Digital Art History Submissions

General Information

Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (NCAW) is currently accepting proposals for digital art history articles addressing art and visual culture in the long nineteenth century. NCAW seeks proposals that take full advantage of the potential of digital publishing by using digital technologies in the article’s research or publication phase, or both. Strong proposals will demonstrate how the production of digital tool(s) and/or components will lead to a scholarly argument’s key insights (either the tool or component enhanced the depth of insight or made it possible) and/or will illustrate aspects of that argument in dynamic or interactive ways.

The areas of investigation in which NCAW is interested include, but are by no means limited to, the following:

High-Resolution Imaging and Dynamic Image Presentation
Use of panoramic and/or high-resolution imagery to view, for example, panoramas, conservation images (x-ray, infrared reflectography), moving images, or three-dimensional images of artworks. Also articles that are accompanied by digital facsimiles of longer works, such as musical scores, albums, or sketchbooks, as in, for example, the NCAW spring 2013 article “‘In the Park’: Lewis Miller’s Chronicle of American Landscape at Mid-Century.”

Data Mining and Analysis
Use of data-analytics programs (e.g., Gephi, Network Workbench) to investigate connections among particular groups or individuals, such as artists, writers, art dealers, art markets, and other networks of exchange (social networks).

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Mapping
The use of maps, created with online tools such as Neatline, MapBox, or Timemapper, in concert with data sets (e.g., depictions of sites, location of objects, paths of travel) in order to investigate and communicate change over time and space.

For examples of already published digital art history and digital humanities projects, see Digital Art History and Digital Humanities Articles.

Authors are not expected to have extensive technical expertise themselves, but should be generally knowledgeable about the technical possibilities related to their project and should be able to articulate how digital-research methods and NCAW’s digital-publication format connect with their research questions. Upon acceptance of a proposal, authors will identify, in discussion with NCAW’s editors, the digital tools or software to be used and, if necessary, will be expected to identify technical collaborators. NCAW’s editors will assist with the development of a timeline and with guidelines for workflow.

If interested contributors would like to discuss an idea for a digital art history project with the editors first, we would be happy to talk with you in advance of your submission.

For further information, feel free to email co-managing editors, Petra Chu and Isabel Taube editors[at]19thc-artworldwide.org, and digital art history editor Carey Gibbons, dah_editor[at]19thc-artworldwide.org.

Submission

We actively encourage authors to submit either completed digital art history projects or digital art history project proposals to be considered for publication in the journal. A digital art history project consists of a scholarly article accompanied by one or more digital tools or components. By digital tools or components, we mean any digital mode of presentation that will meaningfully enhance a scholarly article. This includes, for example, high-resolution images with zoom capability, a visual essay, an interactive map, or a three-dimensional reconstruction of an exhibition. Send all below materials to the co-managing editors, Petra Chu and Isabel Taube, at editors[at]19thc-artworldwide.org, and the digital art history editor, Carey Gibbons, at dah_editor[at]19thc-artworldwide.org.

To submit an already completed digital art history project for possible inclusion in NCAW, please include:

a. Article as a Microsoft Word document
b. PowerPoint or PDF file with images
c. Illustration list as a Microsoft Word document in the format described in the Style Sheet
d. 100–150 word abstract as a Microsoft Word document
e. Microsoft Word document with your name, address, and title of your article
f. CV as Microsoft Word document or PDF file
g. URL or other appropriate means of accessing the digital tool(s) that will accompany the article
h. Two-page Microsoft Word document explaining how the author plans to present the article and tool or component within the NCAW framework (technologies used, layout, etc.)

To submit a proposal for a digital art history project, please include:

a. Abstract (500 words maximum) as a Microsoft Word document detailing the scholarly content of the article, including how the information gleaned from the proposed digital tool(s) or component(s) will impact the article’s interpretive claims
b. Abstract (500 words maximum) as a Microsoft Word document outlining the appearance/format of the digital tool(s) or component(s) and explaining how the author plans to present the article and tool within the NCAW framework (technologies used, layout, etc.). Also provide one or more URLs from any existing digital project(s) that resemble your proposed project functionally, aesthetically, or in the technologies used, followed by several sentences describing which elements of that project will differ from or emulate your proposed digital tool.
c. Budget (one page maximum)
d. CV

Peer Review

NCAW uses a two-tier peer-review process for digital art history projects.

First, the co-managing editors and/or digital art history editor will review a submitted project or project proposal as soon as possible. Unless they feel the submission has problems, in which case they will return it to the author(s) before peer review, they will send the proposal or project to one or more digital art history and humanities specialists for review. After the reviewer(s) has provided input about the project’s originality, the feasibility of the digital tool, and the project’s contribution to the field of digital art history, the NCAW editors will make a decision about whether or not to proceed with the project.

After a digital art history project or project proposal has been accepted, the NCAW editorial team will work closely with the author(s) during the development of the project. When a draft is produced of the scholarly article and the accompanying digital tool, there will be a second round of peer review. The article materials will be sent to one or more art history content specialists for input on the submission’s scholarly content, and if needed, again to one or more digital art history and humanities specialists for additional input on the digital tool. Both the early and later peer reviews are double anonymous.

Art history content reviewers are requested to evaluate the project according to the following criteria:

  • originality and soundness of research;
  • clearly articulated thesis;
  • evidence of awareness of the literature on the topic;
  • transparent methodology;
  • clear and adequate language and effective use/selection of images;
  • relationship between the article and digital component.

Digital art history and humanities specialists are requested to evaluate the manuscript according to the following criteria:

  • relationship between article and digital component;
  • choice of tool(s) or platform(s);
  • audience and contextualization;
  • user experience;
  • relation to other digital projects;

NCAW editors recommend that authors consult the reviewer forms before submitting their projects.

Reviewers need to be objective in their judgments and have no conflict of interest with respect to the research. They are expected to point out relevant published work, which is not yet cited by the author, and treat the reviewed articles confidentially.

Referees judge each project based on the following scale:

  • strongly recommend publication;
  • recommend publication but offer some suggestions for revision;
  • recommend that the manuscript be revised for further consideration (may include renewed peer review);
  • do not recommend publication.

A decision is sent to the corresponding author(s), along with recommendations made by the reviewers and the editors. The editors are responsible for the final decision to accept/reject the manuscript.

Authors are entitled to expect that reviewers or other persons privy to the work they submitted to NCAW will not appropriate their research ideas or plagiarize their work.

If, after peer review, the submission is accepted, the author(s) will receive comments and suggestions for any changes. The author(s) will also consult with the digital art history editor on the schedule and timeline for production of the project. In all cases, the editors will attempt to inform the author(s) of the article’s status within two months of receipt.