BICS Call for Themed Issues

The journal is a forum to publish cutting-edge and interdisciplinary research in all areas of classical studies broadly defined, including archaeology.

We are currently planning issues which will be published in 2024 onwards.

Those who wish to submit a proposal should follow the directions below.

Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies publishes themed issues that appear twice per year, in print and online.

A themed issue of BICS combines the advantages of serial and standalone publishing. Each issue is part of an international series with an established readership and subscription base; it is also a distinct publication on a particular theme, which can be purchased on an individual basis.

Our partnership with Oxford University Press gives the journal worldwide marketing and distribution, alongside an internationally outstanding classics list and a stable of high-quality humanities journals.

The journal currently operates as a hybrid, offering open-access publishing options upon payment of an APC.

The subject matter of a themed issue may relate to any area of classical studies broadly defined, including archaeology.

Editors have the freedom to develop their issues as they wish. A themed issue might comprise entirely freshly commissioned papers, for example; it might derive from a research workshop or seminar series which has already taken place, publishing selected and revised papers from those occasions; or it might represent a mix of papers which have already been presented, and others that are specially for the issue.

Conferences and seminars often generate excellent material for issues, but BICS issues are not conference proceedings as such. Where an issue has been developed from a conference or seminar series, it will be essential to explain to us how the material has been or will be developed for publication, why certain papers have been included or excluded, and how coherence for the themed issue has been achieved. (Prospective guest editors should note that we have made a strategic publishing decision not to publish conference proceedings as such.)

Each BICS issue should be a high-quality contribution to a thriving, specialist field of research. As a part of a serial, it should also be a publication of sufficient breadth that it will offer interest to classicists who are not specialists in that field.

BICS issues have a maximum word limit of 70,000 words. This will make them an ideal venue for some publications, but not for all.

We are currently planning issues which will be published in 2024 onwards. In no more than 1200 words, prospective editors are asked to specify:

• The subject area and working title of your issue.
• Publishing rationale: Why this topic deserves publication at this time, with an overview of the relation of your proposed treatment of the theme to other relevant work in the field.
• Contents: A list of articles to be included in the volume, and their authors, with an indication of whether each has already been approached and/or agreed to contribute and whether a first draft of each paper has been completed. For those papers not yet written, please indicate the likely date of completion of first draft. Editors should further specify how they will bring unity and coherence to the issue, and how they expect to solicit, support, and shape individual contributions. If the content is derived from a conference or seminar series, please make very clear how the material will be developed for publication; why certain papers have been included; and please identify any papers that have been freshly commissioned for publication.
• Estimated length: A complete issue is c. 65-70,000 words; papers in BICS tend to be c. 8000 words, while contributions of over 15,000 words are rarely accepted. 70,000 words is a maximum word limit.
• The make-up of the editorial team, including level of editorial experience.
• The level of illustration likely to be required.
• Schedule: An indication of when the special issue will be ready for peer review.

Please send your proposal to ICS Publications by Friday 8 April 2022 (end of the day, in any time zone).

Proposals for themed issues are reviewed by the Publications Committee of the ICS. The ICS will contact those who made submissions by the end of May 2022.

Once a themed issue is accepted in principle, a detailed schedule will be agreed. At this stage, all proposed authors must be confirmed. Among other things, the schedule will cater for peer review: in line with publication standards, all papers will go through a process of ‘double-blind’ review. The issue editor(s) will take responsibility for delivering final copy in a standard format, of an agreed length (70,000 words max.), by an agreed date, in accordance with BICS editorial guidelines. Copy-editing, layout, and production will then be handled by OUP in partnership with the Institute, with proofs distributed to all contributors before publication.

For reference, the current issue of the Bulletin is available here.

All contacts and queries should be directed to ICS Publications.