In this post, Jan Machielsen, editor of Transactions of the Royal Historical Society reflects on his first six months in the role and looks ahead to forthcoming content in the journal.
Published by Cambridge University Press, Transactions is the Society’s flagship academic journal. First published in 1872, Transactions has been publishing the highest quality scholarship in history for more than 150 years.
Transactions invites and welcomes submissions from all historians, at all career stages, on content covering a wide range of subjects, chronologies and geographies worldwide.
From August 2024 all articles published in Transactions are available Open Access, with no charge to readers or any author, ensuring their widest possible circulation and readership.
I am no mountaineer, but for the past six months, I have often felt as though I am perched atop a mountain, surveying a rich and vast landscape below. Historians have their individual research specialisms and value deep expertise—knowing every detail of a particular valley or even a single stream. Journal editors, however, get to see it all. Even though it is from a great distance, this vantage point is so unique it convinces you that all of history is—somehow—connected.
This is one reason I am excited about the content I’ve recently been reviewing and accepting for publication in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. I hope the diverse array of articles we have coming out soon—on topics ranging from cricket and Edwardian literary culture, to imperial ignorance-making, to Christian Chinese tombstones—will convey the same sense of interconnectedness to our readers.
‘The Common Room’ provides a virtual space for historians to discuss the state of their field in the widest sense.
This new content takes the form not just of research articles but also shorter comments which address current debates and interests among historians, which appear in ‘The Common Room’ section. Introduced by my predecessors, Kate Smith and Harshan Kumarasingham, the Common Room provides a virtual space for historians to discuss the state of their field in the widest sense. Forthcoming contributions include reflections on when to name or anonymise sources, the latest advances in Black British History, and the experience of independent researchers.
A mentor once recalled the words of their PhD supervisor from over half a century ago: ‘All of history is interesting. Therefore study Italy because the food is good.’ Regardless of one’s culinary preferences, the wide range of contributions in the Transactions shows that all of history matters.
In my first six months as editor, I have learned a great deal from the submissions, from the usually exceptionally constructive reviews, and from the process of receiving, revising and publishing journal content itself. It can be quite wondrous to see even already great articles improve after feedback and review.
These are processes that, until now, I had only seen from the other side, as an author—and those experiences have not been forgotten. Together with the editorial board, we are working to make the review process for Transactions as constructive and swift as possible. We know that delayed outcomes can materially affect careers. We are also committed to making our feedback helpful so that even when we cannot accept an article, we can help authors publish their work elsewhere.
At Transactions we welcome submissions from all historians, at all career stages.
In doing so, we’re especially mindful of those early career historians, perhaps publishing their first journal piece, for whom guidance on developing PhD research to a published article is particularly important.
At Transactions we welcome submissions from all historians, at all career stages, and our published content aims to reflect the breadth of the historical profession (and Royal Historical Society itself), including contributions for academic historians, those working in related sectors such as heritage, and independent researchers. This breadth of authors, and the option to publish research articles and ‘Common Room’ pieces, give Transactions a distinctive identity which I hope will appeal to you as potential authors.
In my first six months as editor there have been challenges to weather, as there always are. In early summer, a cyber attack at our publisher, Cambridge University Press, led to a pause in the publishing pipeline while CUP checked and reset their systems. I’m very aware that this unwelcome and unforeseen incident has affected Transactions authors whose articles were being prepared for publication.
One outcome is that we’ve been unable to publish new articles on CUP’s FirstView for a few months, which has reduced the journal’s visibility. However, I’m very pleased that CUP have now restarted their publishing systems and that new Transactions articles will begin to appear online shortly. I’d like to thank our authors, and you our readers, for your patience while the situation at CUP was resolved.
From August 2024, all articles published in Transactions will be accessible Open Access to readers without charge, and without any cost to the author.
There is further welcome news from CUP. In mid-August 2024, Transactions moved to become fully Open Access (OA) journal. This means every article published in Transactions will be accessible to all readers without charge, and without any cost to the author—ensuring journal content can now be circulated to and read by the widest possible readership.
Many authors writing for Transactions will already have had the charges for OA article publishing covered by agreements between their institution and the publisher. However, the Society, myself and the editorial board are also committed to enabling publication by authors who are not covered by such agreements. CUP’s move to full Open Access for the journal therefore includes a waiver scheme for all those without access to alternative forms of institutional funding.
We very much hope this initiative will encourage a growing range of submissions from authors, worldwide, including those who practice history outside Higher Education, in related sectors or as independent researchers. Those wishing to submit an article for review may do so here.
Finally, it has at times been lonely on this mountaintop. We are therefore in the process of appointing a co-editor to start in January 2025. Please watch the Society’s website and social media for further announcements—and please consider applying. Editing Transactions of the Royal Historical Society is an incredibly rewarding job, and I consider myself fortunate for the opportunity.
About the author
Jan Machielsen is Reader in Early Modern History at Cardiff University and editor of Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Jan’s research focuses on early modern religion, with a particular interest in reputations—how people came be to be seen as exceptionally wicked witches or as exceptionally devout, wonder-working saints.
His next book, The Basque Witch-Hunt: A Secret History, a study one of Europe’s most notorious witch-hunts, is published by Bloomsbury in October 2024.
Submitting an article to
Transactions is the flagship academic journal of the Royal Historical Society. Today’s journal publishes a wide range of research articles and commentaries on historical approaches, practice and debate. In addition to traditional 10-12,000 word research articles, Transactions also welcomes shorter, innovative commentary articles. In 2023, we introduced ‘The Common Room’—a section of the journal dedicated to commentaries and think pieces by academic historians and historical practitioners.
The journal welcomes submissions dealing with any geographical area from the early middle ages to the very recent past. The journal’s editor and editorial boards are interested in articles that cover entirely new ground, thematically or methodologically, as well as those engaging critically on established themes in existing literatures.
Transactions welcomes submissions covering all historical periods and regions, from authors working in all forms of history. We also invite articles from authors at every career stage. In line with the Society’s commitment to supporting postgraduate and early career historians, the journal seeks to engage constructively and positively with first-time authors.
The journal’s editorial team provides prompt responses and peer review. Articles are published with Cambridge University Press, online via CUP’s FirstView, and in an annual volume. From 21 August 2024, all articles accepted for publication in Transactions will automatically appear Open Access, with no charge to the author, ensuring the widest possible circulation and readership for new work.
If you’re currently researching an article or a think piece, please consider Transactions as the journal in which to publish your work. Articles may be submitted here.
HEADER IMAGE: ‘Wanderer above the Sea of Fog’ (1818), Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), Hamburger Kunsthalle, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
