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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities

Submissions to Atrium

Guidelines for Unsolicited Submissions

All articles and art work should speak to, or be inspired by, the issue's theme in some way. Atrium encourages potential authors to think creatively about broad interpretations of the theme—both concrete and abstract applications of theme are welcome. For more on the goals of Atrium, please see the Fall 2006 issue of ASBH Exchange and the Snapshot feature from our inaugural issue.

At this time, we are not considering fiction or poetry.

Word Limits

Atrium publishes original articles of varying lengths. The maximum is 3,500 words, and there is no minimum. There are more openings for shorter pieces (in the 1,000 word range) than longer pieces. The word limit for the piece on the back cover, “Snapshot,” is 450. Please limit yourself to five footnotes or endnotes.

How to Submit (for Authors)

Full articles are not required for submission; proposals are preferred and encouraged. In your proposal (100-500 words), please include the following information:

  • The topic you would like to address
  • The stylistic approach you will take (e.g., “this would be a first-person narrative of my experience doing x” or “an analytic discussion of the pattern of y”)
  • The main points you intend to make
  • The approximate word count you anticipate
  • Any disciplinary background or professional experience pertinent to your piece
  • Your contact information

PLEASE NOTE: Acceptance of a proposal represents Atrium’s commitment to seriously consider the full article when it is submitted, and to invest time offering editorial support to authors who are close to having a piece that fits Atrium. As a result, almost all accepted proposals lead to published articles. But proposal acceptance is not a final commitment to publish the full article. If the writing and analysis of the full article is not excellent, or if it does not conform to the proposal content, Atrium reserves the right to decline publication.

How to Submit (for Artists)

If the art work you'd like to submit for consideration has already been created, please email a pdf image of it. If an artist would like to create a new piece of work for Atrium, please submit a description of the proposed work along with pdf samples of previous work.