Haḍra: Call for Contributions

12th Jun 2019 by Ibrahim Halawi

CALL FOR SUBMISSION

Haḍra invites all submissions on any topic related to the Middle East region – politics, sociology, economy, law, political geography, anthropology, political theory, among others – by anyone from or in the region. We particularly welcome young authors, whose fresh ideas and analysis, born out of their organic experiences, should be ‘present’ (literal meaning of Haḍra) in academic debate. Haḍra is an inclusive blog, run by SEPAD, that hopes to be the platform for this presence; an organic and diverse intellectual intervention in Western academic debate. 

Questions concerning identity, conflict, geopolitics, political economy, authoritarianism, state-society relations, communal relations, revolutions, counterrevolutions, among others, should not only be answered by scholars. They are questions addressed and faced by people in the region. 

Haḍra is run and produced on a primarily voluntary basis by an editorial team. Where others see only a security threat, conflict, or info-graphs, we see a rich and diverse region inhabited by living and lively communities and societies facing their own challenges and improvising ways to overcome them. 

If you have any questions, or would like to share your ideas for potential submissions, please do not hesitate to contact SEPAD Fellow and Haḍra Editor, Dr. Ibrahim Halawi, at Ibrahim.halawi@rhul.ac.uk

Editorial line:  

Haḍra is committed to the principles of democracy, freedom of expression and human rights. While we recognise that there is a wide range of perspectives within this remit, articles and proposals which contravene these criteria will not be accepted.   

Submission guidelines:

• Send any submission proposal(s) prior to article submission. Rather than a draft article, we would prefer you to send a 300-wordsummaryof your proposed topic. Please tell us why you think this is a relevant issue and outline the argument and structure of your proposed article. Proposals received after each Monday will normally only be considered for publication the following week.
• We will reply to you as early as possible, once we have your proposal. The decision on your proposal also depends on having a good balance of publications, covering a range of subjects and countries within the MENA region. If your proposal is accepted, we may also make suggestions as to additional points we would like you to cover. 
• If your proposal is accepted, we then decide a submission date.We are a small team with a large workload, so the sooner you submit a draft, the more opportunity we will have to work together to produce an article of publishable standard. If you miss the deadline, your topic may no longer be relevant, or we might not be able to publish it.
• Article length: the ideal article length is between 650 and 800words. Please try to keep within this range. Our goal is to produce high quality and rigorous analysis, while keeping the reader’s attention. Articles significantly longer or shorter than this suggested word count will only be considered under exceptional circumstances. 
• Referencing: we respect our readers and strive for accuracy. The claims and arguments you make must be supported by evidence. If you reference particular articles, reports, speeches etc, or make factual claims relating to figures or events, use hyperlinks to direct the reader to your source. 
• Style and Structure: 
  • Your style should be formal, precise and educated, but not necessarily academic – although links and references to academic work are welcomed. If you have to use specific, specialised terminology, please explain its meaning to your readers. 
  • Keep your sentences relatively short – if more than three lines long, it becomes hard to follow. Rather than writing unbroken, lengthy sentences, try to break up your thoughts into separate sentences and link these together with logical connecting words and phrases. 
  • Paragraphs should ideally be between 6 and 10 lines long, although this is obviously not an absolute rule. However, especially for online publishing, going too far over this length makes it more tiring to read your pieces. 
  • Regarding punctuation, please do not use too many hyphens, colons and semi-colons. Use these selectively for when you want to emphasise particular points. 
  • Please try to structure your article in a logical way. If you have several major points that you want to develop, consider separating these with subheadings. If your argument is complex or contains multiple parts, you may also want to consider indicating what you will cover near the beginning of your article and/or summarising your argument at the end
• Non-native English speakers: we appreciate that many of our writers will not be native English speakers. We are happy to proofread and edit your work for spelling, vocabulary and grammar. However, if you are uncertain of you language at any point, we advise you to try to express your argument in the simplest way possible. This makes it easy for us to understand; we can then edit your article into a more formal, journalistic style. 
• Other: please include a title and a standfirst with your article draft: one or two short sentences summarising your argument in the article. We would also like a picture and no more than 100-word bioof you to publish along with your article.
• Ownership: once published by us, your article is the property of Haḍra. However, if you wish to republish your article elsewhere, we have no objection, as long as you notify us and, secondly, clearly state in the republished version that the piece was first published by Haḍra and include a link to our website. 

Please remember that these guidelines are intended to help both of us work together efficiently and productively. The more closely your draft article corresponds to the guidelines, the more quickly we can publish it. As new moves fast, getting a quick turn-around is essential to ensuring that your article remains relevant. Please also be aware that you may have to make minor changes to your article after it passes through the editorial team.  

We look forward to receiving your proposals!