Editor Interview: Hektoen International

Health Humanities

The Examined Life Journal
Bellevue Literary Review
British Medical Journal: Medical Humanities

We publish a combination of nonfiction that is more academic in nature as well as fiction, poetry, art, and narrative nonfiction. Most other journals publish one or the other. Because of this, and because we are a free on-line journal, we are able to reach a wide international audience, serving to both educate and entertain. Our focus on health and the human condition is of interest to those who participate in the healthcare community as professionals or consumers, as well as those who have an interest in medicine and the humanities.

Read a variety of articles and essays from different sections of the journal. Some sections tend to be more academic, some are more narrative and literary. We publish on a wide variety of topics but there does need to be a connection to both science/medicine and the humanities.

The ideal submission is one that makes a larger connection and does not simply state facts. We prefer articles that are written about topics on which we have not already published (check first to make sure we do not already have multiple other entries on your topic), or that are unique to your experience or your part of the world. If writing about a historical figure or event there should be something unique and interesting about it. If it is narrative nonfiction, write about more than simply "what happened." There should be an element or theme that connects more broadly to the human experience.

They do not read the submission instructions.

We publish a short biography at the end of each article that is 3-4 sentences long. We do like to know something about the person. A list of previous publications is fine but it does not need to be extensive. A cover letter is also fine but does not need to be extremely detailed.

We read most pieces to the end. If the topic has nothing to do with the journal, we can usually make a decision fairly quickly. We will otherwise have a discussion about most submissions in their entirety.

Regular submissions are reviewed and edited by our editorial staff. If a piece is accepted, an edited version will be sent to the author for review before publication. If it is a contest submission (held once a year), the finalists are sent to members of the editorial board to judge the winner and runners up.

It really depends on the submission. There are some pieces that contain original and interesting content that we would like to publish but may require more substantial editing to make it readable. Other pieces require edits that are only grammatical or stylistic. The author does get to approve the final edits before publication.