It’s one of the most exciting times of the year, Prism submissions! Our submission deadline is November 19th, 2021–which seems to be quickly approaching. We hope these FAQs will help with any lingering questions you may have, but if you still need more answers, then please email Natalie at omn.prism[at]oregonstate.edu.

You can find our submissions form and further guidelines on our website, or by clicking right here!

Let’s get into some questions:

Can I submit five of each type or five total?

You can submit up to five pieces, period. If you happen to submit more than five, we will only consider the first five. 

Can I work/volunteer for prism and submit to prism?

Absolutely! We love to see our volunteers’ artwork and encourage everyone to send in their submissions. The only caveat is that if you are on the review committee, you are not allowed to comment when your artwork is being reviewed.

Do I have to be an art major to submit to Prism?

Not at all! We encourage OSU students from every major to submit their work to Prism.

Is there a theme?

Nope! The review committee and editing team decides if there is an overall theme to the submissions chosen to be published AFTER the submission deadline has passed.

Can I submit my work anonymously?

You are still required to state your name on the submission form, but we do have a question asking if you are published, if you’d like to remain anonymous. Only the editor-in-chief and assistant editor would ever see your name associated with the piece. We absolutely respect that some would prefer to keep their anonymity for any reason.

When will I hear back if my work has been accepted for the publication?

Every person who submits work to us by November 19th, 2021 will receive an email with an update about their submissions around week 3 or 4 of winter term 2022 (January 17th-January 28th).

If I have a long piece, can we submit a portion of it?

Yes! There is an 800-word limit to written submissions, but if the work you have submitted is an excerpt from a longer piece, state that it is at the top of the file you upload. If your excerpted piece ends up getting accepted for our publication, we will contact you and ask if you’d like a QR code to take readers to a PDF of your full piece. For other literary submission guidelines, make sure to read our guidelines on our form here.

Does the art I submit have to have been made this year?

No, you can submit art that you have created at any point in your life. As long as it’s your own art, it doesn’t matter when it was made.

How explicit can my artwork be?

You may submit whatever you feel most comfortable with sharing. We don’t judge a piece submitted to us based on any explicitness. If a work that is accepted into the publication does contain triggering content, the editors may put an asterisk by the title in the table of contents to indicate it could be triggering content to some readers.

Do you need to credit every individual artist for pieces in a collage?

It is not required that you credit every individual artist for pieces you use in a collage. This type of artwork is considered under fair use as long as it is transformative and gives new meaning or understanding. Basically the collage just needs to use the pieces in a new artistic way that deviates from the original material and intent.

Do you need consent from models in photography posted in Prism?

Ultimately, yes. If your work is accepted into Prism, we will reach out to you about the model in the photo and ask for the model to sign a model release form. If you know your model won’t be comfortable with you submitting a photo of them that could potentially get published, then don’t submit that piece and instead show us one of your other amazing photos!

Do I have to be good at art to submit to Prism?

What does “good at art” even mean anyway?? If you are passionate about art and love to create,  we’d absolutely love to see your submissions. You’re your own worst critic, and there’s no harm in sending in your work. You never know, you might get published!

We hope we were able to help answer your questions! Make sure to get your work in by November 19th by filling out our form here. If we get any other questions through our email or in our DMs on social media (@osuprism), we’ll update this blog post, so feel free to reach out to us.