A User's Guide to Posting at H-Net Networks

A User's Guide to Posting at H-Net’s Networks

H-Net is built around individual, interdisciplinary moderated groups called "networks," each with its own editors, subscribers, posting policies and practices. Our organization has a few regulations that apply to all networks and subscribers, including our Terms of Use, which are written in the H-Net Council policies and accessible here.  Individual network policies can be viewed at the network’s About page.  Below is a working summary of practice; an asterisk (*) indicates an official policy. For technical assistance, visit our Help Desk.

  • Only subscribers to a network can post to that network.  *At a minimum, all subscriptions require an account with a name and verifiable email address (which is not public unless you make it public).*  Some networks have further requirements.
  • *All of H-Net’s networks are edited for tone, style, and content.*  The editorial policies of each network are available in its “About” page.  You will receive notification of the editor's action on your submission.  If revisions are requested, follow the links in the notification back to the item to read and respond to the editor's request.  You can view all of your submissions and their status in the My Postings section of your profile.
  • With some important exceptions, the lingua franca of H-Net networks is English.  Posting in other languages is welcome, but be mindful of the network’s field and audience when doing so.
  • *All postings must be signed or linked to the author’s completed profile.  Anonymous and pseudonymous submissions will not be published.*  The amount of detail required for the profile varies by network.  If you are posting on behalf of someone else, explain your relationship to that individual or the event in the posting.
  • Institutional or organizational accounts must include the name of an authorized individual accountable for the content of submissions linked to that account.
  • H-Net is not intended as an advertising billboard.  All posts submitted to networks are subject to editing by the network editors.  Consequently, multiple postings of the same announcement are likely to vary from network to network.  Know your audience: Many networks impose clear limits on the content of announcements for new books, films, subscription services, or resources.  The chance of publication is improved by keeping the announcement concise, clear of pricing, endorsements, and breathless hype about it, and germane to the network’s mission and audience.  We strongly advise that if you want to reach multiple networks with an announcement please post it at our central announcements service, H-Announce; a digest of its postings is sent to all network addresses every week day.
  • *Items posted to our networks are permanently archived as publications, can be located by search engines, and can be shared and republished.*  They are not deleted, they do not sunset and go offline at any particular time, and they cannot be edited again after publication.  Submit items in the expectation that they will never be removed and do not include contact or other details that you regard as personal and private.
  • Job and Fellowship Announcements: *All notices of full-time professional positions of at least six months' duration, including fellowships, postdocs, and permanent employment, must first be published at the H-Net Job Guide before they are eligible for posting at any network.  The exceptions are positions of less than six months’ duration or any position that supports a program of study regardless of duration (i.e. assistantships, studentships, bursaries, support limited to dissertation research).*  Announcements to a network that combine Jobs-eligible with other short-term positions and that are not posted at the Job Guide will be returned with a request that the author either post at the Job Guide first or resubmit without the Jobs-eligible material.  The Job Guide keeps H-Net free and public; it also provides an authoritative, centrally-located permalink to a post, avoiding confusion created by circulating multiple versions of a notice.
  • Calls for Papers:  Be mindful that CFPs of more than a screen-length are less likely to be read by busy subscribers.  Make sure that vital information, especially any deadlines, is included above the scroll-line, include a link to the event’s website where details are available, and provide contact details.  Keep subject lines short and concise.
  • Reminder notices: To spare their subscribers from redundant mail, some networks do not post reminders for events already announced.
  • *Housing notices are subject to strict guidelines posted by the H-Net Council (see 2.03 (q) after following the link).*
  • Always preview your submission:  The Commons is not a full-featured word-processing and publishing system.  Especially when pasting content from another program, be aware that images, tables, fonts, and complicated formatting that "work" in a word processor may not render properly when published on the web and inserted into email notifications to subscribers.  You can preview and redraft as many times as you need to before submitting.
  • In keeping with our long-standing practice, H-Net does not accept or post attachments.  Unless an editor has asked you to do so, please do not email attachments to editors with a request that they post.
  • *Our tax exempt status and professional practice prohibit the use of our services to lobby for specific legislation, candidates for office, or administrative enactments by government agencies.*  Petitions, campaign materials, and partisan postings that are not the subject of a scholarly discussion where alternative viewpoints may be heard cannot be published.