Tab Journal
Information about the editorial process
TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics welcomes submissions of original poems in English, English translations of poems in other languages, scholarly or creative essays about poetry, interviews, visual poems, art-poetry hybrids. We're open to possibilities, as long as it has to do with poetry or poetics, and we welcome submissions from writers with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, voices, and aesthetics, including work by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and D/disabled writers. .
Before you invite us to consider your work, take a look at our wide aesthetic range at tabjournal.org. And follow us on Twitter @TabJournal (at least for time being) and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TabPoetryJournal.
To reduce barriers to access and with support from Chapman University, Tab Journal does not charge a submission fee. In addition, while we cannot guarantee payment, we hope to pay $75 to each contributor for as long as the budget allows. We understand that if we are not able to offer payment for work we accept, an author may withdraw their submission.
We consider simultaneous submissions, but if the work is accepted elsewhere, writers must contact us immediately through Submittable with a message to withdraw that part of your submission or use the "withdraw" function to withdraw your entire submission.
Chapman University (the institutional home of Tab Journal) shall have First North American Serial Rights to publish accepted work electronically and/or in print. Publication rights revert to the author upon publication in Tab Journal, but we do retain permission to republish and to submit to other outlets such as the Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net. In addition, we ask that subsequent publication of the work acknowledge its first publication in Tab Journal. Also, for poems, we require poets to provide an audio file or give Tab Journal permission to make a recording of the accepted work for added reading experience and accessibility; instructions will be provided when acceptance is confirmed.
Please do not submit more than once in a six-month period unless asked to do so.
Information about the submission form
Please use the form appropriate for the type of work you're submitting. Read those specific guidelines within the form.
Tab Journal does not consider previously published work, work by individuals with current or recent affiliation with Chapman University (e.g., faculty, students, staff), or work by individuals under 18 years of age (with the exception of our partnership with the California Coastal Commission K-12 poetry contest). You'll be prompted to complete a short eligibility form before you can access the main submission form.
The submission form itself requires a title for the work (which will be the submission's identifying label) as well as your name, pronouns, and email address. We also ask whether you want to receive the Tab Musings newsletter.
In addition, we've added three demographic questions to the form to help us understand our submissions pool. Initial readers do not see the answers to these questions, individual data is not shared externally, and each question offers the option "I prefer not to answer." This portion of the form is part of our ongoing work to track aggregate demographic data and create an increasingly inclusive literary project.
We invite you to include a short cover letter that includes a biographical/professional statement to add context for your submission. In addition, for visual poems, we appreciate context related to medium, sources, and process. For translations, context for the original text(s) and assurance of that you have permission to publish translations is helpful. We also invite you to share your social media url/handle(s). Both these components are optional and are not viewable by initial readers.
The last step before submitting the form is to upload your file. Because the initial review is done anonymously, do not include your name in the file name or inside the file.
More information
We read year-round. If you don’t happen to see submission forms here, Tab Journal is temporarily closed to new submissions while we catch up with what’s in our queue and plan for the future. If that's the case, check back in a few weeks.
If you are experiencing problems with this form or require assistance, please contact the staff using the Contact form on the website; if you don't get response within two weeks, you are welcome to contact the Editor at her Chapman University email. We will be happy to assist in filling it out together.
We revise our policies and practices with each new volume. You can peruse the Archives to see how Tab Journal has changed over the years. You can also use the Contact form to let us know what we're doing particularly well or might improve in the future.
Tab Journal would be happy to consider your poems for publication. We welcome submissions from writers with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, voices, and aesthetics.
Submit 3-5 unpublished poems of any length in a single file. Your name and identifying information should not appear in the file name or inside the file. Word documents are preferred, but RTF and PDF are okay and sometimes better for retaining formatting. For security purposes, you may be asked to validate your email address.
To reduce barriers to access, we do not charge a submission fee. In addition, while we cannot guarantee payment, we hope to pay $75 to each contributor for as long as the budget allows. We understand that if we are not able to offer payment for work we accept, an author may withdraw their submission.
We consider simultaneous submissions, but if the work is accepted elsewhere, writers must contact us immediately through Submittable with a message to withdraw that part of your submission or use the "withdraw" function to withdraw your entire submission.
Chapman University (the institutional home of Tab Journal) shall have First North American Serial Rights to publish accepted work electronically and/or in print. Publication rights revert to the author upon publication in Tab Journal, but we do retain permission to republish and to submit to other outlets such as the Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net. In addition, we ask that subsequent publication of the work acknowledge its first publication in Tab Journal. Also, we require poets to provide an audio file or give Tab Journal permission to make a recording of the accepted poem(s) for added accessibility; instructions will be provided when acceptance is confirmed.
Use this form to submit your poems. If you want to submit something other than poems or if you are submitting poems with visual elements, please use the appropriate form, not this one.
Please do not submit more than once in a six-month period unless asked to do so.
If you are experiencing problems with this form or require assistance, please contact the staff using the Contact form on the website; if you don't get response within two weeks, you are welcome to contact the Editor. We will be happy to assist you.
Tab Journal welcomes submissions of all things related to poetry. This form should be used if you are submitting visual poems, poetry-artwork hybrid, poems translated into English (with original language versions and permissions), or other interesting stuff that might fit Tab Journal's vision and focus on poetry. We welcome submissions from writers with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, voices, and aesthetics.
