About the Elements in Digital Literary Studies 

Elements in Digital Literary Studies defines and expands the elements of digital literary studies through a series of short exemplary texts. Each Element in the series addresses a pressing research question of clear scholarly interest within a defined area of literary studies, and clearly articulates the method used to address the questions as well as the literary insights achieved. Our titles offer lucid explanations of the digital methods, objects, texts, cultures, or communities they engage, and include code and data if relevant.  

For more on our editorial vision and areas of interest, please see the Elements' website and recent posts. Please see the Author Guidelines on the Cambridge Elements website for questions of formatting and style. 

Proposal Guidelines

Proposals in this series may differ in length, depending on the stage of development and proposed due date. Short anticipatory proposals may be 1-3 pp, and more developed recent proposals have been 10-15 pp, excluding sample chapters. We look to the following areas to assess the promise and viability of an Elements proposal. 

• Proposed Title and Authors. (See pg. 2 for Author Information and Credentials) 

• Abstract. One paragraph. 

• Description. This main body of the proposal could include the background of the research question; the literary interest and exigency of the question; a discussion of the methodology and any digital affordances; and a brief discussion of related research. Clarify in particular what is new and distinctive about this work, whether its method, object, community, or claim. 

• Audience. We aim for an audience engaged in advanced research questions, with methods and objects clearly described; your readers should be able to replicate the broad method of the book in relation to your research materials, and at best might extend the method to their own questions. Heading optional, could be addressed in the Description. 

• Brief Table of Contents / Chapter Descriptions. See examples on the website or sample proposals. We will look here to see how you plan to develop the work. This may include brief 1-paragraph chapter summaries.

• Related Books / Bibliography (optional). 

• Schedule for completion. Give the current state of the work and its proposed date of submission, which would be included in the contract. Final length must about around 30,000 words including notes and bibliography; ancillary digital materials, methods, and code can be hosted on Cambridge Core or linked to an institutional repository.