Transactions is the flagship academic journal of the Royal Historical Society. First published in 1872, Transactions has been publishing the highest quality scholarship in History for more than 150 years.
10 October 2024: applications are invited for a Co-Editor for Transactions to work collaboratively with the current Editor, Dr Jan Machielsen, to develop the journal. Applicants must be Fellows of the Society. Further details are available here.
From August 2024: all articles accepted for publication in Transactions will automatically appear Open Access, with no charge to the author, ensuring the widest possible circulation and readership for new work.
What we publish in Transactions
Today’s journal publishes a wide range of research articles and commentaries on historical approaches, practice and debate. In addition to traditional 10-12,000 word research articles, Transactions also welcomes shorter, innovative commentary articles.
In 2023, we introduced the ‘Common Room’ — a section of the journal dedicated to commentaries and think pieces by academic historians and historical practitioners.
The journal welcomes submissions dealing with any geographical area from the early middle ages to the very recent past. The journal’s editor and editorial boards are interested in articles that cover entirely new ground, thematically or methodologically, as well as those engaging critically on established themes in existing literatures.
Who publishes in Transactions
The journal invites articles from authors at every career stage. In line with the Society’s commitment to supporting postgraduate and early career historians, the journal seeks to engage constructively and positively with first-time authors. We also publish, and invite, articles and commentaries from historians working outside Higher Education in related sectors such as heritage.
The journal’s editorial team provides prompt responses and peer review. Articles are published with Cambridge University Press, online via CUP’s FirstView, and in an annual volume.
If you’re currently researching an article or a think piece, please consider Transactions as the journal in which to publish your work.
A welcome from the journal’s editor: Jan Machielsen reflects on his first six months in the role and looks forward to new research articles and ‘Common Room’ discussions (RHS blog post August 2024).
Submitting your article to Transactions
We warmly welcome submissions of research articles and Common Room commentaries for editorial review. In advance, please consult our guide to Preparing your Article, which provides information on presenting and formatting your article.
In addition, we have a guide to Submitting your Article which explains how to use the journal’s online submission system.
When ready, please submit your completed article for review here >
Transactions: recent articles now on FirstView include:
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society: latest volumes
Transactions articles are published first online and then as an annual print volume. The latest volume of Transactions (Seventh Series, Volume 1) was published in November 2023. TRHS includes research articles, covering a wide range of chronologies and geographies, alongside ‘Common Room’ articles offering commentaries and debates on historical methodologies, pedagogies, policy debates and roundtable discussions.
Recently published Transactions articles are available on Cambridge First View. New print volumes of the journal are published each November, with a listing of all previous volumes available from the CUP website.
Articles in recent volumes of Transactions include:
- ‘Work and Identity in Early Modern England’ (Brodie Waddell and Mark Hailwood)
- ‘Archival Intimacies: Empathy and Historical Practice in 2023’ (Sarah Fox)
- ‘The Incoherence of Empire. Or, the Pitfalls of Ignoring Sovereignty in the History of the British Empire’ (Jon Wilson and Andrew Dilley)
- ‘Accumulations and Cascades: Burmese Elephants and the Ecological Impact of British Imperialism’ (Jonathan Saha)
For general enquiries regarding submissions to Transactions, please email: trhs@royalhistsoc.org.
What authors say about publishing with Transactions
Now published by Cambridge University Press, the collection of Transactions from 1872 is available on Cambridge Journals Online and JSTOR (with a five year moving wall).
More on accessing Transactions content, 1872-2023.