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Call for proposals

The VCU Libraries Social Welfare History Project seeks proposals for scholarly articles related to the history of policies, programs, individuals, and organizations that have worked to improve society and the lives of individuals in need in the United States of America.

The Project welcomes submissions from faculty, graduate students, librarians, archivists, independent researchers, and social work or public health practitioners.

Proposal & Article Guidelines

Topics should relate to U.S. social welfare history, but may take a variety of forms:

  • Broad historical overviews of a topic to help orient students in their research
  • In-depth examinations of a particular event, policy, or individual
  • Other approaches to presenting historical research, including StoryMaps or data visualizations.

Proposals should be one to three paragraphs in length and should indicate key sources, though citations are not required at this stage
Final articles should be 2,500 to 5,500 words and written in a scholarly, yet accessible style for undergraduate and graduate students

Review & Publication Process

  • Proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis—there is no deadline.
  • Prospective authors meet with the project manager to learn more about the Social Welfare History Project and to refine their proposals and articles
  • Articles undergo a two-reader editing process before publication

Impact and Author Benefits

  • Published articles are freely available to a broad audience for classroom and scholarly use. Thousands of readers visit the SWHP each day.
  • Authors retain copyright to their work
  • Upon publication, authors receive recognition of scholarly excellence and support for their research with a VCU Publishing Research Award and $500

Submission Instructions

Authors may submit up to three proposals by email to LibSWHP@vcu.edu. Please include your professional title or institutional affiliation along with your proposed topic(s).