Economic & Political History Review (EPHR) welcomes submissions that advance rigorous, historically grounded scholarship across its six editorial categories. We aim to publish work that engages critically with questions of political and economic history, often in conversation with broader historiographical, literary, and interdisciplinary debates. The descriptions of each category, along with word limits and core expectations are as follows.
Commentary (2000- 3000 words)
Commentary pieces are short-form, argument driven essays that intervene directly in ongoing debates, recent scholarship, or contemporary historiographical questions. While they do not require original archival research, they must demonstrate scholarly rigor, conceptual clarity, and a historically grounded perspective.
We are looking for essays that reframe issues, whether around development, sovereignty, labor, bureaucracy, or other categories, by challenging assumptions, offering methodological critiques, or bringing underexplored regions and sources into focus. Polemical tones are welcome, but arguments must be well-supported and situated within relevant scholarly conversations.
Research Notes (1500- 3000 words)
Research Notes present concise, source-based studies that share new findings, rare archival materials, or methodological prompts. They are not shortened articles, but compact interventions focusing on a clearly defined research question.
Ideal submissions might analyze an overlooked government document, interpret newly accessible statistical data, or examine the research value of underused archives, newspapers, or private collections. We especially welcome contributions from regional or non-metropolitan archives, and notes that reflect on the conditions, politics, and fragility of the historical record.
Historiographical Essays (4500- 5000 words)
Historiographical Essays survey and interpret the evolution of a particular historical field, theme, region, or period. They should synthesize complex bodies of literature, trace shifts in debates, and propose new directions for research moving beyond mere summary toward critical interpretation.
Submissions may explore how frameworks such as Marxist, feminist, subaltern, environmental, or legal approaches have shaped the field, or how key concepts (capital, sovereignty, governance, class, development) have emerged and been contested. We encourage essays that place South Asian historiography in transregional or comparative perspective, and that foreground neglected or vernacular scholarship.
Methods & Approaches (2000- 3000 words)
The Methods & Approaches section is devoted to essays that foreground the tools, techniques, and interpretive strategies used in political and economic history. We see method not as a neutral instrument, but as an active force in shaping historical interpretation. This category is for contributions that make methodological questions visible, show their stakes, and offer pathways for innovation. The emphasis is on clarity and transferability and authors should write with an audience in mind that spans historians, social scientists, and others who might apply or adapt these methods. Essays should use concrete examples to illustrate their arguments, and where possible, provide resources or guidance for others seeking to follow similar approaches.
Special Articles (5000- 6500 words)
Special Articles are full-length, original research papers that offer substantial empirical and conceptual contributions to political and economic history. They should be based on sustained engagement with primary sources, demonstrate methodological sophistication, and situate their arguments within relevant historiographical debates.
We particularly welcome submissions that cross disciplinary boundaries, engage with comparative or transnational frameworks, or bring regional archives and non- traditional sources into conversation with established scholarship.
Literary Interventions (800-1300 words)
This section publishes short essays that show how literature (fiction, poetry, drama, oral narrative, speeches, or legal rhetoric) engages with historical experience, political thought, and economic transformation. We treat literature as a form of knowledge production, not as background illustration.
Submissions should offer close readings of formal elements (metaphor, narrative structure, pacing, silences) that illuminate how texts grapple with power, violence, memory, and structural change. Essays should be historically informed, politically attuned, and accessible to readers across disciplines.
For more queries please contact at editor@ephr.in