Write For Us

AI and Plagiarism policies

Friends Journal has a zero-tolerance policy for AI and plagiarism. Please don’t use writing tools integrated into writing programs (such as Grammarly or Gemini in Google Docs). Our editors will work with you to make you sound your best!

We use outside services to check submitted material for evidence of AI usage and plagiarism. The Authors Guild has a useful document, “AI Best Practices for Authors.”

We also do not use or accept AI-generated images.

General Submission Guidelines

Many issues of Friends Journal are set aside for specific themes. Every 18 months or so we poll readers and dream up ideas for future issues (you can see the current list on our submissions page).

We also keep four issues a year open: no theme and no expectations. Most of our unsolicited articles go into a “General Submissions” list that we hold for these issues. Sometimes a choice is easy: we’ll get a blockbuster article that we know we just have to print. But just as often we’ll run some quiet piece of Quaker life that is offered to us without regard to our schedules.

The first bit of advice is to give our editorial submission guidelines a good once-over. The introduction to what we’re looking for is instructive.

We prefer articles written in a fresh, non‐academic style. Friends value an experiential approach to life and religious thought. Our readers particularly value articles on: exploring Friends’ testimonies and beliefs; integrating faith, work, and home lives; historical and contemporary Friends; social concerns and actions; and the variety of beliefs across the branches of Friends.

You should also study our tips for writing for Friends Journal. This is our list of the most-common pitfalls for incoming submissions—problems like length, structure, and tone.

The next thing to ask when writing or pitching an article to us is “why Friends Journal?” There are very few places where someone can write on the Quaker experience and see their work published. This scarcity weighs on us as we select an open issue’s mix. Authors don’t need to be Quaker, but the piece should have a strong Quaker hook. We’re not above doing a control-F on a submission to see how many times “Quaker” or “Friends” is mentioned. If it’s just a tacked-on reference because you’re shopping a piece written for another publication, it probably won’t work for us.

When you’re ready to send us something, please use the Submittable service so that we will have all of your information on file. “General Submissions” is the category for material that we consider for non-themed issues.

Link to share: Writing for General Submissions

Quakers and Social Class (Jan. 2027, due 10/26/2026)

From the very beginning of their movement in the mid-seventeenth century, Quakers sought to break down class divisions. Arising out of rural communities in northern England, they quickly gained a reputation for a class conscience so bold it was downright rude. They refused to act with expected deference to their “social superiors,” and refused to doff hats or use titles in social settings. Theirs was a radical, egalitarian Christian vision that lives on centuries later as our oft-cited equality testimony.

But the purity didn’t last long. Within a few years, fabulously wealthy plantation owners were joining, with wealth extracted from the blood of enslaved Africans. Highly educated, upperclass Friends also joined, bringing court connections and high-brow theological concepts. Even ordinary settlers in the American colonies had incredible opportunities to amass wealth.

It’s hard to overstate just how important all that wealth has been to our structure and self-identity. The long and shameful century of appeasing slavery came at least in part because of opposition from wealthy Friends. Historians have convincingly demonstrated that the original Orthodox/Hicksite split in 1827 fractured over class lines. You can’t understand the rise of pastoral Friends in the U.S. Midwest (but not England, where all Friends shared a similar theology) without looking at class settings. Quaker beneficial institutions were made up of wealthy Quakers providing services for lower-class non-Quakers (sometimes with tragic effects, as in our involvement with Indian Boarding Schools or international missionary work that focused on cultural assimilation).

Even today, class permeates our religious society. There’s a belief among some American Friends that, as George Lakey put it in a 2020 interview in Friends Journal, Quakerism has been “captured by a professional middle class” who is often preoccupied with process and is culturally conflict-averse. We can see class play out in the ways we function every day: In which neighborhoods are our worship buildings located? Who do we target in outreach initiatives? What kind of language do we use in promotional materials? Race, ethnicity, and education levels mix in too, of course. Who do each consider the “real” Quakers when talking about our different occupations, beliefs, or worship approaches?

At the same time, we recognize that the Friends movement in other parts of the world, including Central and South America and Africa, developed within a social, political, and religious context very different from that of England or the United States; therefore, we invite writers in these areas to contribute articles exploring the relationship between Friends and social class. We are interested in understanding how the Quaker faith has interacted with the social and economic structures of their countries. 

Some possible topics:

• Personal stories of the effects of class in spiritual lives.
• How class is affecting Quaker decision making today.
• How Friends might transcend historic class blockages.
• What does the history of Quaker work in Latin America or Africa teach about the relationship between evangelization, social class, property, and education?

Ecology and Eco-Spirituality (Mar. 2027, due 12/21/2026)

From the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, our Scripture is full of accounts of Creation and humanity’s place in it. Many of the first Quakers were farmers and herders, from families who had been intimately tied to the land for generations. Quakers have excelled in fields like botany and science, seeing it as a path to understanding God. Modern Friends have embraced environmental concerns and have worked to build a sustainable relationship between humans and the earth.

Some possible topics:

• What are the theological sources of our eco-spirituality—in the Bible, Quaker history, or other spiritual traditions?
• How does ecospirituality inform our current practices?
• Are we being called to transform?
• What do current concerns such as climate change, displacement, and ecojustice mean for Friends?

Friends in Africa (May 2027, due 2/22/2027)

Every May we spotlight a part of the world and this month we’re looking at Africa. What is the state of Quakerism in Africa? What challenges does it face?

Friends and Communication and Tech (June-July 2027, due 3/22/2027)

Our lives are ever more entwined with technology. What are the positives and pitfalls of this? Are there ways we should unplug some of our lives? How does the rise of AI affect our spiritual lives and our communal Quaker life?

Learning to Be Quaker (Sept. 2027 due 6/21/2027)

How do we teach Quakerism to newcomers and youth? How are we sharing what it is to be a Friend?

Quaker Fiction (Nov. 2027, due 8/23/2027)

Every November we publish annual issue of Quaker Fiction. It’s open to all genres—crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction, horror, young adult, and more. Surprise us with your work!

For this special issue, we’re seeking short stories from 500-2000 words, and flash fiction of less than 500 words. We’re seeking stories of Quakers and their experiences outside of what is true of the world we inhabit today.

We welcome submissions from Friends and non-Friends alike. While we’re casting a wide net, we’re not the right market for erotica or extreme horror. We are also not a market for fan fiction or other works that use other folks’ intellectual property. We are a queer-affirming publication and will not be accepting any work based in homophobia, transphobia, or general racism, sexism, bigotry, or fascism.

Fast facts

Pay: $0.12/word

For our fiction issues we use a slightly modified version of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Model Magazine Contract, Version 3.1.

Quakers in Pop Culture (Dec. 2027 issue, due 9/20/2027)

It’s always wild when Quakers show up in TVs and movies. How are we depicted? And how do we ourselves use the tools of pop culture to share and understand our faith?