal (and apparently deleting comments). Stay away.
The editors are very rigorous, but helpful. On the other hand, the editorial process can be rather long.

College Literature

Historically as much concerned with pedagogy as critical and theoretical approaches, now looking for more work on the latter.
Could anyone speak to the reputation of this journal? Is it not well known in my non-English field, but seems to be doing good work.
They are a good journal. Several years ago (not sure exactly when) they went through an editorial change in which the journal now focuses on critical, theoretical approaches toward literature. Per their mission statement, they are interested in work that questions established readings, practices, etc etc. I've leafed through several recent editions, and it looks pretty solid. Most articles are not straight theory, but are readings of works within a theoretical framework.
One thing that's particularly cool about this journal is that their review section considers reviews of instructional and introductory texts as well as just monographs and essay collections. So if you have things to say about the way your field is framed for undergraduates, for example, this is the place to raise those issues in a review. They do have a slightly odd policy that they won't let graduate students write multiple-book review essays.

The Comparatist

I'm thinking of submitting to this journal. Any comments would be appreciated.
I haven't submitted here, but I have served as a peer review for an interesting article for this journal. The editor seemed smart and professional.
Published here recently. Fairly smooth process. Not much communication with the editor. No publication agreement ever came through. No offprints either. There may be some organizational issues either at SCLS or between the journal and UNC Press.
I submitted an article to this journal last year (2012). The reports were poor quality and clearly thrown together hastily. The comments in the reports were not only vicious, but also perfunctory, unhelpful, and at times, nonsensical. The article was later accepted for publication in a better journal, with very minor revisions. A perplexing experience.
I had one accepted paper recently (April 2014), but the correspondence with the editor was very brief. They have not contacted me yet (August 2014) for any bio-note or publication agreement. It might be a bit too soon, though. Apart from that, they seem to be fair and fast.

Comparative Literature

Moved fairly quickly. Two anonymous reviews within 4 four months. From time of acceptance to actual time of publication, however, was 1 1/2 years because of a back log of accepted articles.
also moved quickly for me. 2 anonymous reviews within 2 months; one reviewer positive the other hostile (rejection, 2011)
Fairly quick review process (~4 months) after inquiring with editor. Both articles I've submitted have been rejected, which is nothing unusual, but the reports have been frustratingly unhelpful. The problem seems to be that reviewers are selected based on national specialization and not methodology.

as poster #2 above I appreciate and agree with the third set of comments. my article dealth with a specific national literature, but I preferred to publish in a comparativist journal. It was also true in my case that neither reviewer seemed to have substantively comparativist/methodological interests. Indeed, one reviewer was hostile to the very idea that I regarded the tradition I was dealing with as having "literary theory" at all! an odd choice as a reviewer for ACLA's journal of record.
Again, the review process was quick (3 months). While ultimately the essay was rejected, I received helpful reports.

Slow, rather agonizing, but ultimately successful experience. No info at five months, but accepted a month later. Editor is a delight: clear, quick, encouraging responses to email inquiries. They can take a long while to find readers who specialize in the languages discussed in your essay. That snarls the process. One reader report was thorough and generally excellent (if a bit querulous and sometimes mean-spirited); the other reader report flaky and unhelpful. Apparently a long backlog once accepted.
The experience was wonderful for me. Five months is not at all a long time these days, I have dealt with journals that take nearly two years. The backlog is long, but it helps to finish corrections quickly, as some people in the backlog take forever to deliver their final version. That moved me up a couple issues. The editors are the most professional people I have dealt with.

Comparative Literature Studies

My submission took over 9 months; it was an R&R; resubmitted in 5/2012 and still waiting for word as of 9/2012--so it seems like an extraordinary slow turn around. Can anyone else report on their experience?
editorial office does not respond (so far) to queries about corrections to my gallies.
extremly non-communicative editorial office (2013)
Also a very protracted experience: submitted a piece, after 5 months received an acceptance with recommended revisions. Submitted the revisions one month later, waited another 6 months for the revisions to be accepted and the article finally approved. And then more than a year for the piece to appear in print.

Configurations

I submitted a paper, and didn't get even a *first* decision for 14(!) months. I wrote several times, and got a few generic responses from the editor, when he bothered to respond at all. I ended up withdrawing the paper and publishing it elsewhere. It was around five years ago (2009). I hope they got their act together by now.
Any comments on this journal? One of the very best for lit / science studies, but not sure if anyone has any experiences to share?

Connotations

Contemporary Literature

I had perhaps an unusual experience: from pitch to print, 9 months. Perhaps good timing? Colleagues have said Con Lit is slow, but tat wasn't my experience. Good editorial comments, but prepare to be copy edited into oblivion. Still, to have a piece here is worth it.
Very conservative.
Very complicated process, involving two readers: a long delay (6 months), followed by very quick action. Some obvious contradictions in the advice given on revision, and no initial editorial feedback on how to resolve them. Later communication directly with one reader and editor clarified directions for revision, which then went quickly. The final-stage editing was extremely exacting and...interventionist, mostly in good ways. From acceptance to publication was about 12 months.
I've submitted two articles. The first, submitted several years ago, came back after 8 months (the instructions said 4 to 6 at the time) with an R & R. One reader had said to publish with virtually no revision, and one had said to revise heavily. I overhauled quite a bit and sent it back. They didn't resubmit to the reader who had said to publish, and the other reader said s/he still didn't like it. They rejected it without sending it out to another reader, which I accepted as marginally fair, though I've heard the additional reader is common practice. The second piece, submitted just recently, came back with a decision relatively quickly (a little over 3 months). It had gone out to readers, but I only received one report, which was one of the nastiest reviews of a piece of writing I have seen anywhere. Close paraphrase: the piece has no argument and manages to be simultaneously derivative and devoid of any apparent interest. Well over half of the report was harping on my disagreement with one critic's essay, which ocuppies 1.5 paragraphs in a 27 page article. Three of my colleagues, two of them senior faculty, had looked at some version of the piece, and none of them could fathom why it would elicit that kind of criticism. I had previously sent the piece to one of the most prestigious journals in American literature, and the generous desk rejection praised the argument (with which it showed specific familiarity) and suggested I send it to other top-tier journals. My experience indicates that the journal's editorial process is fairly shoddy, and it will be a long while before I submit anything else or recommend that any of my colleagues do so.
12 months for a conditional acceptance--an additional 3 months for contract. Readers were very well informed and gave good feedback.
Submitted an article in September 2014 and received a reply - a rejection, alas - barely a month later. Prompt and polite. Polite but terse suggestions beyond the boilerplate-type rejection letter.

Critical Inquiry

Almost five month wait before receiving a brief rejection email. No feedback of any kind. Wonder if they even read the submission. Oh well, I should have known better than to expect anything more decent, given its reputation. Blah.
Highly desirable publication venue, like PMLA for the theory crowd. Given the high number of submissions I imagine they receive, a quick turnaround time (4 months), but in my case the rejection came without any reviewer feedback, and the editor's note simply stated that they enjoyed my article but it didn't fill a current need. Still, worth a shot when it's only 4 months out of your publishing life!
Rejection at 4 months, with a one-sentence note that they enjoyed my article but it didn't fill a current need. Not sure whether it went to readers, but if it was a desk rejection, it should have been quicker, or else they should have passed on reader reports.
I hear that this one's a closed shop (invitation only), and so I've never even bothered submitting.
Not a closed shop at all. I submitted as I was finishing grad school, with no invitation and no special superstar accomplishments, and everyone told me that they'd just reject me out of hand-- but I got in, and they have actually been the most professional group of people I've ever worked with, journal-wise. If it seems like a closed shop, it's probably only because people always say it's a closed shop and so people are afraid to submit-- which of course does indeed make it, by default, a closed shop. If you have good work, send it in-- I truly believe based on my experience with them that they will give you a sincere and careful read, even though ultimately they have so little space that you might not make it in.
Submitted an article in September of 2011. Contacted them in May of 2012 to find out the status of my manuscript. Was told that they were still waiting on one reviewer. Contacted them again in July of 2012, and was told that they had contacted the reviewer, and expected to get me a response no later than the end of August. Contacted them in October of 2012 (over one full year after submission), was told that my article was tabled to the next meeting because they had such a large back log. Finally heard from them in November of 2012. My article was rejected, and no reviews were provided. When I emailed the editor to ask to see the reviews, as that would help me better position my article elsewhere, was given a very standard response: "We receive many outstanding articles, and are simply unable to publish a great deal of them. We wish you the best..." This experience may not be shared by others, but it should be noted. I would never submit there again. And, I'm inclined to stop reading the journal altogether, simply because their review process is not transparent.
Critical Inquiry IS a closed shop. They are not forthcoming with readers reports. They told me my article was sent out to readers, but they would only give me a short excerpt from the report, which more or less said what the person above reported. Actually, I recall the report said something inane like "the article is a bit long and we would want the author to cut some of it so it should be sent to another journal." Huh? Why not just ask me to cut it? I submitted here twice, once in graduate school and later after having published a book and a number of articles in top journals. When I first submitted, my thesis advisor-who happens to be a well-known figure in critical theory--said "CI is very snobby. They've never published anything of mine."
After five months waiting, I received a standardized rejection letter with no readers' reports ... Disappointing.
Had a very positive experience, despite it being a rejection. Heard back after about 4 months, with a wonderful, detailed summary of feedback from the editorial board meeting at which the manuscript was discussed. Very professional, very positive, very friendly, and very productive response. Best rejection I've ever had.
Have published there. Worth the effort. Not the fastest editorial response, but definitely not the slowest either. Heard back in about 4 months, which is pretty cool when you consider how many submissions they must get from all over the humanities. I don't know how it really works, but I never got real readers' reports (as you would from a typical academic journal). I think the editorial board, all being at U Chicago, meet in person regularly and just free-fire on the submissions. Those brainstorms are then distilled as the readers' reports, with maybe one editor really offering something tangible.
Two experiences. First, published there over a decade ago. Submitted in late August, got acceptance late January. The editors wanted little in the way of revision, though what they did recommend was helpful. Later, copy editing by editorial staff was incredibly rigorous: most thorough and precise I've had. Puts other venues, including university presses dealing with book manuscripts, to shame. Lag between acceptance and publication was about 18 mo., but otherwise no complaints. Second was much more recent. Wrote a piece I thought might be worth submitting, but since it was part of a forthcoming book only had time for one round of journal submissions; wasn't sure it was worth gambling on a journal with so low an acceptance rate. Sent it to an editor at CI that I know slightly and, within a day, got a thoughtful, courteous "probably not, and not at this length," based on an at least partial reading of the MS. The most helpful "no" I could have received. I'm senior and have had some interaction with this editor, which won't be everyone's situation, of course, but this was very much not "star" treatment, not least becasue I don't remotely fit in that category. Will try again with them--and given the opportunity, would publish there again in a heartbeat.

