Official Submission & Review Policy
American Literary Magazine, commonly known as AmLit, is the American University literary magazine and creative arts outlet. Striving to publish the best student writing and visual art within the campus community, AmLit is comprised of poetry, short stories, photos and art submitted by the campus community, including undergrad and graduate students. AmLit selects content based on an anonymous review process, giving each staff member an equal vote for each piece submitted. Any discrepancies are decided by the Editors-in-Chief and genre editors. All copyrights revert to the artists upon publication, unless otherwise noted.
Step 1 | Submit
Please follow the guidelines on our submissions page.
Step 2 | Processing
After the deadline, the Editors-in-Chief begin to sort the submissions. The Editors-in-Chief are the only people who ever see the applications with full names and other identifying information. The Editors-in-Chief number each submission so that the submission and the application can be safely separated from each other for the anonymous review process. The applications are stored in a binder that is only accessible by the Editors-in-Chief.
After the deadline, the Editors-in-Chief begin to sort the submissions. The Editors-in-Chief are the only people who ever see the applications with full names and other identifying information. The Editors-in-Chief number each submission so that the submission and the application can be safely separated from each other for the anonymous review process. The applications are stored in a binder that is only accessible by the Editors-in-Chief.
Step 3 | Review
Each of the genres has a separate review session led by the genre's editors. All members of the AmLit staff are allowed (and encouraged) to attend. The Editors-in-Chief attend each review session, but do not speak about about the works or participate in the vote. If any of the staff present know the identity of the artist who submitted a particular piece of work, they must also abstain from voting. A discussion is held before a final vote is taken on each individual piece. We ask that our staff keep discussion professional, respectful and constructive, and we take this policy seriously. A piece must have a majority vote to be included in the magazine. In the case of a tie, the piece is set aside for the Editors-in-Chief to make a final decision on at a later time.
Step 4 | Notification
After the review sessions, the genre editors will email each person who submitted with the decision made at the review session. We do our best to be professional, and we can assure you that we go to great lengths to ensure a fair submissions process. If your piece is not selected, we do allow artists and authors to re-submit their work in subsequent semesters.
If you have any further questions about the submissions process, please email us at amlitmag@gmail.com.
