In 1981, noted historian Frederick C. Luebke edited the first issue of Great Plains Quarterly. In his editorial introduction, he wrote
The Center for Great Plains Studies has several purposes in publishing the Great Plains Quarterly. Its general purpose is to use this means to promote appreciation of the history and culture of the people of the Great Plains and to explore their contemporary social, economic, and political problems. The Center seeks further to stimulate research in the Great Plains region by providing a publishing outlet for scholars interested in the past, present, and future of the region. [GPQ 1981 (1:1:3)]
Great Plains Quarterly is published four times a year and includes peer-reviewed articles on a wide variety of regional topics. Great Plains Quarterly seeks a readership of scholars and interested laypersons, and publishes articles on history, literature, culture, and social issues relevant to the Great Plains, which include Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. The journal is edited by a faculty member from the University of Nebraska and includes a distinguished international board of advisory editors.
Now accepting creative nonfiction submissions
With its diverse landscape, dynamic urban communities and rural populations, and rich, multi-cultural history, the Great Plains has inspired writers and artists for generations. To broaden Great Plains Quarterly's stated mission to "promote appreciation of the history and culture of the people of the Great Plains and to explore their contemporary social, economic, and political problems," we seek creative nonfiction submissions that celebrate, question, explore, and discover this unique region. What is creative nonfiction? We take our definition from Creative Nonfiction magazine: "True stories, well told." We invite submissions of no more than 15,000 words (smaller submissions will be considered), double-spaced, using Microsoft Word. If submitting photos as part of your submission, we must have copyright permission to publish them. We do not accept work currently under consideration by other journals or publications, or that have been previously published elsewhere. Authors in doubt about what constitutes prior publication should consult the editor. This work will not be peer reviewed, but will be judged on its merits alone. Only email submissions will be considered. Please send your work to gpq@unl.edu. If you have questions about the suitability of a submission, we will be happy to answer them. We look forward to reading your work!
Editor — Ramón Guerra, Associate Professor of English, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Book Review Editor — Rebecca Buller, Geography, UNL
New award
In 2022, The Center for Great Plains Studies instituted the Charles A. Braithwaite Award for Student Publication in conjunction with Charles and Dawn Braithwaite. This award distinguishes the best article published by a student in Great Plains Quarterly during a volume year. This student award will be offered annually beginning with submissions included in Volume 43 of the journal; all articles submitted to Great Plains Quarterly while the author was a student are eligible for this award. Judges are drawn from the Publication Committee of the Board of Governors for the Center for Great Plains Studies. The award will be presented at the Center for Great Plains Studies’ annual meeting of Fellows and includes a cash stipend of $300. Charles A. Braithwaite was the longest-serving editor for GPQ; he served at this position for 20 years, retiring in 2021. A Senior Lecturer at UNL’s Department of Communication Studies for 21 years, he was a Fellow and active scholar of the Center for Great Plains Studies doing work in the areas relevant to the center, including the award-winning book, African Americans on the Great Plains: An Anthology (Univ. of Nebraska Press: 2009).
Permissions: For permission inquiries, please visit UNL Press.
Older issues: All published GPQ issues through Volume 26 have been reproduced on UNL Digital Commons
Accessing GPQ via Project Muse
On-Campus Instructions
If you’re on a University of Nebraska campus (with the exception of UNMC) and connected to the Internet network, you’ll automatically be recognized as being part of the Project MUSE network, and you’ll be able to view the journals with no additional steps. Simply visit Project MUSE’s website at http://muse.jhu.edu/, then search for Great Plains Quarterly.
Instructions for Off-Campus UNL/UNK/UNO Access
Visit Project Muse's login page and search for your institution. Input your university username and password.
You can also access the journals through UNL Libraries.
Institutional access outside the NU system
Two ways to access it:
1) Log on to your university’s website and search for a link for electronic journals. Follow your university’s guidelines for on-campus and off-campus access. These instructions should be available on your library’s home page. Once you are on the search page, type in “Great Plains Quarterly” and the cover of the journal should appear.
2) You can also log on to Project MUSE at http://muse.jhu.edu/ and see if your university/college is registered as a Shibboleth authentication participant. If so, on the very top of the screen, you will see a phrase that says, “Unable to determine location” or something similar. Click on “Change” and you will see a box that says “Shibboleth.” Type in a few letters of your university’s name and a list will appear. If you institution is on this list, you will be able to log in to Project MUSE using your university credentials.