Submission Guidelines

Stance welcomes papers concerning any philosophical topic. Current undergraduates may submit a paper between 1500 and 3500 words in length (footnotes may extend the word limit 500 words at most). Stance asks that each undergraduate only submit one paper for the journal per year. Papers should avoid unnecessary technicality and strive to be accessible to the widest possible audience without sacrificing clarity or rigor. Manuscripts are evaluated on the following criteria: rigor, organization, clarity, balance of depth and breadth, intellectual struggle, significance of conclusion, and most of all originality.

Manuscript Preparation

• Manuscripts should be in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format and sent as an attachment to ballstatestance@gmail.com before the deadline.
• Manuscripts should be double-spaced (including quotations, excerpts, and footnotes.)
• The right margin should not be justified.
• To facilitate our anonymous review process, submissions are to be prepared for blind review.
• Include a cover page with the author's name, affiliation, title, and email address. Papers, including footnotes, should have no other identifying markers.
• Footnotes should follow Chicago Manual of Style.
• Please use American spellings and punctuation, except when directly quoting a source that has followed British style.
• When using subheadings, please do not number them.

What We Are Looking For

Stance seeks papers concerning any philosophical topic. However, not every paper that earns an "A" in an undergraduate course is right for us. A Stance paper will go above and beyond an "A" with regard to originality, depth, and audience appeal.

Stance seeks engaging and original works that advance a controversial thesis or interpretation. We are unlikely to accept largely exegetical work. Authors should justify a position on an issue and not merely organize the views of others. Stance authors write to make a standout contribution to the world of academic philosophy, not just to prove they understand classroom texts and discussions. The paper should seek to raise new questions or ask traditional ones in different, unique ways. When readers have finished, they should not be able to ask themselves: "So what?"

A focus on depth, and not merely breadth, is vital. While it may be noble to attempt a far-reaching argument across many topics, space in Stance is limited. Our readers benefit most from papers that answer one interesting question in a sophisticated way that makes clearer something that was unclear before. A smaller scope and focus will strengthen a paper, allowing the author to give more attention to the nuanced particulars in her argument.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a Stance paper will be interesting. While often focusing on details, the importance of the topic of a Stance paper to people beyond ivory-tower philosophers should be obvious. Educated lay people should want to learn more about the issue after reading a Stance paper. The audience should not feel like reading the paper is a chore; the paper must engage them. The audience should be able to read the paper's abstract and say, "Heck yeah! I want to read this."