Submission Preflight (ahr-submission)

The last check before uploading to ScholarOne / Manuscript Central (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ahrev). The AHR is anonymous (double-blind), so the most common avoidable failure is an under-masked manuscript. Verify volatile specifics on the official page before relying on them.

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
• Unsure which files/metadata ScholarOne expects
• Confirming length, notes, masking, and image requirements are met

Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)

• Owner / publisher: American Historical Association (AHA) / Oxford University Press.
• Portal: ScholarOne / Manuscript Central (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ahrev); submit a Microsoft Word document — email submissions are not accepted.
• Review model: double-blind / anonymous — mask the author's identity throughout. Roughly a quarter of submissions are sent out for full review; every article published in the AHR has been reviewed by at least six scholars.
• Decision timeline: a decision is targeted within about six to eight months.
• Acceptance: the AHR publishes roughly 8–10% of the ~360 manuscripts it receives per year — a reach for any author; lead with a first-order question, not an incremental one.
• Length: ideally ≤ 8,000 words of text, not counting notes, tables, and charts (treat as a strong target; see 待核实).
• Notes: Chicago Manual of Style footnotes/endnotes; guideline ~2:1 text-to-notes at submission — a typical 8,000-word article carries ~4,500–5,500 words of notes, so budget notes well above "half the text"; no bibliography, no in-text parenthetical (see ahr-citation-and-style).
• Formatting: 8½ × 11, Times New Roman 12 pt, double-spaced, numbered pages.
• Images: alt-text under each figure legend; author clears reproduction permissions/rights.
• Abstract: whether a separate abstract is required is 待核实 — check the ScholarOne prompts.
• Fees: no author processing fees; 50% discount on up to 10 print copies.
• Exclusivity: not under consideration, published, in press, or under contract elsewhere.

Preflight checklist

Length & notes

• Text ideally ≤ 8,000 words (notes/tables/charts excluded)
• Chicago notes; no bibliography; no in-text parenthetical; ~2:1 text-to-notes
• Archival citations specify collection, box/folder, archive

Anonymity (double-blind)

• No author name, affiliation, acknowledgments in the manuscript
• No self-revealing phrasing ("in my earlier book…"); self-citations neutralized
• Identifying file metadata stripped (document properties, comments)

Format & files

• Word document; 8½ × 11; Times New Roman 12 pt; double-spaced; numbered pages
• Figures with alt-text under each legend; permissions plan in place
• Separate (non-anonymous) title/contact info as ScholarOne requires

Compliance

• Original work; exclusivity declaration true (not under consideration elsewhere)
• Reproduction rights for all images identified and obtainable

Anti-patterns

• Leaving author identifiers in the text, acknowledgments, or file metadata (breaks anonymity)
• A works-cited list or in-text citations (the AHR uses Chicago notes only)
• Submitting by email or to the wrong portal
• Concurrent submission elsewhere
• Leaving image permissions and alt-text to the editorial stage

Output format

【Length】text ≤ ~8,000 words (notes excluded)? [Y/N]
【Notes】Chicago, no bibliography, no in-text parenthetical? [Y/N]
【Anonymized】text + self-refs + file metadata clean? [Y/N]
【Format】Word / 8.5x11 / TNR 12 / double-spaced / numbered? [Y/N]
【Images】alt-text + permissions plan? [Y/N]
【Exclusivity】declaration true? [Y/N]
【Next】await decision → ahr-revision-and-response on R&R

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — manuscript prep, masking, and image tooling
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — portal, format, length, notes, fees, exclusivity