Criticism

Recent reputation is an early career-type journal. Not terribly difficult to publish here. A little disorganized and slow on turnaround (6 mos. for me). Didn't ask for any revisions even though I know my article needed them.
R&R exactly one month following submission
Quick turnaround -- R&R one month after submission, acceptance one month after re-submission. Useful readers' reports.
same here; R&R one month after submission (5/2013)--only one report
Seem to be running a little slower these days: 7 weeks to reject, not sent out for external review.
Accepted after approximately three months under review. Very professional and prompt responses from the editor. Good questions to prompt some minor revisions.
Reject after 7 weeks with one-passage comments by the editor; not sent out for external review.

Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction

They would not consider an article I submitted b/c it was not formatted in MLA style; rather than waste time on reformatting I chose to submit elsewhere, and it was quickly accepted. So don't submit any non-MLA articles here.
3 months for a rejection, only one reviewer commented. Their comments were helpful and basically right, but sounded a lot more like a revise/resubmit than a rejection. That seemed to be the editor's decision.
I had a great experience with them, which was much appreciated because my tenure clock was ticking like Marisa Tomei's biological clock in My Cousin Vinny. They got back to me on the article within six weeks, had extremely helpful review comments, and led me through two rounds of revision and resubmission. This directly led to my being able to get tenure. I'm still waiting for the article to come out, but I'm always happy to have something accepted because they wanted it, not because they needed it.
Three months from submission to rejection. Comments also sounded more like revise and resubmit though that option wa not offered. One reviewer and the editor agreed. The comments were sparse, though.
Under three monts from submission to rejection. Dismissed on fair grounds, with somewhat helpful corrections. I've never published here, but I have tried twice now--both times I found the process reasonable and ultimately beneficial to my essays (which, after revisions, were placed in comparable or better journals). Send only very polished work: as posters above testify, R&Rs seem hard to come by here.
Another fabulous experience here. Three months to R&R with detailed reports, one from an external reader and one from an Executive Editor. Minor revisions suggested. Article accepted literally *three days* after resubmitting it. Excellent communication from the assigned editor throughout.
Great experience--under three months from submision to R&R. Minor revisions suggested, article accepted within a couple of weeks of resubmission. I was really impressed with both the external reader's and the editor's suggestions; the editor was less concerned with some of the bigger issues raised by the reader.
Very good experience (back in 1996). It was less than three months between submission and report. Less than year between that and actual publication.

Cultural Critique

20 months from initial submission to seeing the article in print. The article was initially sent to two readers, who returned extremely detailed and helpful reports within 6 months. The article was at that point "provisionally accepted" based on my effectively addressing the readers' comments in revision. I took two months to rewrite, and within a month of resubmitting, the essay was fully accepted. It then took a full year to appear in print, which is certainly on the slow side, but overall, the process was professional and worthwhile.
A very pleasant publishing experience overall, though not the quickest: 15 months from submission to initial reader reports; 3 months for acceptance of revisions; ~1 year from acceptance to publication. Did allow me to revise extensively after mixed initial reviews. Reviews (including the one that initially recommended rejection) were extremely thorough and constructive; that negative review might be the most thorough going over my work has ever received.
Very Good experience & would work with them/submit again. It did take 12 months to get pubbed after acceptance, but they tell you this upfront. My reviews were detailed and of high quality. There was one hostile reviewer (and while "blind" he knew me and vice versa) but this was discounted once I had a chance to respond. Very commendable in fact.
Excellent journal. 4 months from submission to acceptance w/ minor reivision. Detailed reader reports and excellent suggestions for revision for publication.
Could not be more professional. Excellent journal to publish with. Accepted fully in 6 months.

Cultural Politics

Very good experience. Kept in consistent, professional contact about status of my submission. Got me detailed, thoughtful reports (including critical ones). Open to my response to them and encouraged revision. Once accepted it came out in under a year, I think about8 months. Would definitely submit to them again. [posted Oct. 2014]

Cultural Studies

Waited nine months for first response. Revised. Waited another six months for the second. It demanded very substantive changes, inconsistent with those of the first round. Gave up, withdrew the paper and published elsewhere.
Awful. Readers reports took nine months. I had questions about one of the reports, which referred to an "attachment" that wasn't forwarded to me, and wrote at least five times over a several month period for clarification. After the fifth email, got a response that they'd look into it and get back to me. Then nothing. The period for revisions expired, and I pulled my article.

Culture, Theory, and Critique

submitted article 3/2011; two readers reports (only one really detailed) three months later; published within 12 months of submission. I would recommend publishing here.

Diacritics

Is this still a live journal? Looks like last issue was published in 2009?
It's still live. The most recent issue came out a couple months ago. They're just backdating it.
Everyone I know who's published here has had TERRIBLE experiences, i.e., 2-3yrs from submission to acceptance, then another 1-2yrs. to publication.
I had a great experience there. The new editor is brilliant and very efficient. [posted March 2013]
I submitted an article to a special issue last summer (June 2012), and received a form letter 2 or 3 months later saying it was "not a good fit." No reasons offered. I was able to publish the article in a different journal.
6 months, 2 readers reports, but seemingly positive, but resulted in rejection.

Eighteenth-Century Fiction

[Comment moved from English Literature Journals]: Fantastic experience: quick response, understandable revisions/comments.
Useful reports. Took 4 months. Rejections. Comments are helpful for revision.
Quick response and the reader reports were thoroughly helpful. Excellent experience with editors.

Eighteenth-Century Life

Good experience here. The original review took 8 months, but the R&R request was accompanied by helpful reader reports and an encouraging note from the editor. The resubmitted piece got another R&R (which took a similarly long time), but was eventually rewarded with an acceptance within 3-4 months of re-submission. The copy-editing process is extensive and incredibly helpful, and the copy-editors well-trained. Your piece will be read with a fine-tooth comb by several readers, and you have the opporunity to see corrected proofs before publication. The editor is also available for consultation if you have questions about nitty-gritty editorial decisions. I wish I could hire them to read the rest of my MS! :-)
Famous for their meticulous copy-editing; it's painful, but immensely constructive. My colleague just showed me an already-polished piece they returned to him post-edit, and it's basically all red... it really is unique that each piece gets so much attention.

Eighteenth-Century Studies

Any reflections on or sense of the timeline--from submission, acceptance, and publication?
I submitted by e-mail. Within two weeks, the managing editor wrote to say that they did not feel 18thC Studies was the right journal for my article. Swift rejection was much better than long wait.
Received an e-mail less than one week after submission. Encouraging, but they wanted something more interdisciplinary. I agree with the above commenter: better sooner than later.

The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation

The review process is on the slow side-- it took some prodding and 8 months to hear back (they were waiting to hear from reviewers). The reader reports were a mixed bag: I got one very detailed and very constructive review, one semi-helpful and more general review, and one very dismissive and condescending review. But at least I got the three reviews. Not sure if I can wait another 8 months after resubmission for a decision, though, so I will likely submit this piece elsewhere.
Not a blind review process: Two reader reports contained my name (one in the file name, and one in the header).
One very snarky (and ABSURD) 4 or 5 sentence, disaffected peer review. The other one was more sober and constructive, although it chastised me for not citing work that had yet to be published.

European Romantic Review

Received a rejection after a few months. One reader gave unbelievably detailed and extremely helpful comments - some of the best I've ever gotten on any work - and the other left an unbelievably rude 2 sentence dismissal. Very odd experience.
6 weeks after submission I received a request to revise and resubmit. There were two reader reports, one glowing and one fairly skeptical. I did my best to address all of the skeptical reader's concerns, but my resubmission turned into a rejection after 3 weeks' wait. I'm not sure why a third reader wasn't consulted. It felt strange to get rejected after one reader loved it so much. The upside was very fast turnaround.
Received a R&R about one month after submission, with very helpful, precise suggestions. Made as many corrections as I could, re-submitted it, and received an acceptance less than two months later. Very good experience, very fast turnaround.

