History of Yesterday prides itself on the high editorial standards and we expect every writer to respect them. We encourage our writers to follow the guidelines promptly and ensure that the quality of written work is enjoyable for our audience.
Submission Rules and Requirements
- We accept only unpublished drafts, if the article is or has been published somewhere else we will not accept it.
- Please check if someone has already written about the topic you have written about. For more complex topics, check if the same areas were explored. We will take into consideration articles on topics or historical figures that have been already discussed if there is a new perspective offered.
- Please make sure that this is your own work and there are no copyright or plagiarism incidents. We have a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism. We trust our writers to be mature and well aware of such things.
- We do understand that you are a human and therefore mistakes are acceptable however, please proofread your work before submission. We strongly recommend that you install Grammarly (there is a free version available at the link provided), this will make our job easier and will help you improve your writing.
- All titles must be in “Title Format” and subtitles/subheadings in “Sentence Format” without trailing punctuation. You can use https://capitalizemytitle.com to help you.
- Numbers below 10 must be spelled out.
- Please respect the format provided in the guidelines.
- Keep short quotes in-line with the main text and only separate quotation from the main text if it is quoting a text over two sentences.
- Spell out all acronyms on first usage, putting acronyms in parentheses afterword’s. Thereafter, acronyms can be used.
- Refer to all human sources by full name in the first mention. Thereafter, only by surname.
- Avoid large images (e.g. images that span the entire page width).
- Use Oxford comma in all series.
- Include attribution (person who said it) for all quotes.
- Please do not try to promote or sell something as this publication is with the intent to only portrait knowledge of historical value to the public.
- All submissions must be in English, (with the exception of specific phrases in different languages that must be explained or translated in brackets).
- Stories and articles must be at least 500 words long.
- Please avoid using profanity.
- Your submission must have a historic theme.
- Avoid citing Wikipedia or other websites that have a poor reputation.
Style
We incline towards keeping a clean and premium look to our articles so please avoid adding any links to other articles that are not mandatory. Before submitting an article, please take a look at various articles within the publication to get a feeling for the sort of articles and writers we are after.
Image Usage
Make sure to use one picture or photo between the title and the main body. The image that you use must be copyright-free. The image between the title/subtitle and the main body will be the featured photo for the article. If possible, we want you to use images/pictures that give an accurate representation of the context within the article. All the images/pictures used must have a caption that describes:
- What it represents
- The date (if known)
- The source
It is very important to give credit to all the images used! The source of the image must present the photographer or artis (if known) and, or the institution the photo is taken from. If possible, make sure to also hyperlink the exact source of the image. Have a look at the example below to get a better understanding:
The “Big Three” at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin in 1945 (Source: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)
Images that have a nature of emotionally affecting the reader will be assessed by the editors and if necessary, changed or removed. If such images are used and accepted please ensure to give a disclaimer at the top of the article.
Citation
Our audience is savvy when it comes to historical debates and this is why we like to provide citations for certain facts that are mentioned in our articles from credible and reputable sources. The way we use citations is by hyperlinking the fact mentioned within the text to the exact link with the source. Please check some of the published content to get an idea.
Older articles that have been only published on paper or books can be mentioned within text, by having the name of the author/authors and the title of the text.
Writing Alternate History
Alternate History is offering different scenarios/ perspectives on historical events that have taken place For those writers who want to write about the alternate history, your articles must follow some specific guidelines.
- Your claims must be backed up by historical data.
- The main purpose of these articles is trying to educate, any attempt to try to push a political agenda will result in your article being rejected.
- Give a bit of true historical background to the event or time period you are writing about so that the reader makes the connection between the true events and the alternate perspective.
- Please add a kicker specifying Alternate History so we know that the article is intended for this column.
Editing
Once you have submitted an article please allow our editors to have a look and make the necessary changes. Certain times we will have more submission therefore it could take longer to have your article edited and published. Editors will leave notes for you if things need to be changes or removed so please keep an eye on the submitted articles as well as your email.
