The Shallot

The Shallot endorses and abides by the Code of Ethics developed by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP):

The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree:

• to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
• to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
• to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.

Selection Process

Once the submission process has closed, our managing editor takes all of the submissions and organizes them for our volunteer reviewers. We do not use a blind submission process; our reasoning for this is in the below section. Each reviewer (up to 15 per review cycle) will make notes and comments and then vote yes or no for each submission. Some submissions may fall in between these, in those cases a reviewer will choose the closest choice and make note as to their decision for our submission review meeting.

At the submission review meeting, we’ll discuss all pieces that received the majority of yes votes and reconcile them to the amount of pages we have available to publish. We also will argue for any standout pieces that may not have received the votes a reviewer thought a piece deserved. Perhaps other reviewers did not understand the nuances or cultural notes that elevated a piece. This is where our review process stands out – we often discuss nearly every submission (or as many as we can) to ensure all artists and authors get due consideration.

Where we really love pieces, but they are not a fit for our journal for whatever reason (do not quite fit with the flow of the theme for themed issues, etc.), we may offer guest blog posts or other items to elevate author voices where we can.

Why We Do Not Use Blind Submissions + Other Ethical Notes

We do not use a blind submission process for the below reasons. Though blind submissions have traditionally been thought to level the playing field for disadvantaged writers and artists, as Joyce Chen points out in her insightful article on reconsidering blind submissions, it often reinforces the same barriers it strives to knock down and upholds the hierarchies of power that we are familiar with.

To quote Chen, “And how often do we discount work because it feels too “unpolished,” built around a solid core of a story but with a few loose ends that could benefit from the insightful feedback of an editor or even just an encouraging comment or two from a sharp-eyed colleague? Are we thinking about the hurdles that some writers face to even submit their work in the first place? Writers who haven’t had the opportunity to share their work with a supportive community, or to workshop a piece, or to go through several rounds of revisions, likely won’t present as polished an essay or poem as a more privileged writer. What could that essay or poem turn into with a little encouragement, a little editing—if only they get a shot?

In other words, without any context about the writer themselves, how can we fully understand the import or shortcomings of a piece? “

At The Shallot, we’re striving to create a supportive process, starting with curating reviewers from all backgrounds and walks of life. If a piece has potential, but could benefit from feedback, we’ll consider acceptance and offer suggestions as we can. Ultimately, it’s the author’s work and we respect that, and we are proud to publish pieces that are exploring what it means to write, to paint, to make.

As a unique publication geared towards an underserved population, we do allow our submission reviewers to enter. In order to create an ethical and clear process, we require any reviewers who would like to pursue this to speak with the managing editor prior to submitting so the editor can manage the submission through the process with care. The reviewer will need to submit their piece using a pseudonym and they may not vote for their own submission. If selected for publication, the piece will be published under the reviewer’s intended name. In our case, we believe this to be fair to our publication, submission, and readers due to our broad pool of submission reviewers, as we do not use one or several judges alone.

As stated above, we vow to conduct this contest as ethically as possible. If you have any concerns regarding this matter, either before, or after the winners have been announced, please contact us directly.

We can best be reached via email at contact @ thelayeredonion.com.