Exemplaria

Exemplaria an academic journal dedicated to medieval and Renaissance studies from Maney Publishing has received the 2011 Phoenix Award for Significant Editorial Achievement from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ)
I will echo the many positive comments here. Excellent communication from the editor and incisive comments from the readers. I heard back in about 2 months from initial submission and then waited about 1-2 months to hear back after resubmission. Reader suggestions were specific, actionable, and quite learned. This is probably the most pleasant experience I have ever had with a journal.
I enjoyed an excellent experience with this journal. Each time I submitted an article, I was notified of their decision within a month or so (of their rejections, as well as of their acceptance of my third submission.) In each case, I received detailed and insightful readers' comments. The journal editor cleaned up my accepted article with a light hand before sending it to the publisher, who then progressed quickly through the process from copyediting to publication. The total turnaround time from submission to publication was about a year.
Outstanding experience here. Probably the best experience I've had with a journal in terms of timeliness, transparency, and concrete feedback about the submission. Article went through two readers who were both VERY knowledgeable about my subject/author. Heard back within 2 months upon initial review (revise & resubmit), then a few weeks after second review (resulting in acceptance). Excellent, frequent communication from editor.
Here too an overwhelmingly pleasant experience. The submission editor was exceptionally professional, the readers were critical in the best of ways, and the production editor was careful and attentive to detail. The initial acceptance arrived at right around three months and even with revisions and copyediting, the piece was in print about a year later. I can't image a more committed team of editors and readers.
A similarly positive experience, this time a couple of years back. The readers chosen were very knowledgeable about my topic (in fact, I think they were chosen for expertise in the medieval work rather than in literary theory), they were tough and exacting but incredibly professional and fair. I took a long time with my revisions, but once I submitted them it did not take long for the acceptance. A good while later, I was asked to edit to reduce length by a considerable amount (the new length had mainly been to satisfy the readers), and although this was a bit annoying, it made for a much stronger piece. Editors were reachable by email and friendly.

Explorations in Renaissance Culture

Folklore

R&R in about two months with very helpful reader reports. Strangely enough, reports were mailed by post (internationally!), even though the submission was sent in by email.

Forum for Modern Language Studies

Genre

R&R within 3 months; article accepted for publication around1 month after resubmission. Readers' reports were fair and thorough. Good experience here.
I also had an R&R in 3 or 4 months. Revisions were weighed for another couple of months. In all, almost 7 months elapsed before acceptance. Overall, I had a good experience.
For those who submitted to Genre, did you receive an acknowledgement? About two weeks has lasped for an article I submitted & which was never acknowledged. Follow up: I can now confirm that I submitted an essay here which was not even acknowledged (2013).
I also submitted an essay and didn't immediately receive confirmation of receipt, but when I sent a follow-up email after two weeks the editor responded quickly and kindly.
I received a prompt confirmation of receipt upon submission; R&R within 2 months. Article accepted for publication less than a week after resubmission. Readers' reports were insightful and the new editor was professional throughout. Overall, an excellent publishing experience (2014).

Historical Materialism

Good journal, but very slow moving.

Huntington Library Quarterly

Really impressive experience here. Standard-to-fast turnaround (2-4 months), very full readers' reports and editors notes. This journal took a good article and made it a really good article, and I learned a lot in the process. More rigorous and helpful than its more prestigious peers, in my experience.
Quick feedback- I received a response in a little over a month. The reports were thorough, although one sounded more like R&R. Both reviewers were very positive and one gave very good feedback.
From submission through revision through being put in the 'queue' to publish, my article took four years to appear.
I was hoping for the fast turnaround and detailed reports mentioned above, but didn't get either. It took 7-8 months to hear back, and I got just a couple snippets from the reports pasted in the rejection email (which must have come, I assume, from longer reports?). The wait would be OK If I had received some useful revision advice, but unfortunately I didn't.
Really slow - they had an article for 11 months, but miraculously provided a response the same day I finally got round to chasing it up, which made me feel like it had been ready for a while but they could not be bothered to contact me. It was a perfectly amiable rejection, with some useful pointers to revise 'for publication elsewhere', but no actual readers' reports. Not anonymous either, referring to my earlier work in the response...?

Inter-Asia Cultural Studies

Received a very prompt, but very snarky and grouchy reader's report. The reader clearly did not like one of the writers I was drawing on. It was clear that the reader did not read the whole essay and didn't seem very familiar or sympathetic to literary approaches to cultural studies. I have heard that others have had more positive experiences with this journal, however.

Interdisciplinary Literary Studies

Am about to submit something here, so would appreciate any comments
Recently submitted, and am waiting to hear. It's been about a month.
submitted article at beginning of 7/2013. Four months later, submission system still says "with editor" and it doesn't look like there has been any movement at all. Editor has responded to queries, but they seem very slow. I need to publish this article before it appears in book form, so I am considering withdrawing it for a faster moving journal. Comments re this journal's turn around time would be much appreciated.\
I also submitted in July 2013. As of today, November 5, the submission page still says "with editor." I have not queried to find out what's going on. MLA bibliography says about ILS, "Time Between Submission And Publication Decision: 4-6 months." Could still be a while yet. (Update: I emailed to see if there were any movement on their side. They said my article is with readers, and they expect the readers' reports by the end of February.Additional update: revisions, but nothing other than a couple of spelling errors. Reader recommended publication. Fixed and uploaded. I heard back from them in April, so about 10 months)
5 months for a one line rejection. Would definitely not submit here again (2014).

ISLE: Interdisiplinary Studies in Literature and Environment

Six weeks for a decision (minor revisions) with one detailed reader's report, one month between revisions and acceptance, and 9-10 months between final acceptance and publication.

JEMCS: Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies

While the annual GEMCS conference appears to be defunct for the time being, the affiliated journal appears to be going strong: JEMCS is now published by U. of Penn Press.
Great experience overall. 4 months for a revise and resubmit with two detailed reader's reports, both of which were dead on about the changes needed. 1 month between submission of revision and acceptance. The copy editing was thorough and it was a matter of months between final acceptance and publication. My article was much improved by the process.

JMEMS: Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Before submitting, note somewhat odd formatting request: "All material in the document, including extracts and endnotes, should be formatted in a 12-point Courier (typewriter style) font (not in a proportional font like Times Roman)."

Journal of Literature and Trauma Studies

Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association

Very behind on publication. I submitted in March. Now it's November and I haven't heard anything except that authors would be notified in November.

(I'm OP) Just heard back -- late January -- and got a brief rejection, no reader reports. Said that they are under new leadership, which is why it took so long to respond.

JML: Journal of Modern Literature

Moved very quickly. Even with 2 R&Rs, time from submission to acceptance was only 4 months. Very organized, thorough, and friendly editors and board. X2
My submission never made it past the managing editor b/c I think it is unethical to require writers to follow the journal's citational style merely to have their work considered for publication. Am I the only one with this position? How I wish the MLA style would vanish from the earth and cede to the far superior Chicago style, or at least that authors would be free to choose!
Received acceptance with no revisions requested after 3 1/2 weeks, although slight revisions were requested during the proofing phase. Altogether, time from submission to appearance in the journal was about 9 months. Correspondence was friendly/helpful and the process was remarkably fast. Highly recommended based on this experience.
Warning: JML does NOT give reader's reports for rejections! I waited three months to hear my article was rejected, and I was told it's their policy not to share reviews for rejections. I would understand if it were just desk rejected, but it was sent to reviewers - after prodding I managed to get a two sentence reason for the rejection. Not exactly helpful for a process that depends on peer reviews to improve scholarship!
I can confirm that JML does not give reader's reports for rejections even when articles are sent out for peer review.
Recieved R&R within 3 months, accepted a few weeks after I resubmitted. Very professional, fast, and good communication. A great experience for my first journal article.
Really quick turnaround - a month from submission to rejection - but would have been happier to have a longer response time if it meant the readers would have submitted reports. How in the world are we meant to improve our work if we don't receive impartial feedback from blind readers?
I actually did get a report for the rejection. Maybe they changed the policy. Anyways, it took two months.

Journal of Narrative Theory

Submitted article in August 2011, submission confirmed Sep. 2011, still waiting to hear anything in May '12.
They are notoriously slow. I receved acceptance in about five months, and then publication a year and a half later. But they are a good journal.

LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory

Enjoyed my process with this journal. Got a split decision R and R, but the more negative reviewer was still extremely helpful and thorough, and they congratulated me on my revisions, which I took some amount of time on. Got accepted after that round. Professional and willing to publish junior scholars' work.

Life Writing

Literature Compass

In house, by invitation only (for the medieval section, at least).

^^Editors do extend invitations to write pieces, but there is a full peer-review process once article is submitted.

I was invited once/recently but declined in part because the journal is/was unknown to me and I'm too busy. It seems fully legit and reputable, but also very much a conventional literary studies one (loosely theoretical). Based in the UK mostly.
Worth clarifying that Literature Compass doesn't publish standard literary research, but rather shortish review pieces covering the current state of a particular topical field or question. This goes most of the way to explaining their editorial practice.

Re the above - it does! Reviewers very keen to establish the topical relevance of my piece. Not sure I know.

several new errors were introduced at the copyediting stage, so I can't recommend this publication. They seem to be good on publicity, though.

Medium Aevum

Absolute disaster. Been waiting to hear for more than eight months now and the editor doesn't even respond to queries. Avoid!
Submitted an article and never received an acknowledgement of receipt (although the editor states in the submission guidelines that all articles are acknowledged). I emailed to confirm receipt after 1 month and never received an email response. About 4 months after submitting, I received an email apology with a rejection. Still, the feedback was quite helpful; however, only 1 reader read my article.
Waited for six weeks (per the postal tracking info) to receive an acknowledgment of receipt, which I only got because I prodded. It was, however, very polite. A month later, I received a second acknowledgment, which made me wonder if they had actually done anything in the interim. At that time, I was told that I could expect to wait ten weeks, which seemed unusually fast. It's been well over four months since the first acknowledgment (almost six from the submission), and I'm still waiting. Editor is now ignoring my emails, even though s/he had said to contact him/her if I hadn't heard anything. A colleague said that they have had my reader's report for several months, but I do not know the source of his/her knowledge of the situation and did not press the point.
I am perversely relieved to see I wasn't the only one! No acknowledgement of receipt (which would be nice when you're submitting a paper essay and sending it across the ocean, no?), most of the year went by before the reports were in, the few emails I sent were either ignored or replied to very late and apologetically. The reports themselves were fair, including one by one of the other editors, who chose to sign his name and make himself available for questions if I had any. The main problem was a structural one, and I think, in fact, they were right. They said they would look at a revision, but they couldn't promise acceptance and they expected it would take a long time to consider the piece again. I wasn't quite sure how to interpret this. Given all that, I decided to submit elsewhere, and the piece was soon published (with a thank you to the named editor). It's a shame, I really would like to publish in this journal, but how long can you wait?

