Submit

Vector is open to general submissions on a rolling basis, for online publication. There are currently no open themed calls for print editions. To query, contact vector.submissions@gmail.com. For standard submissions, we prefer around 1,000 to 3,500 words. For academic articles, we prefer 3,500 to 6,000 words. Whatever you’re submitting, we’re looking for writing that is intellectually stimulating and sophisticated, but also accessible and engaging to a wide audience. From the start of 2021 (issue #293 onwards), all Vector content will be licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 except where otherwise arranged and stipulated. There’s more information about that below, and even more information here.

Interviews

We publish reviews with SFF authors, and welcome queries from prospective interviewers. If you are an author who would like to be interviewed for Vector, we generally prefer an approach via agent or publisher. Feel free to pitch interviews with artists, editors, scientists, and other figures whose work may be of interest to Vector‘s readership.

Yearly Round-Ups

If you would be interested in contributing (in early 2024) a look back at 2023 in SFF literature, cinema, comics, art, games, or other media, or an article documenting your year in SFF, please get in touch. Here are some examples from previous years: 2018 in SFF ｜2019 in SFF｜2020 in SFF｜2021 in SFF (hiatus).

Other Submissions

Vector is the critical journal of the BSFA. We are open to submissions on a rolling basis. To query, contact vector.submissions@gmail.com. We are interested in:

  • Articles on SFF, science, technology, and related subjects, written for a general audience (usually 1,000 to 3,500 words)
  • Academic articles on SFF (usually 3,500 to 6,000 words) — although as of early 2022, we have quite a queue, so you may want to try elsewhere for now!
  • Interviews (see above)
  • Round-ups of the year in SFF (see above)
  • Conference and convention reports
  • Occasional reviews of academic books or other non-fiction
  • Occasional reviews of SFF magazines, exhibitions, movies, TV, games, and new media (fiction reviewers should get in touch with The BSFA Review instead)
  • Queries from prospective guest editors
  • Queries from prospective advertisers

Vector especially welcomes contributions that can appeal to a mixed audience of both academics and non-academic fans. Contributors are advised to familiarise themselves with the style and tone of the journal prior to submitting. We seek lively, engaging, accessible articles, underpinned by rigorous and careful research. We like interdisciplinarity. We welcome both articles about SFF, and articles that explore the politics and ethics of contemporary science, technology, and policy. Contributors to the print journal will receive a copy of the journal. Word limits given above are guidelines and may be flexible, depending on the article.

We don’t publish fiction, but the BSFA’s new annual anthology Fission does.

We also welcome inquiries from prospective guest editors.

Vector is not a paying market (contributors to the print edition get contributor copies).

Current Themed Calls

In recent times the print issues of Vector have usually had a theme; recent themes have included “Future Economics”, “African and Afrodiasporic SFF,” and “SFF and Contemporary Art”,  “Chinese and Sinodiasporic SFF,” “SFF and Class,” and “Greek SF.” 

Submissions to themed calls for papers will be considered for both web and print publication. Where appropriate, submissions will also be considered for Focus, our sibling publication which emphasises the practical craft of writing. Focus, edited by Dev Agarwal, is also open to pitches and submissions on rolling basis. For more about Focus, see the main BSFA site. For calls for previous special issues on themes such as speculative art, and Chinese SFF, see here.

Copyright: From the start of 2021 (issue #293 onwards), Vector content will be released under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. In submitting work to Vector you agree that, if it is accepted for publication, it will be published under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license unless arranged otherwise in writing. In essence, this means that others may share or republish articles from Vector for non-commercial purposes, so long as proper attribution is given to the author, and so long as the work is not altered. This license cannot be revoked. The author of the work retains copyright, and can alter and/or republish the work however they wish, including for commercial purposes, without requiring any permissions, and can license or assign further rights as they wish. If you would prefer a different arrangement, we can accommodate this, if requested in writing before publication.

For scholars: Vector is both a fanzine and an academic journal. Vector’s distinctive editorial approach is informed by our mission to speak to a mixed audience of non-academics as well as academics across all disciplines. The kind of editorial attention we give to each submission is determined by its individual nature and aims. Vector is not normally a peer-reviewed journal, although anonymous peer reviews can be arranged on request by the author. Vector has always been informally been green open access, in that authors are welcome to deposit their articles in institutional repositories or elsewhere, with no embargo period. From issue #293 onward, Vector articles are additionally released under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, except where otherwise explicitly arranged in advance.

If you are interested in reviewing an academic book for Vector, let us know and we’ll see if we can arrange a review copy for you. Most publishers make digital copies available, and good ones will also send hard copies. Some publishers / series we are interested in include Verso, Gylphi SF Storyworlds, Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies, Punctum, McFarland Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy, Luna: Academia Lunare, Duke UP, University of Illinois Modern Masters of SF, and Peter Lang: Ralahine Utopian Studies.

Other BSFA publications: Focus is the BSFA’s magazine focused on writers and writing, edited by Dev Agarwal. The BSFA Review is the BSFA’s digital reviews zine (formerly part of Vector), edited by Sue Oke.  Fission is the BSFA’s fiction publication, newly launching in 2021, edited by Allen Stroud. Members also receive a regular email newsletter with news and snippets from the BSFA Chair, Allen Stroud. For more information about these publications, including how to submit, see the main BSFA site.

Torque Control? This site was founded by Vector editors Niall Harrison and Geneva Malzack, and was originally called Torque Control. Some of the older posts still refer to it as such. We also use Torque Control as part of the title of the print Vector editorials. This site has always really been Vector‘s main online presence, although it was for a time complemented by another Vector site, which may be available in the Internet Archive.