The editors welcome the submission of manuscripts by all those interested in the history and culture of Houston, broadly defined. We are looking for manuscripts which make a significant contribution to the definition, understanding, and/or professional and intellectual progress of Houston’s local history that can be incorporated into various issues. Revisions will be suggested, if necessary, before the editors will accept an article for publication.

Manuscript Policy:

• Manuscripts should be submitted electronically as a Word Document in double-spaced typescript with 1 1/2 inch margins all around. Citations should appear as endnotes, not in-text references, and should conform to The Chicago Manual of Style. The title page needs to include the author’s name, address, and all other contact information including an email address.
• Research articles and photographic essays should be no more than fifteen double-spaced pages (12 pt. font) or 4,000 words.
• An abstract of approximately 100 words should accompany each manuscript. The abstract should also be provided in electronic format.
• Accompanying each submitted manuscript should be a brief description of the author’s background and work for use in a contributor’s note in the issue.
• Illustrations, photographic or drawn, are required for all articles. Photographs can be black and white or color, 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 glossy prints, transparencies, or negatives; other illustrations should be professionally drawn to scale about twice the size of the final copy. Digital images should be high resolution and as large as possible. We will edit the images to size. These should be submitted with the article with accompanying captions. If you use illustrations, maps, or photographs protected by a copyright, you will be responsible for securing permission from the copyright holder to use them in your article.

The following rules cover most of the common issues about copy editing:

Spelling: Refer to Merriam-Webster’s Eleventh New Collegiate Dictionary (2005) as your guide for spelling, hyphenation, closed or unclosed compounds, etc.

Capitalization: see The Chicago Manual of Style.

Quotations: For any quotes longer than 10 typed lines, please use block quotes and use a colon before the block quote. Do not put block quotes in italics and please indent .5 on each side.

Numbers: Spell out all numbers as long as they are two words or less, and always spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence. For all other number issues see the Chicago Manual of Style.

Endnotes: Try to limit endnotes by inserting them at the end of the paragraph. If there are multiple references for a single entry, they can be combined into one endnote. Please include complete citations with books, periodicals, place and date of publication, name of publishing company, volume numbers, and page numbers. Do not use “p.” or “pp.” with page numbers. For citation style and information, refer to the Chicago Manual of Style.

Manuscripts, letters to the editor, and all other matter of an editorial nature should be addressed to:

Houston History
Center for Public History
547 Agnes Arnold Hall
University of Houston
Houston, Texas 77204-3007
Tel: (713) 743-3123

HoustonHistory@uh.edu