MFS: Modern Fiction Studies

Submitted an article in November 2011 and was rejected in January 2012. The editor copy and pasted one reader review that was particularly nasty. Just beyond rude. So rude that I was completely stunned and kind of wish I could plaster it all over the internet. The reviewer clearly spent a lot of time crafting the perfect metaphors, similes, and imagery to convey what I can only interpret as hatred for what s/he is doing. (The irony is that, in a dependent clause, the reviewer admits that I had actually proven my thesis and that it was an important argument to make!) Maybe they think it's funny? Except it's not. I've received very nice rejections before from PMLA, for example, so don't discount me as particularly sensitive.
Special issue rejection took 5 months, no comments or review given. A colleague got a swift desk rejection, 1 month, no comments.
It took them four months to tell me they had decided not to send it out for review. Previously, I submitted for a special issue and was rejected without any comments. When the special isse came out, every contributor was tenured or full, at competitive institutions. It is not a good venue for an emerging scholar.
I haven't published in MFS myself, but I saw a recent special issue with lots of junior faculty contributors, so the poster above may have had a fluke experience with it.
Received a swift desk rejection, 6 weeks, no comments. (March 2013)
I've published in MFS before (in 2006), and the experience was good. This time, I waited five months (rather than the stated 10-12 weeks), only to be rejected by one of the nastiest reader reports I've ever seen. Not only did it miss the entire argument of the article, but it also accused my prose of being "amateurish," while itself being riddled with errors ("which his novel itself do all the time"). After reading #1 above, I decided to contact John Duvall, the editor, about how incredibly unprofessional the reader was. He magnanimously responded, assuring that he was disappointed with the reader, as well, and would not use him/her again (let's face it: it was probably a him). I might submit there again, but they'll probably be way down on the list. Oh, and the article was accepted at a similarly prestigious journal with very little revision, so I don't think I'm sour grapes-ing this one.
A short, form-like rejection two weeks after submission. Told me the article did not make it past initial review, and explained how they receve over 300 submissions a year, and all that. I am grateful for the quick response, though!
Submitted an article for a special issue and it took them eight months to get back; another three months for brief (one paragraph) RR. No experience submitting for regular issues. As with all guest editors, it depends on the person and not necessarily the journal.

MLN: Modern Language Notes

Submitted an article in January 2012. As per MLN's instructions, I submitted it in hard copy by slow mail. Bad idea. After three months (April 2012), I emailed the journal for an update and was told with apology that my manuscript was either misplaced or not received; could I send the article by email? I did. I emailed for an update again in July 2012; was told I'd have a response in 4-6 weeks. None came. Emailed again in October 2012, February 2013. One time ignored, another time was told the piece is STILL out for review. Not sure whether or not to withdraw it at this point. [Posted May 16].
This is a top journal for comparative lit and the national languages, but beware if you are on a tight timeline. My experience with the French issue was SLOOW--nothing for a year, then another 8 months before I finally got one sparse reader report & rejection. During that time, I emailed the journal several times and was kept abreast of the status of the article, but it was a long wait for a rejection.
I sent an article about a year and a half ago. Knowing they were slow, I didn't panic when I didn't hear for a year. Then at the beginning of 2014 I decided to email them to find out about my paper. I haven't received any response to any of my emails. After such a long time I'm reluctant to withdraw my article, as I'd like to get at least a reader's report out of what has been an otherwise pretty terrible experience.
Well, Comp Lit volume comes out but once a year (alternating with German, French and Hispanic issues), and it seems like give a lot of print space each year to their own editors/faculty members (it's really striking how you see the same names over and over again-it's like a Hum Center created a showcase for itself), which seems somewhat questionable (somewhat more than somewhat) It's no wonder their submissions pipeline is clogged and acceptance is a long shot, at least in CL volume.

MLQ: A Journal of Literary History

Typically very quick turnaround (especially for rejections) with full editor's report, suggestions etc.
Agree with above. I've never had such thorough and detailed feedback for a desk rejection. Quite helpful, and left a very positive impression of the journal and its editor.
Agree. Insanely fast turnaround and even rejections almost always come with an incredibly detailed response. Also, if you get accepted, the editing process is more thorough and helpful than you'll get almost anywhere else. One of the good 'uns.
There was a fantastic response time for my article. Although the editor heaped praise upon the piece (very appreciated!), he graciously rejected it because the focus was a little too narrow (too author-focusedrather than focused on genre). It was, nevertheless, a fantastic rejection insofar as his editorial suggestions were both helpful and educational.
It was a joy to work with Marshall Brown, the editor. As noted above, his turnaround time is among the quickest in the business. The process at this journal is a bit different: the editor is a gatekeeper and only sends out a small number of articles for review. He may have you revise substantially before even sending it out. That being said, he gives fantastic feedback and his copyeditors are great too.
Very quick on turnaround. In my experience, editor has an accomplished air of authority, but is not the most intricate thinker. You do get speed, which is something. 2 reader reports, then R and R, with ultimate rejection on grounds that it wasn't "literary historical" enough. Why send me through the process, then?
A little less than a month for a desk rejection on the grounds of quibbles with my prose and argument. The rejection came with unbelievably detailed notes and even some copy editing! I was grateful for the fast response and the notes, but I wish that I could have gotten a reading from someone in my field, who could actually judge the merits of my intervention.
I too had a strange experience here recently, receiving an extremely detailed smackdown from the editor six days after submission.
I had a similar experience to all above. Fast response directly from Marshall Brown. He's very fast but somehow also very helpful. He sent me a 1-page note with the rejection and even apologized for not having read the novel my article was about(!), and then apologized again for not giving my article his full attention (he basically stopped reading a few pages before the end). He noted that if he thought the article was a better fit, he would have read the novel. The man is unbelievable. I actually thoroughly enjoyed this rejection letter. And because of it, I think I now have a better article. Let me also say that you should take the journal guidelines very seriously. When they say they are interested in literary history and literary change, they mean it.
I too received detailed copy edits, and I appreciate the effort that went into them, but I found them idiosyncratic and unduly focused on matters of style and taste. Written solely by the editor without recourse to peer review, they didn't evaluate any contribution I might have made to contemporary debates in my field. They were also framed in ways that I found condescending and unprofessional. (The editor gave me unsolicited advice about features of my career that are neither related to the article I submitted nor mentioned in my cover letter. The only way he knew about them was by googling me-- which he said he did.) Generally, I am overjoyed to get any feedback at all, and I can glean some insights from this rejection, too, but I won't contribute again to MLQ or recommend it to others.
I want to suggest removing the above comment, as I i think it violates the purpose of this wiki, which as I understand it is to promote responsible publishing practices and to help potential submitters determine the best venue for their work. Whether or not the above poster welcomed the unsolicited feedback, clearly it was made with the best of intentions. My concern is that if editor were to read these remarks, he might be dissuaded from indulging his generous impulses in the future, and then everyone would suffer because of one ungrateful submitter. No one is compensating the editor and none of us have a right to demand detailed feedback. I personally welcome all feedback, and if I didn't like the response then I would just forget it, so I think the negativity is not well-placed. I think editors should be praised rather than criticized for giving feedback of any sort at all. Would others be opposed to removing these comments, given the damage they might cause? Or would the original poster consider rephrasing, in a way that would not have the effect of discouraging the editor from dispensing such unsolicited advice in the future?

I'm the original poster, and I'm going back to edit my original post, because I see your point. I still feel strongly that the general thought should stand here to help contributors to MLQ contextualize any editorial feedback they receive.
I too had an experience similar to those outlined above, and I too have mixed feelings about it. I love that the rejection came quickly... but I didn't love the fact that the editor looked me up and compared the piece to my other work. I guess you're sacrificing a blind review process for a quick, concise turnaround... and you may get some useful comments (though from what I can tell, these usually these appear as a summary of what is worth salvaging).

Modern Language Review

Modernism/Modernity

Comments moved from English Literature Journals:

received rejection after 9 months with minimal (one short paragraph) reader review.
Rejection after 1 month, with attentive response from one of the editors, who suggested trying a more specialized journal
received rejection in just under 3 mos. Included a (single) thoughtful, helpful, detailed reader review.

Decisions come reasonably quickly (4-6 months), but expect at least a year after that before the article comes out. Don't expect a detailed response. Friendly editors.
Had a negative experience with this journal. Straight rejection took 7 or 8 months, which to my mind is far too long. The one report I received was brief, snarky, vague, sort of flagrantly unhelpful, and included several quotations from the manuscript that were (objectively) taken out of context, which gave me the sense that the piece was given a very hasty and uncharitable reading.
After 10 months, manuscript was rejected with a quick summary by the editor of the reader's report. Content of comments suggested that reviewer did not read the entire essay (i.e., "Did not take 'XYZ' into consideration" --when, in fact, I do discuss "XYZ.") The editor I was in touch with was friendly and responsive to my inquiries about the long wait.
unlike most journals, the online submission system gives authors the option of recommending specific reveiwers. does anyone know if the advice given is ever followed?
For a long time, this has been a very disfunctional journal, with multiple venues for their editorial houses, and little communication between them. My piece waited nearly a year before I withdrew. I had called and emailed the editor several times, with no response. Got an apology from the managing editor subsequently, but I'll never send anything there again.
I don't think it will be dysfunctional any more as they have appointed a new MSA editor who is fabulous. Also they have set up new systems. I aspire to publish in this journal as I think they print some superb material.
Many of the comments here about the long waiting time probably, in my view, refer back to a previous organizational system that was indeed dysfunctional. Now, although there are two editorial offices, there is a single on-line submission system that allows for article tracking (as well as much-improved communication). Reviewing is relatively expeditious--2 months for a first reading seems to be the norm--and the quality of reviewers is also much more consistent.
This last comment is reassuring - can anyone else confirm that this journal now moves faster - any other experiences of how long it takes to hear back after submission?

