Episode 105: Joshua Piker, How Historians Publish History

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What do historians do with their research once they finish writing about it?

How do historians publish the books and articles we love to read?

This episode of our Doing History: How Historians Work series, takes us behind-the-scenes of how historians publish their writing about history.

Our guide through the world of history publications is Joshua Piker, a Professor of History at the College of William and Mary, and the Editor of the William and Mary Quarterly, the leading journal of early American history and culture.

About the Series

Doing History episodes will introduce you to historians who will tell you what they know about the past and reveal how they came to their knowledge.

Each episode will air on the last Tuesday of each month in 2016.

This series is part of a partnership between Ben Franklin’s World and the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Episode Summary

pikerIn this 10th episode of our Doing History: How Historians Work series, we investigate how historians publish the history books and articles we love to read with Joshua Piker, a Professor of History at the College of William and Mary and the Editor of the William and Mary Quarterly, the leading journal of early American history and culture.

During our conversation, Josh reveals an overview of why historians view history as a process; Different publication opportunities for historians and how publication fits within the process of history; And a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to publish in the premier journal of early American history and culture, the William and Mary Quarterly.

What You’ll Discover

  • The process of history
  • Publication opportunities for historians
  • What historians mean by “popular” and “scholarly” history
  • The William and Mary Quarterly
  • What makes the William and Mary Quarterly different from other history journals
  • The work Josh performs as the editor of a history journal
  • The submission-to-publication process at the Quarterly
  • The 3 must-haves of WMQ essays
  • Peer review: what is it and how it works
  • Why the WMQ uses a double-blind peer review process
  • How book publishers use peer review
  • Publishing a journal article from an author’s perspective
  • How historians use peer review to make their work better
  • The time investment in each article
  • The OI Reader and how it adds a digital component to printed articles

 

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Complementary Episodes

American History Journals

 

Time Warp PlainTime Warp Question

In your opinion, what will the landscape of publication opportunities look like for historians 25 and 50 years from now? Will printed books and journals be dead? Will historians still publish history in the written word?


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