General guidelines (see open calls for specific guidelines)
When: We accept submissions for the print journal generally during three time periods: September, December, and May, although this year, because of our switch to Submittable, we opened on March 15th instead of May 1st, and will reopen again on September 1st. These reading periods will open on the first day of the month and close once we hit the submissions cap for that period—which could take as little as a few days. Depending on our editorial needs, we may open pop-up reading periods as well. Visit this site and follow our social media platforms (Facebook, X, and Instagram) to stay informed.
miCRo submissions are open whenever we don't have a backlog, which we seem to more and more frequently.
Please send only one submission per calendar year for each print-magazine genre unless we’ve encouraged your previous submission.
Who: The Cincinnati Review welcomes submissions from writers at any point in their careers. Current and former students, faculty, and staff of the University of Cincinnati or their families are ineligible to submit unless they are more than two years removed from their affiliation with the university. We also ask contributors to wait a year after their appearance in any particular medium (print magazine or miCRo series) before submitting again.
What: We don't consider previously published material, including work posted online, but we do accept simultaneous submissions (please withdraw any pieces taken by another journal).
Our typical response time is six months, Please don’t query until after that point.
Note: Revisions to your original submitted file (uploaded through Messages or sent via other means) will not be considered. And once we accept a piece, we prefer to work with it as submitted, without further revision from the writer, though we may suggest changes during the copyediting process.
Before you submit, we recommend you take a look at work from our miCRo series and/or our print journal (see pieces available to non-subscribers). And don't skip these statements from our genre editors on what they're looking for.
How: The Cincinnati Review acquires first North American serial rights, including electronic rights; all rights revert to author upon publication. We pay $25/page for prose and $30/page for poetry in the print journal and $25 for miCRo posts or special features.
AI statement: The Cincinnati Review does not publish or consider work generated using AI or LLMs unless the use of such is a dual creative-critical project, as in Lillian Yvonne-Bertram’s computational poetics inTravesty Generator (Noemi Press, 2019) or in Vauhini Vara’s essay “Ghosts.” Even so, using AI at any stage in the writing process has ethical issues, well-described by the Authors Guild, so our editors prefer to consider work that doesn’t use such techniques.
The Cincinnati Review invites submissions for the annual Robert and Adele Schiff Awards. One poem, one piece of fiction, and one piece of literary nonfiction will be chosen for publication in our prize issue, and winning authors will receive $1,000 each. All entries will be considered for publication.
RULES
Plesase submit up to 8 pages of poetry (up to 5 poems total within those pages); up to 10,000 words of a single double-spaced piece of fiction; or 5,000 words of a single double-spaced piece of literary nonfiction, per entry. Previously published manuscripts, including works that have appeared online (in any form), will not be considered. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as you notify us of work accepted elsewhere. Because the contest is judged anonymously, no contact information may appear anywhere in the manuscript file. Files that do include identifying information will be declined unread, and entry fees will not be refunded (though you’ll still get your free subscription).
TO ENTER
The entry fee is $25, and includes a one-year subscription to the Cincinnati Review. Multiple submissions are welcome and come with additional yearlong subscriptions, which can be used to extend your original subscription or given as gifts. All entrants with an international address will receive an e-book subscription. (If you have a US address and would prefer an e-book subscription, please say so in the "cover letter" field when you submit your entry.)
Again, do not include your name or any other identifying information in the manuscript file. However, in the "cover letter" field, please enter your name, mailing address, telephone number, email, and the title(s) of the submitted work(s). Also, be sure to use the "genre" tab to indicate whether your submission is poetry, fiction, or literary nonfiction.
SUBMISSION PERIOD
The 2026 contest runs from June 1 to July 15 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Results will be announced on October 1. Winning entries will be published in the Summer 2027 issue.