Modern Philology

Probably my best publishing experience. Fast turnaround (2-3 months) with brilliant and helpful suggestions.
If you submit here, be sure to carefully follow the formatting instructions under "info for authors"; otherwise you will be asked to resubmit.
Got a quick turnaround on the decision, and great reader's reports. Waited a long time between decision and publication. Also got excellent copyediting.
Relatively quick return (3 months?) with incredibly thorough, helpful, and kind reader's reports (three) asking for an r&r. Accepted almost immediately upon resubmission. Still forthcoming, but so far it's been a great experience.
Another positive experience here: got a response in a little over two months (conditional accept), with a detailed reader's report. Finalized acceptance came 3 weeks after submitting revisions. But note the long wait time between decision and publication: could be 2.5 - 3 years before your article appears in print.
Also my best publishing experience! The on-line submission system is very easy to use, keeps the process organized. Fast initial response (under 3 months) and amazing readers' reports. Also received helpful line edits as the article was being prepared. As the poster abover notes, however, I also had a 2-year wait before the article was in print.
Submitted June 2013, initial response (revise and resubmit) in 3 months. Review of resubmission took another 3 months, followed by acceptance.
Also a terrific experience. Submitted in early 2014; received an Initial response (R&R) in just over 2 months; review of resubmission took 1 month (acceptance). And the readers' reports were quite literally the best I've received from any journal: detailed, thoughtful, on-point.
Great journal but long TTP (as noted above 2.5-3 y) made worse by retro access policies (even for UCP journals - no self archive, no preprints, tough to get on JStor, etc.). If any MP authors would like to join me in writing to them about this, please get in touch (Talk).

According to SHERPA/RoMEO at least, Modern Philology seem to allow you to archive pre-prints, and post-prints and publisher's PDFs can be archived 12 months after initial publication. Is this incorrect?

Mosaic

Overall, a very good experience and a very organized submission process. Three months after the initial submission, I received a conditional acceptance (along with two very helpful reader reports), and three months after sending the revised essay, I received the editor's final changes and a contract.
submitted 3/2010; received conditional acceptance w/ 2 good reader reports 12/2010; good experience with production editor; a bit slow to publication, but overall good experience
2011: submitted to call for special issue; r&r with four very detailed reports; conditional acceptance with equally detailed reports by the same four readers. On the slow side (3-6 months between submissions), but very meticulous.

Narrative

Really good experience. 3-4 months for initial feedback from two reviewers after submission. Both were very thorough and helpful. The much improved essay was published about one year after submission.
Not pleased with my experience. Waited five months just to get a rejection from the head editor - he read it himself, never sent it out, and then told me it didn't fit the parameters of the journal. Could have done that much sooner!
The kindest most helpful rejection I have ever received after approximately 3 months. The editor gave a lovely reading of my article, said it contributes substantially to the field, and told me I should not change it at all -- it is just that it wasn't the kind of article they publish. And he was right. He then offered suggestions on where to send it.

Neophilologus

Neo-Helicon

A reputable comp lit and cultural studies journal.
Good experience publishing with them. Springer. Methodical and got the job done, re reviews and then copy-editing and publishing. About 12 months to appear in print, but online first.

New Literary History

NOTE: the following comments were moved from the English Literature Journals page:
Submitted an article in September 2011. Received a rejection in December with no explanation beyond "not suitable."

also received rejection from editor in roughly two months, including a few sentences concerning why the editorial board rejected it.
Similar experience. Took three months to give a summary rejection without review.
Same as above. Submitted an article in April 2013, received summary rejection (quickly, at least) in June, 2013. No comments beyond "not suitable," no reports.
Took a bit more than three months. Rejection with editor's summary of readers' reports. Since the editor said that one of the reviewers said..., I assumed that there were at least two readers. Made a request for readers' full reports. Got a reply stating that their policy is not to provide the reports.

Nineteenth-Century Literature

I submitted and got a revise-and-resubmit response from the editor about a month later. Then it went to a reader; I got the reader's report about seven months later, with another revise and resubmit; about seven months later the article was accepted. It was published about six months after that. So, almost two years from submission until the piece actually appeared--but the feedback from both editor and reader was generous and extremely helpful.
Submitted in December 2011; still waiting in April 2012. I contacted them (to ask a policy question, not to check the status of the submission) in mid-March and the editorial assistant volunteered they're still waiting on one reader. This doesn't seem unreasonable to me, but I hope to hear soon. I really wish they'd begin accepting electronic submissions
Please note: not a blind review process. Reader's report called me by my surname, and speculated about my age, in addition to making other snide, gendered insinuations. A very disappointing result after waiting a year. I would hesitate to share this information online, but since I was not allowed to protect my own identity in their review process, I feel that "outing" this journal to potential submitters is only fair.
Had a similar experience to the commenter above. Not blind, and a weird, condescending reviewer.
Sent in a submission and waited for the confirmation of receipt for two months. Finally contacted the editor by email and didn't receive a response for over a month. When they couldn't find the manuscript, they let me submit by email. After almost a full year (I emailed after 6 months, received a reply after a few weeks saying that there were still waiting), I received a rejection with mostly vague and unhelpful comments - the piece was later accepted elsewhere with no revisions.
Sent in my manuscript in August 2012 and received a two-page single-spaced rejection letter from the editor three months later. S/he had problems with the quality of my research and made some vague suggestion for resubmitting elsewhere. The letter rambled on and was full of typos. This journal requires a hard copy plus return postage.
Sent in a manuscript in October 2012, received an R&R in March 2013 with comments from one peer reviewer. Peer reviewer asked for "higher critical stakes" and "more context for non-specialsts." Re-sent manuscript for additional peer reviews, waited two months, wrote an email to confirm receipt. Managing editor replied that it was currently being read by two more readers; editor replied with some encouraging feedback. I got my hopes up, but I received a rejection in September 2013. I was disappointed with the two additional peer reviews -- editor admitted that one reader was not giving me a "fair hearing," but the other reader concluded that my article was lacking in "critical weight" for NCL. The original peer reviewer's comments and the editor's comments were both very helpful; I'm submitting to another journal with high hopes.

nonsite

Novel: A Forum on Fiction

NOTE: the following comment was moved from English Literature Journals:

Good God! Kept an article for 15+ months (despite several inquiries as to status). Finally received obnoxious 2-sentence rejection from Editor with no feedback, readers' reports, etc. Have heard similar stories from others.

Moved quickly: from submission to acceptance took 3 months.
Disappointed with my experience here. Two submissions; in both cases, the rejections--justified--were prompt but the reader reports were contradictory, hasty, and frankly unkind. Had the impression that reader/ editor hadn't read the piece very carefully--would have prefered a simple "No" to the feedback I got.
Dissapointed here as well. After a long wait, I received a terrific, thorough response from the single external reader. After revising and resubmitting (and another very long wait), I received a rather nasty letter from the editor that completely contradicted the reader's report. Among other things, she made it clear that the author I chose to write about was not someone the journal would ever take seriously (you'd think this would have been communicated to me before asking me to resubmit....). Only thing that didn't make it a complete waste of time was that, thanks to the helpful reader's report, the revised article was quickly accepted elsewhere (with no R&R this time around). [ADDENDUM--in response to the commentor below: looks like my experience isn't unique. In my case, however, the managing editor was at least willing to sign the snarky letter herself.]
I feel for the poor graduate student who must sign her name to the incredibly snarky/bitchy comments that the managing editor writes on her rejection letters. I'm sorry if my article ended up being critical of a book you came out with ten years ago but there is neither need to be so incredibly catty, nor to use a proxy for your cattiness.
refuses to accept submissions in Chicago citation style. It seems like a deep injustice that editors require authors to format according to their specifications merely to *consider* them for review. One of the deep, unrecorded, injustices, in the academic publishing world...I have an article I thought was perfect for this journal, but given the comments above, I doubt it's worth my time converting the formatting only to be dissappointed post-submission. Thoughts?

In response to the query directly above: if Novel is your preferred venue, I'd take the time to make the switch rather quickly to get the article reviewed. However, if Novel is among one of several good journals that you are considering, you may want to send it first to an MLA-friendly journal for review and in the meantime make the formatting switch in the event that the MLA-friendly journal doesn't work out.

Could someone comment: if you had a choice between publishing here and Texas Studies in Literature and Language, what would be your preference?
dissappointed by a relatively shallow (although well-intentioned) review. The reason given for rejection was that the author was "obscure" (and the reviewer managed to get wrong very basic details about my text). Roughly 3 months turn around. One of the few journals that requires hard copies and that is not flexible with respect to citation style. In my view, they are not worth working with, when so many other journals are more fleixble.
Very positive experience. Two months between initial submission and "conditional acceptance" pending changes. Appeared in print a year later. Most rigorous editing and copyediting I've gotten anywhere. Would recommend them very highly.

October

Is thus journal actually reading submissions? Something I sent a year ago was entirely ignored and published elsewhere.
October rarely publishes work not connected directly to members of its editorial board.
It look them a year and a half (!) before they finally rejected my submission.

Orbis Litterarum

Had a great experience with them. Submitted an article and received R&R in three months. Submitted a revised version and received the final decision of acceptance in one month. It took one year, though, to have my article published.

Opuscula : Short Texts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Short turnaround time (~3 months); helpful feedback from readers. Good content management system where you can check the status of your article.
good reader reports; reasonable time to hear from readers. can't tell if they publish articles one at a time or together as a complete volume.

