CELJ booth filled with black-clothed tables and racks full of print journals.

MLA 2026 CELJ Sessions

See all publishing- & editing-related sessions at MLA 2026. Let us know if we missed any!

Thursday, 8 January

How to Get Published in a Scholarly Journal

3:30–4:45pm, MTCC - 705

Editors address various aspects of drafting, revising, submitting, and publishing journal articles, including selecting a journal and considering fit, decoding submission guidelines, processing and acting on reader reports, and navigating the revise-resubmit process.

Participants:

  • Christina Cedillo (presider), U of Houston, Clear Lake

  • Sarah E. Chinn, Hunter C, City U of New York

  • Douglas Eyman, George Mason U

  • Nathan Grant, Saint Louis U

Friday, 9 January

Recommendations for Supporting Editors (Presidential Session)

8:30–9:45am, MTCC - 803A

Participants offer a follow-up discussion to the 2025 workshop on CELJ’s statement on the contributions of scholarly journals and recommendations for how institutions can support the work of editors.

Participants:

  • Eugenia Zuroski (presider), McMaster U

  • Samuel Cohen, U of Missouri, Columbia

  • Rebecca Colesworthy, SUNY Press

Chat with an Editor I

12–3 PM, (in the Professional Development Hub, MTCC) 

This one-on-one mentoring session offers practical advice for early career scholars who are interested in publishing in scholarly journals. Members of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals serve as table moderators for authors who sign up in advance or attend on a walk-in basis. Topics of discussion include understanding author guidelines, submission processes, and queries.

Participants:

  • Christina Cedillo (presider), CELJ Mentoring Coordinator

  • Volunteer Editors (sign-up to mentor)

  • Author Sign-Up

Doubling Down on DEI

5:15–6:30pm, MTCC - 715A

The CELJ project Re-Imagining Peer Review, funded by the Mellon Foundation, aims to advance equitable and inclusive practices in peer review and scholarly journal publishing in the humanities. Members of the project team and advisory board report on the findings from a large-scale survey of scholarly humanities journal stakeholders (authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers) and then invite attendees to develop workshop ideas for the next phase of the project.

Co-Sponsor: MLA Periodicals Committee

Participants:

  • Cheryl E. Ball (presider), Council of Editors of Learned Journals

  • Eugenia Zuroski, McMaster U

  • Christina Cedillo, U of Houston, Clear Lake

  • Elizabeth McLain, Virginia Tech

Saturday, 10 January

Chat with an Editor II

12–3 PM, (in the Professional Development Hub, MTCC) 

This one-on-one mentoring session offers practical advice for early career scholars who are interested in publishing in scholarly journals. Members of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals serve as table moderators for authors who sign up in advance or attend on a walk-in basis. Topics of discussion include understanding author guidelines, submission processes, and queries.

Participants:

  • Christina Cedillo (presider), CELJ Mentoring Coordinator

  • Volunteer Editors (sign-up to mentor)

  • Author Sign-Up

Issues with Special Issues

3:30–4:45pm, MTCC - Hall E

A conversation about the special, particular, and spectacular ways that special-issue editorial work dovetails with journal mandates and processes. Panelists highlight practices and experiences editing or overseeing special issues, constituting editorial collectives for thematic issues, or working with other special-issue formats.

Participants:

  • Sarah Salter (presider), Emory U

  • Amy Kahrmann Huseby, Rice U

  • Justin A. Joyce, Washington U in St. Louis

  • Kelly McKisson, Rice U

  • Benjamin Schreier, Penn State U, University Park

  • Gary Totten, U of Nevada, Las Vegas

  • Debra Rae Cohen (presider), U of South Carolina, Columbia

CELJ Social Hour

5–7pm, location tbd - stay tuned on the CELJ listserv!