2025 Emerging Scholars Competition

Enter the 2025 Emerging Scholars Competition in Queer Studies for the chance to win a publishing contract with Gold Open Access.

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group at Peter Lang is pleased to announce that the topic of the 2025 Emerging Scholars Competition is Queer Studies, continuing our efforts to support our diverse publishing program. For the third year in a row, winning authors will receive contracts for Gold Open Access publication.  

2025 Peter Lang Emerging Scholars Competition in Queer Studies

Peter Lang Publishing is delighted to announce the 2025 Peter Lang Emerging Scholars Competition in Queer Studies.

We invite emerging scholars in Queer Studies to submit proposals for single-author books to be evaluated by a distinguished editorial board. We welcome proposals from scholars working in Queer Studies across the humanities and social sciences.  

How to Submit Your Proposal

Please submit your proposal to editorial@peterlang.com by 28 February 2025. Your proposal should consist of (in separate Microsoft Word documents):

Guidelines

Projects in English, French, Spanish or German are welcome. Authors should have been awarded a PhD or EdD in the last five years or be due to be awarded one of these degrees in 2025. Proposals under review elsewhere should not be submitted.  

The winner(s) will be offered a publishing contract including Gold Open Access. Winning book(s) will be made available for free digital download. Planned manuscripts should be from 60,000 to 100,000 words in length and prepared in accordance with the style guidelines provided.    

Timeline

Decisions will be made by 31 May 2025 and the winners will be notified shortly thereafter.  

Additional Information

For more information, please contact:

Series Consideration

Proposals may be considered for inclusion in one of the following series, but projects beyond the scope of these series are also welcome:  

History

The Peter Lang Emerging Scholars Competition (previously known as the Young Scholars Competition) is an annual competition for early career researchers in selected fields. It has been held every year since 2011, in fields such as Black Studies, Irish Studies, Women’s Writing, Education, French Studies, and more.  

In each competition, book proposals for monographs are invited from emerging scholars to be evaluated by a distinguished editorial board. Winners receive a contract for a fully funded book and the title of winner. Runners-up and other participants may also have opportunities to publish. 

We’re proud to have a community of over 30 winners of the competition over the years, and we’re pleased to feature some of our winning books. Please watch the interviews with three winners of our 2019 French Studies competition – Polly GalisMathew Rickard, and Natalie Berkman – to learn what winning the competition has meant to them.