Philological Quarterly

Had an excellent experience with them. From submission to acceptance was less than a month; acceptance also came with detailed and insightful readers' reports that improved the essay considerably.
Yes, agreed. Very helpful and generous readers reports on submission and then again on revision. Essay was much improved.
Fantastic as well. 3 weeks to get a very thorough review on an article outside their usual field. Incredibly helpful and communicative editor.
My experience was very similar. When I dealt with them in the summer of 2009 it took them about two and a half months to accept an essay. In fact, they sent the first reader report within two weeks. It came out the following winter and in the meantime the editor was extremely nice & helpful, improving the essay (which started life as a piece of barely disguised graduate coursework) a great deal. I am told they are somewhat unusual in that they tend to send full reader reports to the author as soon as they receive them.
Does anyone know why PQ has not published an issue since early 2012? Are they publishing regularly and just behind or are they on hiatus? A: They are publishing regularly, new issues are just being back-dated. I had an article published with them a couple of years ago where the cover date was earlier than the article was even written. OP: Thanks so much (and what excellent news, because last year is actually when I need this article to have been published!)
Fantastic: revise and resubmit in five weeks with thorough, encouraging, and incredibly helpful reader reports. Revisions accepted within two months--this, over the summer--and essay slated for print within three months (also, as above, backdated). The editor clearly knows the lay of a great swath of literary land, as colleagues in fields differing from mine report similarly rich experiences. [Posted September 2014]

Philosophy and Literature

submitted an article 3/2010; received R&R 8/2010; I submitted a revised version 12/2010 and received no response; I wrote again later (approx. 2/2011) to inquire and was told that the article had been accepted w/o any info re pub date; wrote again 3/2012 to inquire and editor is not responding to my emails. Can anyone advise how I should proceed? I have always respected this journal, but have found the current set of editors to be singularly unhelpful, and would not publish here again. Also, no evident peer-review process.

update from submitter above (10/2012). more than 2 and 1/2 years (!!) following my original submission, I have finally received a contract to sign and been informed the article will appear in the next issue. Publishing here has been the worst experience I have ever had; countless queries have gone unanswered and there was no peer-review process at all. I am aware that the founder of the journal died during the time that my article languished. My guess is that the current editor doesn't care about the journal and is just trying to bring it to a close. I continue to believe the journal fills an important niche in literary studies, but there is no longer any editorial infrastructure. My guess is that the journal will disappear in the next couple of years. I would very strongly advise against submitting or publishing here.

Submitted an article and got a quick rejection after a month. The rejection was a form letter that stated there were no readers' reports due to having a small editorial team, which is weird since the editorial team wouldn't be generating the reports -- the readers would. Maybe they don't actually have a peer-review process and all decisions are made by the editor(s)? Not terribly ethical to claim peer-review status in that case. [posted Oct. 2012]
I had the same experience - submitted an article and recieved a rejection after about weeks. Because the article was of an unconventional form for the journal - an extended review essay - I wasn't sure that they would send it out to external reviewers, which is certainly their prerogative. But the rejection letter states, "We are sorry to have to say that we cannot provide readers' reports for declined submissions. We have a very small staff at the journal and the large number of submissions makes this impossible; we hope you will understand." What I understand is that this is almost certainly a flat out lie. It is highly unlikely that the essay recieved reader reports in such a short time period. The editors have every right to reject an essay before sending it out for peer review, but it is insulting to be told that an article has been peer reviewed (though we can't show you what they've said!) when it hasn't been. The best I can say is that at least they lied to me quickly. [Posted Dec. 2012]
I had submitted two articles here. Each took about a month and received a rejection. Both rejection letters appear similar. I'm suspicious that the articles were not sent out for review and were simply read by the editor(s) as well. Both letters didn't mention readers' reports. I submitted these articles to other journals (top ones), and they were sent out for review. I would say that this journal seems less willing to send articles out for reasons I don't know of. [posted Mar. 2014]

PMLA

Impressively quick responses and thorough feedback. Made it to editorial board, where it was rejected, but very heartened by entire process.
First readers (2 months) disagreed in recommendations, took another 4 months (rather than the projected 4 to 6 weeks) to get third reader's split vote (no). Excellent, expert suggestions, though, and one suggested next-best journals to send to after minor revisions.
Also extremely impressed by the quick response. Received revise and resubmit about two months after submitting original article. Two thorough and helpful readers' reports.
Ditto, though it was ultimately rejected. Beware!-- they seem to give R&Rs quite freely and then reject most of these submissions at their final editorial board meeting. Have spoken to a large number of colleagues who have had the same experience.
Long, frustrating experience here. Like many others, got an R&R with three reader's reports ranging from enthusiastic and helpful to tepid and uninterested. Returned and, 6 months later, rejected with three more reports. Evidently, they'd had to find an extra reader because the recommendations conflicted. Mostly submitted for the experience & reports so I wasn't surprised to be rejected, but I wish they'd have done it with a teeny bit more alacrity.
Submitted in September, had news of split reviews in December, and a tiebreaker (no) in March. The readers reports are outstanding, and I am lucky to have three. Overall a slightly slow process, but the feedback is helpful, encouraging, and thorough.
Very good experience here - very quick turnaround, helpful, thorough readers' reports, minor revisions made before submission to editorial board, who accepted the article with further minor revisions. Great email communication if you ask for it, although their default is postal which is difficult if you're not in the US. x2: one reader asked to reread the article after revisions, and was happy -- nicely interactive process. took about 1.5 years to contract, but that was half my own doing with the revisions)
For those who have submitted to PMLA, was your MLA membership verified before the submission was processed? My membership has lapsed, and I hesitate to renew it simply in order to submit to PMLA. Thanks for any information on this!

Mine was current when I submitted but the reader's reports were worth the membership fee!
You have to have an active memebership for PMLA. If you are lucky to have it sent to reviewers (they notified me of doing so within one month or so), then it is worth the money.

Question: Has anyone with split reviews eventually gotten accepted, or is it safe to assume that split reviews mean a snowball's chance in hell?

Mine had split reviews and was accepted.

Question: What experience(s) have people had with the "Little-Known Documents" section of the PMLA? From what I understand, the review process of these submissions is a little different, but I have no idea of the timeline.

I'd like to know too. The wording in the CFP implies that decisions about Little Known Documents are made solely by the editorial board, not by independent reviewers. In that case I would think that the speed of the review process would be according to the board's schedule.
Regarding Little-Known Documents,.an R&R response took about 8 months to arrive. I received 1 report.
The process for Little-Known Documents is the same as the process for any other submission. Submit -> Reviewer report(s) -> R&R -> Final editorial board decision. As the comment below points out, the process can be slow.

Ok, so the way things work here is as follows: they send papers out for review, which can take up to 8 weeks. Add another 6 weeks if there's a split review and they need a 3rd reader's report. If there are two positive reports, you are invited to resubmit for consideration by the editorial board (which only accepts 15-20% of the papers it reads). The editorial board meets only three times per year, in October, January/February and May, so you could be lucky and be considered quickly or else have to wait months and months before the next meeting. Bottom line: being rejected by PMLA can happen in weeks, being accepted can take a year.

Sometimes they just send your submission upstairs for editorial review without asking for an R&R

Got my MS mailed back about 3 months later, with a rejection letter and two detailed readers' reports. Disappointing not to get in, but the reports are helpful.
how long have others had to wait for confirmation of submission having been received? I have been waiting 9+days, with no response--in some places that is normal, but I would expect a faster response from PMLA, esp. given the glowing accounts here. I have also written to PMLA on two separate occasions with submission-related questions and there was no response until I asked twice. So I am more struck by their slowness and unprofessionalism (given that it is the MLA), and hope others can share impressions.
Question: Is there a process at this journal for requesting email correspondence? And does email limit the kind of feedback one receives?

No process, you just send them an email requesting it. What they send you back is the same stuff they would mail out, in PDF format.

One of my best journal submission experiences. Had three reviews (the first two were split) in about two months. I did revisions to the best of my judgement, though I can't recall if the essay went out to the readers again. The editorial board meeting was a few months later, and my essay was accepted. Because of the fast turnaround time and the generally high quality of the reports (including the negative one), I suggest to colleagues that they submit to PMLA if at all possible. Remarkably thorough and knowledgeable copyediting, including editing for style, ambiguity, etc. Really, really great experience.
does anyone know whether they accept submissions in Chicago style for the initial round of reviews?

The question is sort of funny (it's PMLA we're talking about) but the fact is, they will turn away and ask you to re-send anything that's formatted incorrectly.

if there is no response after submission, does that mean that the article is under review? I submitted a month ago (8/2014), and have followed up once, and it has been total silence. And I signed up for the MLA just to be able to submit to PMLA, having been persuaded by the comments here that it was worthwhile! So far, my experience has been quite different from what is reported here.
If you haven't heard anything, then one of two things has happened: either your article is out for review, or it was lost in the mail. More likely the former. They are not always great at keeping submitters updated as to the status of their submissions, and decisions of any kind can take a long time.

I also submitted recently (Sep. 2014) via email without receiving any kind of confirmation.

A major concern with this journal is that it exclusively publishes articles by scholars from major research universities. To me, this suggests, quite clearly, that the journal is not truly peer-reviewed -- it is a clubbish, elitist forum. I have never seen an article from someone from a non-research university, despite the fact that such scholars represent 90% of the academy/mla membership.
This isn't accurate or fair. A colleague of mine had a piece accepted just a few months ago, when that colleague was an unaffiliated (i.e., unemployed) recent Ph.D. from a Canadian university. And at no point during the submission or review process are you prompted to provide an affiliation.

No, it is objectively accurate.

Poetics Today

Very good experience with this journal. Time from submission to first reports was longish - eight months. First received a quick note from the editor, I think trying to feel out my amenability to suggestions and further work. This was followed a week or so later (after an amenable sounding email from me) with a reader's report and extensive commentary from the editor, and then some correspondence between us, and a good deal of work by me. Final acceptance came a few weeks after re-sub. Publication agreement six months later. Final publication four months after that. Total time from acceptance to publication was about ten months. My impression was that my article received generous attention from the Meir Sternberg, the editor, who was also willing to work fairly closely with me during revision. Copyediting and typesetting from Duke was quite good as well.

