Gifted History Students Publishing Academic Papers

 

When I took my first advanced history course in college, the president of the university (a history buff himself) spoke to our class and encouraged us to submit our papers to various journals for publication. Before that, it had never occurred to me to submit any of my writing for publication. In my mind, I was "just" a student and never thought of anyone beyond an instructor being interested in my work.

Now it is possible not only for college students to publish their work, but for serious high school history students to publish the papers that they have researched. The Concord Review gives young people this opportunity. The Review is the only quarterly journal in the world to publish the academic expository research papers of secondary history students. Papers may be on any historical topic, ancient or modern, foreign or domestic, and may be submitted in two categories: short (1,500-2,500 words) and long (4,000-6,000 words).

Many of these young authors have included reprints of their papers with their college application materials. Their research has helped them to gain admission to some of the nation’s (and world’s) best universities.

High school teachers also use The Concord Review in their classes to provide examples of good historical writing. What a wonderful opportunity for students to see the work of age peers who have taken academics to a higher level.

The Concord Review website houses a large sampling of essays for both students and teachers to view so they can get an idea of the quality of work accepted.

At this site, you also will find information about The National Writing Board, an independent assessment service for the academic writing of high school students of history. Each submission is assessed by two readers who know nothing about the author. These readers spend more than 3 hours on each paper. Three or four page evaluations, with scores and comments, are then sent, at the request of the authors, to Deans of Admissions at the colleges to which they apply.