Zeteo is always on the look out for essays and research papers that offer the fruits of interdisciplinary scholarship and reflection to our well-educated, reflective readers. We welcome exploratory pieces by established scholars, essays and papers by independent scholars and writers, and promising student work. We are interested in pieces that take a generalist approach and span more than one discipline. We are especially enthusiastic about vigorous prose, and about work that combines the political, personal, and intellectual. We like writers who are prepared to write—without jargon—for a generalist intellectual audience and who bring passion to their work. Writers who have something they have to say to any and all who will listen.

Please note that we do not publish personal essays, fiction or poetry. And, on the positive side, we seek to respond politely and quickly—in weeks rather than months—to submissions and queries.

We have an ongoing interest in the subject of Camouflage. We are living in a world in which people, corporations, governments, and political groups are disguising themselves (including, at times, from themselves). Zeteo staff, for instance, are working in a range of fields—from Africana, Latino, Jewish and American studies; to ethics, fashion, film, and work and family; to women’s, gender and sexuality studies—which reveal how transformations of the self can be essential for survival. At times it’s not the strongest, but the most versatile or adaptable who survive. We want to see how interdisciplinary scholars and writers are exploring, defining and perhaps engaging in camouflage.

We do not expect that all submissions will be 5,000 words with footnotes. Surprise us with something shorter—a fragment, an exploration, a list, a letter or response, a series of annotated images, or . . . 

Complete texts, proposals, or informal queries should be sent to the Zeteo editorial collective at zeteojournal@gmail.com. We ask writers to submit manuscripts in Microsoft Word and to include with their submissions a brief bio and a short paragraph summarizing or introducing the piece. Maximum length is approximately 20 pages double-spaced.

We look forward to reading your work!

Publication Procedures

1. If a manuscript is selected, it may be published in one of our bi-annual issues, or it can be published as an independent piece, upon completion.
2. Typically, accepted manuscripts go through a two-stage process: revisions, often substantial and in several stages, and copy-editing, rigorous but straightforward. Writers have the final say regarding any changes, but we push for corrections, improvements and further explorations.
3. We often find ourselves asking writers to adapt their prose for “generalist intellectual readers,” avoiding jargon and technical terminology, and reaching out to curious readers trained in disparate fields.
4. Often, too, we ask writers to prepare “nut graphs” that tell readers clearly and concisely what the piece is about, why the subject is of interest, and how the piece will be structured and explore its points.

The journal follows The Chicago Manual of Style. Writers are urged to consult the Manual when preparing their manuscripts.

For detailed information regarding manuscript preparation (including punctuation, footnotes, non-sexist language, that-which and so forth), please see the detailed Zeteo Style Guide, currently available in version 3.1. Please note, however, that this guide has been prepared above all for our editorial staff. We are not looking for contributors who are expert copy-editors, we are looking for writers! This does not mean we are prepared to do all the work for our writers. If, for example, a piece includes footnotes, we will expect the writer to prepare them completely and properly. (See these pages from the Style Guide on Zeteo Footnotes and Bibliography.) We are prepared to help with this process, and we do not insist that every piece have footnotes or a bibliography. Again, and again, we are looking for vigorous writing above all.

Contributors and other readers of the Style Guide should feel free to submit comments and suggestions for improvement to the Editors at zeteojournal@gmail.com. These will help us produce a new and improved versions.