Please direct general inquiries to eic@firstpersonscholar.com 

“Is this an essay or a commentary?”

The eternal question. The alpha and omega. There isn’t really a strong difference. In fact, there’s a lot of overlap. Broadly speaking, however, if your idea more strongly emphasizes a theoretical bent with a lot of citation, it’s probably best suited to essays. If your writing is more experiential or experimental, try Commentaries. It’s also ok to pick one and ask! The section heads will talk and find the right home for your work.

“How can I be an editor for FPS?”

We are a group of current graduate students who are earning degrees in Canada. Did ya know we’re Canadian? Now you do. If you want to work for us, you need to be a graduate student based in Canada (international students at a Canadian University, you’re eligible! But not Canadians studying abroad–sorry expats). Editor positions are for one academic year, although if you’re doing well in your program and your supervisor isn’t chasing us with a torch and pitchfork for distracting you, you’re welcome to renew a position or ask for a different one. You can also quit after a year, but we will be sad, unless you are leaving us for another heckin’ cool job, in which case we will be sad but also proud. We accept applications from PhD or MA students each August-September for vacant positions.

“Do editors get paid?”

While we had grants that allowed us to offer funding in the past this is no longer the case. We are sad, sorry, and are trying to find alternative funding sources to bring this back but for now we are no longer paying contributors or editors. We are fully volunteer run.

“How often can I publish with FPS?”

We like working with familiar folks as much as we like new faces. You’re more than welcome to send something our way in the future, but we ask that you limit your submissions to one per academic year; we want to make sure we can include as many different voices as possible.

“How long does it take to finish a piece?”

That’s really up to you. We’re flexible and can schedule revisions around your needs.

“Are you peer-reviewed?”

I mean, in the sense that a group of peers is reviewing your paper? But for the traditional metric of academic currency, no. We aren’t a journal and if you need journal publications for tenure, applications, grants, scholarships, etc., we probably don’t check that box.

That being said, we’re super cool and we have a wide international readership across academic, journalistic, and industry spheres. Our stuff is regularly cited by academics in our discipline and frequently shows up on course syllabi. So there’s that.

“When is the soonest I can get published?”

We usually have between 3-6 months of articles prepared or in the works at any given time. We’re faster than a journal, but it does still take a bit. Occasionally, something happens and we might have a hole in our publishing schedule. In that case, we’ll contact you and ask if that date works for you. Alternately, we publish special issues from time-to-time, or may otherwise need to shift our publishing schedule around a bit. In these cases, we will reach out to confirm revised publishing dates with you. You won’t be “surprised-published.”

“How do I pitch a special issue?”/ “How can I collaborate with FPS?” / “I want to help fund FPS” / “I have an opportunity for FPS”

Email the Editor-in-Chief! We’re always excited to hear about collaborations, grants, joint-publication efforts, special issues, and more.

“I have a response to an article already published on FPS.”

Cool. We treat these as regular submissions and they go through the same process. Just don’t be an asshole to the original author. We won’t publish dunk pieces. We will publish critiques that punch nice and high up (but then it’s not really a dunk piece, is it?). We live by the rule that all research starts with people; treat your responses accordingly.

“I have an idea for a video/multimedia submission.”

We are primarily a print publication (with occasional podcasts, interviews, and even games), but we have accepted submissions in other forms in the past! A good approach in most cases is to treat non-print stuff as a support or supplement to a print submission. Don’t put a hundred hours into editing a video essay or game and cold-submit it to us, because that’s just going to be more work for you when we ask for revisions. Start with the print version first, and when we’re happy with that, then start putting the multimedia component together.

“I’d like to collaborate on a cross-promotional/paid post.”

No.

“bUt WhAt AbOuT eThIcS aNd GaMeS jOuRnAlIsM?”

Heck off, buddy.

“How often do you deal with trolls like the above, but unironically?”

It does happen. We try to keep an eye on known hotbeds for trolling/harassment and keep our contributors apprised of the situation. Seriously, we have an editor who checks the Bad Parts of the internet weekly to make sure we’re in the clear. We take the security and safety of our contributors seriously; you’re part of the team, too. We will only ever publish contact information that you specifically give us permission to publish.