Polygraph

Respected, but not peer reviewed, graduate-student-run journal operating out of the Duke University Graduate Program in Literature. Generally publishes theme issues once a year.
Looks dead: No new issues in a few years. Such is the fate of so many grad journals.

Postmodern Culture

Because PMC is both long-standing and electronic only, it offers a wider audience than a lot of journals--in other words it's easier to find and cite and so there seem to be a lot of citations of it. Response time varies. The editorial staff is sympathetic to requests for faster response and tries to get them from the readers with limited success. Editorial staff make many stylistic comments, which not everyone likes, but it can be helpful.

Prose Studies: History, Theory, Criticism

Public Culture

the main email address (info@publicculture.org) seems to be nonfuctional and email keeps bouncing back. The section of their webpage for submitting material is similarly defunct. Has anyone communicated with them recently? Very odd.

Qui Parle

Religion & Literature

Submitted March 2013; received revise and resubmit July 2013. Three readers' reports, which were detailed and constructively critical. Resubmitted in late December 2014; article accepted in April 2014. Editorial staff have been helpful and courteous throughout the process.
I had a fairly confusing experience with them a few years ago. They sent my article back with three different, extensive, and very helpful reports on my article. And they asked me to revise and resubmit. The reports were very helpful, and I did revise the article for two months and resubmitted. Two weeks later I received a very irritated letter from the editor saying that I had already sent this article, it had been rejected, and to stop wasting their time. Well, it wasted two months of my time. I'd say the heck with them, but they are such a good journal.
Submitted January 2013; received R&R April 2013 with two extensive and helpful reader reports. Revised according to suggestion and resubmitted September 2013. About six weeks later, received provisional acceptance with reports from same two readers, one containing further suggestions for revision and a two-month deadline for final copy. All editorial staff has been friendly and helpful--so far a good experience.

Renaissance Drama

Submitted in June 2012, received revise and resubmit along with two detailed, fair, and useful reports in January 2013. Currently in process as of 3/2013, will update with final result.

Renaissance Quarterly

I haven't submitted here, but I've heard that they often ask literary scholars to expand their inquiry into other fields like art history, music, etc. Anyone who has submitted here care to share? (Thanks for the useful info!)
I had a fantastic experience publishing in RQ a few years back (different articles editor, but the new one is even more on top of things). Two positive readers' reports that didn't conflict each other, received within six weeks of submission. Extensive copy-editing by an extremely competent editor, and the article was out within a year. I now read for RQ and they run a tight ship: reviewers are hounded with emails if they don't submit reviews within around 6 weeks. One tip: they get tons of submissions on English literature and Italian history/art history but far less on almost every other field. So if you are working in a small field (or something truly interdisciplinary) give it a shot.

Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme

Renaissance Studies

Representations

submitted 2/2012. still out with readers as of 8/2012. update: Still waiting as of 9/2012. update on 10/12: I wrote yet again to the office and requested to know the status. They told me that a rejection letter had been sent on 7/2012 (when I queried in August 2012 I was told that the ms. was with the second reviewer. Thoughtful comments, but the clerical error was a bit frustrating.
Submitted something towards the end of April (2013), just got it back at the end of July with a short note indicating that the piece is "not quite right for Representations" with no further comments.

Submitted something in late June 2013 and received in late July 2013 what seems to be an identical 1-paragraph response about the piece being "not quite right for Representations."

Submitted a piece in Nov, 2012. Rejected March, 2013 with only a few lines of (oddly positive) feedback. No reports provided.
Submitted a piece and then received some scolding because I didn't include an abstract of the article. Article was rejected after a few months. I was sent an excerpt (really, a few lines) from a reader's report, but the comment was very vague and therefore unhelpful.
Not a blind review at this journal. 4 months for a rejection, with two excerpts from readers' reports, both about 4-5 sentences, and quite vague and condescending.

Restoration

Anyone have any recent experiences with this journal? Supposedly encourage work from early career scholars?

Social Text

17 months from submission to publication. Thorough and insightful reader reports. Great experience overall.
18 months from submission to publication. Two reader reports, careful and professional editorial board and staff.
SLOW. For those of you with 3 month turnarounds, it seems like you are working with a totally different journal. I have submitted to Social Text a few times now and 6 months from submission to feedback is a MINIMUM for me. I'm not sure what accounts for the difference in turnaround times, but I wish I did. I'd rather be on the 3 month list than the 6+ month list.
Fast--I received a decision two months from initial submission--but provides no reports or feedback for rejected submissions. (2012)
Very slow for me. Submitted essay 11/2011 and still no response as of 8/2012.
Very good experience- three months from submission to acceptance. Smart reader reports. They kept me well informed of where the paper was in the publication process, and were professional throughout
Terrible experience. Did not receive acknowledgement that my article was received. Inquired after two weeks, was told to wait to hear about the article being passed on to review. Didn't hear after 3 months, inquired again. Was told the article was submitted to be refereed a month prior. Inquired again at 6 months, still no word. They seem unorganized. Very difficult to get in touch with the editors. (2013)
Bad experiece for me too. Editorial staff seems disorganized, possibly in transition. Did not answer multiple query letters. Was hoping for a quick turn around based on reports above. Will see... (8/2013)
I third having a bad experience with this journal. After emailing the editorial staff repeatedly over a few months, I was told that the journal was in transition. I was also told I would be given word of the article's status in September (no update has come). The article has been under review for 8 months. (10/1/2013)
Great experience - about three months from submission to acceptance. They do seem to change in-house personnel a lot so I can imagine how things would fall through the cracks.
Bad experience. Had submitted something to them normally and told it couldnt be reviewed because it was about China, and they were going to publish a special issue on it in the near-ish future. Because stupid eurocentrism, that's why. Then tried those special issue editors, who were however not actually in the field of critical China studies and just doing a pet project of the one, Asian Americanist involved. Waste of time. I think the journal is in decline (has no focus other than "pomo" in general and left-of-democratic party) and it was something I used to take very seriously back in graduate school days.

South Atlantic Quarterly

Doesn't appear to accept unsolicited submissions. All issues are guest-edited special issues, according to their website .
Yes it is special issue only now. Michael Hardt is current editor after Grant Farred left and was hit with his scandal. I'd guess you can always try and contact him if you are doing a whole issue. It is a shame in some ways that so many of these jorunals are going this special-issue only route. But it is easier for the main/official editors and shrunken budgets. Just bad for indidivual faculty/submitters.

South Central Review

This was a very positive experience. Fast turnaround and friendly, helpful editor.

Southern Spaces

Speculum

My submission was rejected about one month after submission. The report was dismissive, and the comments suggested that the text I was analyzing "was well known" but that I was "attempting to make it seem more important than it was." Unfortunately, this specific text has not received much critical attention in nearly a century (an issue I discuss with supporting evidence in the article). On the upside, the turn-around and response was quick.
I had to wait two years (!!) for a rejection. In late 2012, received a brief note from the editor saying they weren't publishing it 2 years after submission, and that he could forward the reports if I liked. I responded right away and asked him to forward the reports. One month later, I finally got the reports, which were quite detailed and even helpful but absurdly late.
My submission was accepted 2 months after submission. The 2 readers reports were detailed and helpful. The new editor is quite efficient, and the copyeditor is excellent. They also have a fund that junior scholars and independent scholars can apply to for help with image and permissions costs.

Studies in the Novel

Posting in November 2014: I also had a great experience with this journal. 3.5 months from submission to acceptance, with thorough and helpful reviewer reports. Working through the proofing and production process with managing editor Timothy Boswell was great; he's professional, courteous, and friendly. I've been a fan of the scholarship published in Studies in the Novel for a while now, and consider the journal a better venue than NOVEL at this point, in part because I trust the peer review process more at Studies.
Excellent experience. Quick, clear, and professional communication throughout.
Friendly and communicative throughout. Spent about a year from revise and resubmit request to final acceptance and publishing. Very detailed and helpful feedback (six single spaced pages from one reviewer!); the editorial staff were prompt and easy to get in touch with. I had a great experience.
Great experience. Quick responses from the journal and very helpful readers' reports. I am pleased with the publication.

Great experience: very detailed, thoughtful and thorough peer reviews, good correspondence with the editor, and quick turnaround of reviews. Quick timeline from acceptance to publication as well.
Wonderful experience publishing here. Received an acceptance after 3 months or so (2 reports). Article was in print about a year later. Editor was extremely helpful.

Extremely quick. Received R&R within 3 weeks of submission. Focus on cultural, historical research.
3 anonymous reviews within approx. 4 months; R&R then acceptance less than a month after resubmission (post-publication follow up 8/2012: although I was impressed by the quick turnaround and quick acceptance, I would definitely not work with this editor again; the editorial assistant was excellent and I had no direct contact with the editor; instead I was forced to conform to "directives" to make my language more politically correct, with no regard for what I was actually trying to say or indeed for the many ways of reading the terms I was using).
Friendly, helpful editor and quick review process. Received R&R in April 2011 with helpful and to-the-point reports; resubmitted May 2011; accepted July 2011 and published in September. Well regarded journal and an efficient, professional experience on all fronts.
Unlike the entries above, mine was an extremely hostile experience. The reviewer report was unhelpful and highly antagonistic. He/she simply refused to accept that my re-framing of a classic critical framework under a different light, and yet he/she offered no reasons whatsoever to back his/her position. The journal is very "old school." If your work is minimally critical of established critical trends, I recommend not to submit here.
Very dismissive response from the editor who did not send my article out for peer review despite my field being completely different from hers. Her criticisms were completely uninformed. I submitted the article to a much better journal, who subjected it to peer review in my field, and it was quickly accepted and published
Very quick, like literally one week for a rejection. Unhelpful, unkind, dismissive reader's report. Agree with previous poster that it seemed antagonistic to even very mild criticism of established trends. Article had much better reception elsewhere.
The above is my experience, as well. The editor rejected my manuscript within one week with a completely uninformed and unprofessional set of comments that showed both a lack of knowledge in the field as well as evidence that she didn't read the essay past the introduction. Without revising it, I sent it to a better journal where it was accepted. This used to be a well respected journal, but this new editor has changed the tone entirely.
I received the same -- very timely (one month) -- dismissive, slightly rude response. It seemed as if the editor didn't get much past the first couple of paragraphs. Perhaps a good lesson for me to come up with punchier openers, or at least to get to the point sooner.
Same as the few above. After three weeks I received a dismissive, rude, bordering on offensive response. Sent the same article to a better journal -- was accepted in three months after a slight revision.
I received a desk rejection with no feedback--rude or otherwise--after exactly two months.

