Submit to Sapere Aude

Sapere Aude, the student-run undergraduate journal of philosophy at The College of Wooster since 2007,
is currently accepting submissions for its upcoming volume, to be published in May 2026. Worldwide,
students eligible to submit for the 2025-2026 academic year must be currently enrolled in an

undergraduate program.

For the 2025-26 volume, Sapere Aude is accepting two categories of philosophical works: academic
essays and non-academic pieces. Authors can submit to both categories, with a maximum of one work
per category. However, keep in mind that only one work per author will ultimately be published.
To eliminate personal bias during the review process, the editorial board has traditionally practiced a
double-blind peer review system. To this end, submissions must anonymize their submissions so that no
personal information is present in the submission itself (even when submitting to the editor-in-chief!).
Instead, we ask that authors send, in addition to their submission, a biographical paragraph of up to 200
words containing their name, class year, institution, and any other personal information they feel
comfortable sharing with readers of Sapere Aude, should their submission be considered for publication.
This will not be visible during the peer review process, but is required for consideration.
Academic essays are essays that contribute to one or more philosophical traditions in a novel and
meaningful way. They should be between 2000 and 5000 words in length, not counting the bibliography,
footnotes, or endnotes. They should also be carefully proofread, edited, and must be submitted in Word
Document format (.docx). In order to be considered for publication, submissions must be prepared
according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition. In addition to novelty in their theses, essays are

evaluated based on the grading criteria listed below.

Scoring Guidelines

Impact - How relevant, original, or unique is this paper? Are the questions they are asking primarily
philosophical? (10pts)
Evaluation of Philosophical Texts - Is the interpretation of source material charitable, accurate, and
sensible? Do they strawman their interpretation? (10pts)
Strength of Thesis - Is the thesis clearly stated? (5pts)
Strength of Argument - Does the author provide evidence to support or defend their thesis? Do they
consider counterarguments? Do they engage in fallacy? Is their argument logically sound? (10pts)
Writing Quality - Does the author write in a way that is coherent and understandable? Are they
engaging the reader? (10pts)
Organization - Does the author structure their paper so that it logically flows? (5pts)

Total score is out of 50 potential points.

Non-academic pieces include poems and pieces of art. Although these pieces may be about any topic of
choice, they should represent a meaningful effort to evoke philosophical concepts, ideas, or arguments.
Authors of these submissions will have the opportunity to send, as a separate document, a think piece
of up to 500 words either explaining their work, exploring a philosophical concept, making the relevant
connections to a school of thought, or all of the above. Evaluation of non-academic pieces is based on
how original and creative they are, whether they demonstrate mastery of poetry and the arts, as well as
how well the accompanying think pieces demonstrate an understanding of philosophy. Submitted think
pieces will be graded based on the academic essay rubric, but more attention will be given to the think
piece’s relevance to the submitted artwork than to any presented argument or thesis.
The deadline for submission is January 26, 2026, at 11:59 P.M. All submissions are to be sent to
sapere_aude@wooster.edu by this date. Submissions should be sent in the format of png. for pieces
of art, and docx. for essays and poems. All correspondence is to be carried out through this email.