Do not use this form if you are submitting only textual poems written in English; use the Poems category for those. In addition, for visual poems, include in the cover letter field any context related to medium, sources, and process. For translations, context and assurance of that you have permission is especially helpful in the cover letter field.
Your name and identifying information should not appear in the file name or inside the file. Word documents are preferred, but RTF and PDF are okay and sometimes better for retaining formatting if you are working with visual forms. Any images in visual poems or art-poetry hybrid work must be high resolution (300 dpi at 100% scale).
To reduce barriers to access, we do not charge a submission fee. In addition, while we cannot guarantee payment, we hope to pay $75 to each contributor for as long as the budget allows. We understand that if we are not able to offer payment for work we accept, an author may withdraw their submission. We consider simultaneous submissions, but if the work is accepted elsewhere, writers must contact us immediately through Submittable with a message to withdraw that part of your submission or use the "withdraw" function to withdraw your entire submission.
Chapman University (the institutional home of Tab Journal) shall have First North American Serial Rights to publish accepted Work electronically and/or in print. Publication rights revert to the author upon publication in Tab Journal, but we do retain permission to republish and to submit to other outlets such as the Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net. In addition, we ask that subsequent publication of the work acknowledge its first publication in Tab Journal.
If you want to submit poems without significant artistic/visual elements or if you want to submit a scholarly or creative essay related to poetry, please use the appropriate form, not this one. We do not currently accept book reviews by individuals not on staff with Tab Journal. We also don't consider artwork in which poetry isn't integral.
Please do not submit more than once in a six-month period unless asked to do so.
If you are experiencing problems with this form or require assistance, please contact the staff using the Contact form on the website; if you don't get response within two weeks, you are welcome to contact the Editor. We will be happy to assist.
Tab Journal is open to considering a variety of critical work that explores poetry. We are interested in critical essays that address aesthetics, process, pedagogy, publishing, or other topics related to poetry and poetics. In keeping with some of the scholarly interests of the editorial team, we are currently interested especially in essays focusing on visual poetry, poetry therapy, disability studies, or health humanities. We welcome submissions from writers with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, voices, and aesthetics. Please do not submit critical work that isn't primarily focused on poetry.
Short Essays: We publish short critical pieces of 800-2500 words. A journalistic style with in-sentence acknowledgment of source material may work well for shorter, very focused pieces, but attribution must be clear in the text; otherwise, use scholarly citation using Chicago style is necessary.
Long Essays: We are also looking for longer scholarly essays of 3000-8000 words. Please cite source material in text and with works cited, using Chicago style.
Your name and identifying information should not appear in the file name or inside the file. Word documents are preferred, but RTF and PDF are okay.
To reduce barriers to access, we do not charge a submission fee. In addition, while we cannot guarantee payment, we hope to pay $75 to each contributor for as long as the budget allows. We understand that if we are not able to offer payment for work we accept, an author may withdraw their submission. We consider simultaneous submissions, but if the work is accepted elsewhere, writers must immediately withdraw your submission through Submittable.
Chapman University (the institutional home of Tab Journal) shall have First North American Serial Rights to publish accepted work electronically and/or in print. Publication rights revert to the author upon publication in Tab Journal, but we do retain permission to republish and to submit to other outlets such as the Pushcart Prizes and Best American Essays. In addition, we ask that subsequent publication of the work acknowledge its first publication in Tab Journal.
If you want to submit something other than a scholarly essay related to poetry, please use the appropriate form, not this one. We do not currently accept book reviews by individuals who are not part of the Tab staff.
Please do not submit more than once in a six-month period unless asked to do so.
If you are experiencing problems with this form or require assistance, please contact the staff using the Contact form on the website; if you don't get response within two weeks, you are welcome to contact the Editor. We will be happy to assist.
Tab Journal is open to creative nonfiction that explores poetry. We remain open to creative essays about poetry that use experience, observation, a hermit form, or a hybrid approach as a way to explore aesthetics, process, or other topics related to poetry and poetics. We welcome submissions from writers with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, voices, and aesthetics. Please do not submit an essay that doesn't have something substantial to do with poetry.
We recommend a length of 500-2500 words for creative essays. If your essay is longer or has a scholarly bent, please submit it using the critical essay form instead. We do not currently accept book reviews by individuals who are not part of the Tab staff.
Your name and identifying information should not appear in the file name or inside the file. Word documents are preferred, but RTF and PDF are okay and sometimes better for retaining formatting if you are working with visual forms in your creative essay.
To reduce barriers to access, we do not charge a submission fee. In addition, while we cannot guarantee payment, we hope to pay $75 to each contributor for as long as the budget allows. We understand that if we are not able to offer payment for work we accept, an author may withdraw their submission. We consider simultaneous submissions, but if the work is accepted elsewhere, writers must immediately withdraw your submission.
Chapman University (the institutional home of Tab Journal) shall have First North American Serial Rights to publish accepted work electronically and/or in print. Publication rights revert to the author upon publication in Tab Journal, but we do retain permission to republish and to submit to other outlets such as the Pushcart Prizes and Best American Essays. In addition, we ask that subsequent publication of the work acknowledge its first publication in Tab Journal.
Please do not submit more than once in a six-month period unless asked to do so.
If you are experiencing problems with this form or require assistance, please contact the staff using the Contact form on the website; if you don't get response within two weeks, you are welcome to contact the Editor. We will be happy to assist.