Studies in Travel Writing

ST&TCL: Studies in 20th and 21st Century Literature

Took nine months to get back to me -- after two emails from me to check up on the status -- only to tell me that 3 readers wouldn't evaluate my paper, and the fourth just wasn't responding. So, after all that time, I got nothing. I withdrew the manuscript and am sending it elsewhere. The editor also said that the journal is going to be temporarily "put on hold" for restructuring, and that there'd be a new editor at the end of the year. So, hold off on sending them anything any time soon.
(June 2014) ST&TCL has now been restructured, and has a new editor. The journal has moved to an online, open-access format, which should speed response times considerably.

SubStance

Submitted for a special issue; never got a response until I inquired 7 months later (rejection). Issue editor said s/he thought s/he had already written me, but hadn't. I should have asked sooner-- so that's on me-- but the editor could have been better organized and more communicative. (late 2013)

symploke

Best publishing experience so far (2012). The report came through very quickly and helped to transform the essay into a much better piece. Editor is extremely helpful and is an astute reader - an absolute pleasure to deal with. Would love to publish here again.

Telos

The question here is ideological narrowness.
what kind of narrowness do you have in mind? they seem to publish writers who represent both the right and the left. (caveat: I have an article forthcoming w/ this journal.)
Guidelines state "All original essays for Telos will be refereed."--my essay was read by two editors, but there was no referee process if by that is meant that authors receive suggestions for revision. There was also no real editing; after my article was accepted (no revisions requested), I received the proofs 9 months later and that was the end of the process. I would have very much liked to have had the opportunity to go over some details with an editor/copyeditor before the galleys were produced. On the other hand, I do admire the journal, and am happy to publish here, just somewhat dissappointed by the (non-existent) editing process.

Texas Studies in Literature and Language

4 months, 1 reader report. Reasonably positive comments with specific requests for revision, but straight rejection by editor. Article subsequently accepted by similar journal.
4 months, two readers. Both recommended publish. The editor rejected it. Weird.
5 months, accepted for publication. Zero feedback. Also wierd.
Quick reader report. Very positive comments with minor suggestions for improvement, but article deemed 'not a good fit' by the editor. Also weird. Article subsequently published in another good journal.

Textual Cultures

Good place for work of a materialist, book-historical, and textual studies inclination. Always looking for submissions. Editor is extremely helpful and quick on email, and the process is relatively painless (in my recent experience, from submission to publication in six months, with outside reports and good revision suggestions).
Submission in 07/12. Now 02/13 with no communication from the journal and editor not responding to email inquiry for status update. | Now 04/10 and still nothing.
Anyone had any luck with this journal recently? It's most recent issue is Spring 2012...

Textual Practice

Publishes a diverse range of critical theory articles - some of them very good - but not had any luck there myself. Two outright rejections - within 6 months and 9 months respectively - though puzzlingly with the kind of reviewer comments you normally expect to see accompanying a revise & resubmit or conditional acceptance decision, and on material I have had no trouble publishing (following rejection from TP) in journals of comparable standing. They don't give full copies of reader reports so maybe they only share the less derogatory comments. Either way, from my (possibly atypical) experience, it seems they don't have a lot of time to spend working with authors on revisions, so make sure your submission is print-ready if you try here.
I published here at the time when the editorship last changed over. Got what I understood to be a rejection (with constructive readers' comments), but then got an email after the editor change asking why I hadn't come back with corrections. Time from initial submission to publication was maybe 14 months, but I only did minor corrections.
Kind of a wild ride with this journal, resulting in acceptance. First submission took about 4 months to review, with a (major) R&R recommendation. Resubmission took about 5-6 months to review, with a (minor) R&R. Both reader reports were sarcastic, borderline catty (I've never seen anything quite like it), but the essay was an eccentric one, and their points were clarifying and well-taken. Final revision took about two months to accept. To get a third chance to submit the essay was a privilege I didn't expect. The editor himself was friendly, conscientious, and very quick to respond. Very positive experience overall.
Also got a very friendly rejection after 3 months saying they thought the piece was interesting and well written but not a good fit for the journal because it was overly focused on a single text. No reader comments.

Theory and Event

Published a paper around 2006. It took them over a year to make a decision. I think that what happened was that the reviewer kept slacking off, until eventually the editor decided to make his own call and accept. Didn't ask me for any changes other than a clearer opening paragraph...
Had a positive experience with them. Quick acknowledgment of having received the article from the editor. Comments from a reviewer received quickly. The editor deemed it a revise and resubmit, which my article however did not make it past. Editor's arguments for the decision were reasoned and fair. Disappointing, but was a learning experience.
Several problems with the review and the reviewer Googling me while the article was out. The review was terrible. It began by stating that the reviewer didn't understand what my article had to do with social movements that I neither cited or made reference to in the article. Confusing to me to say the least. The reviewer also told me that I "misread" an article that I cited by my former Ph.D. advisor--my advisor read my article prior to my submission and encouraged me to send it to Theory & Event. Finally, the reviewer Googled me during the review process. They went to my professional website using terms that were featured in the title of the article I submitted. Reviewers need to realize that analytics exist and can be incredibly accurate, letting one know search terms, IP address, and if the IP address is linked to a college or university. While this is unfortunate for Theory & Event, I hope this is not a norm for reviewers.

Thesis Eleven

Third Text

Horrible experience. My article spent eleven months with them (a few enquiries yielded vague "still under review" responses), after which I received a polite message that the article was excellent and publishable, but that the material overlapped with forthcoming content. They also declined to provide reader reports. I would never consider publishing with this journal again.
I can confirm that they are non-responsive. Submitted something in 2010, but since there was no response (I think the email bounced back). I immediately submitted it elsewhere.

Twentieth-Century Literature

Very, very slow. They kept my manuscript for 12 months to reject it at the end. Correspondance was not fluent and I was not given information about the status if the paper. I don't recommend submitting here if you are in a hurry to publish.
Very slow; I'd forgotten the piece was under submission. Reader reports were thorough, but recommendation of peer review was different to decision of editor (editor rejected; reader reports appeared mostly favourable and recommended revisions).
Another hand up for very, very slow. It took more than two weeks to acknowledge electronic submission. I remembered today, more than six months after the managing editor's acknowledgement, that I'd sent a submission here. Still no word on acceptance or rejection.
After waiting 284 days, I emailed the managing editor to ask about status. He did email me back, finally, to tell me that the journal editor had declined my submission "just this week" and that I "should be receiving a letter in the post." The problem--other than the 9-month response time and absolutely no readers' reports--is that they don't have my mailing address since this was an electronic submission. Very unprofessional process, despite (or perhaps because of) the lofty status of the venue. I second the first poster's sentiment: do not submit here if you need publication credits in anything even remotely resembling a hurry.
I've heard similarly discouraging things about wait-times and inscrutable reports from friends who've submitted articles, but my experience with the book review section was very positive. They publish much more substantive reviews (8-10 pages) than most comparable journals. I made contact, proposing a review, and received my free copy of the book within a week. Review was with editors for 6 weeks without word, then a very quick round of thorough feedback and resubmissions with each reviews-editor in turn, then on to the layout staff. Set to appear in the next issue (summer 2014?). All in all, about 2 months from proposal to final formatted version.
Not sure if it's a backlog issue related to slow reviews, but their Spring 2014 issue just went online in August. Not sure what month that means the Summer one will emerge.

Viator

Submitted through email as suggested on their website and within a few hours received a confirmation of receipt. Received a rejection within about 3 weeks. So they do seem to move quickly. Only received one reader report which gave minimal feedback.
Had a good experience - 2 comprehensive reader's reports summed up to an acceptance, good response to my revisions, and published within a year. I hadn't known about them before I sent it in, but have regularly found useful articles in it since.

Yearbook of Comparative Literature

no response for a query to the editor at yearbook@indiana.edu (9/2012). Does anyone know the best way to reach them?
Not sure of a better contact, but the journal is still active (I know because it's edited through my department at IU). If all else fails, email complit@indiana.edu and ask them who is currently editing YCL. There is often transition at the beginning of a year.
just thought I'd vent a little bit more since I have written to the journal 3 times over the course of the past year (now 8/2013), and no one has ever responded. The email contact is listed quite clearly on the website, and it seemed like overkill to write the department (as I'm not that desparate to publish there), though thanks for the above. But it is dissappointing, as CL needs journals like this, just ones that are more responsive.

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 *Could someone comment: if you had a choice between publishing here and ''Texas Studies in Literature and Language'', what would be your preference?
 *dissappointed by a relatively shallow (although well-intentioned) review. The reason given for rejection was that the author was "obscure" (and the reviewer managed to get wrong very basic details about my text). Roughly 3 months turn around. One of the few journals that requires hard copies and that is not flexible with respect to citation style. In my view, they are not worth working with, when so many other journals are more fleixble.
+* Very positive experience. Two months between initial submission and "conditional acceptance" pending changes. Appeared in print a year later. Most rigorous editing and copyediting I've gotten anywhere. Would recommend them very highly.
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