Editorial board and process
Our editorial process
Our review process is designed to help the journal publish high quality, original Postgraduate research. Our Editorial Board and peer reviewers are integral to maintaining our high standards, which is why all submissions are processed as outlined below.
Once the CFP deadline has passed, each submission is read by each member of the editorial team and discussed collaboratively, before being put to a vote. Submissions rejected at this stage are insufficiently original, have serious flaws in their arguments or content, or are outside the aims and scope of the journal or the edition’s theme. Those that meet the minimum criteria are normally passed on to two peer reviewers- an academic and a PhD student- with relevant expertise. Authors of manuscripts rejected at this stage will usually be informed within two weeks of the editorial meeting.
Exclamat!on employs ‘double blind’ reviewing, in which the reviewers remain anonymous to the author(s) throughout and following the refereeing process, whilst the identity of the author(s) is likewise unknown to the reviewers.
Reviewers from our international database are matched to submissions based on relevant expertise and research interests. Reviewers are asked to evaluate whether the submission is:
- Is original and contributes to gaps in the critical field
- Correctly references previous relevant work and developments in the research field
- Clearly adds to the knowledge and development of the field
Language correction is not part of the peer review process, but referees are encouraged to suggest corrections of language and style to the submission. In the final round, the handling Editor will check matters of linguistic and stylistic correctness and may suggest or apply corrections at this point. In rare cases, the manuscript may be returned to the author(s) for a full linguistic and stylistic revision.
The time required for the review process is dependent on the response of the peer reviewers. For Exclamat!on, the typical time for the first round of the review process is approximately 6 weeks, with a maximum of three months. Should the referees’ reports contradict one another, or a report is unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion may be sought. In the rare cases when it is extremely difficult to find a second referee to review the manuscript, whilst the one referee’s extant report has thoroughly convinced the handling Editor, a decision to accept, reject or ask the author for a revision may be made, at the handling Editor’s discretion, based on only one referee report. The handling Editor’s decision will be sent to the author with the reviewers’ recommendations.
Once peer reviews have been submitted, all peer reviews are read by the Editorial Board. Each handling editor will then make the case for the inclusion of their submission, which will be voted on by the rest of the board.
A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the author along with the recommendations made by the reviewers, including (if applicable) the latter’s verbatim comments.
Becoming a peer reviewer for Exclamat!on
If you are not currently a peer reviewer for Exclamat!on, but would like to be considered, please contact exclamation@exeter.ac.uk.
Meet the editorial team
Ruth Moore, Editor-in-chief
Ruth is a second-year PhD Creative Writing Student from Oxford. Her research examines the ways in which contemporary children’s authors are using time-slip fiction, particularly in relation to telling stories out of archival silence. The creative element of her PhD project is a ‘middle grade’ children’s novel which takes place on a troubled night at the National Maritime Museum in London.
Ruth’s wider creative-critical interests include poetry and flash fiction; the writer in the wild (how creative writers respond to and are fuelled by nature); the relationship between creativity and activism; the role of community in building and sustaining a writing life; mentoring; creative collaboration between researchers and culture-makers. Her MA in Creative Writing was at Oxford Brookes University; she also holds an MA in Applied Theatre from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has worked in theatre and in project management in higher education and the voluntary sector prior to commencing her PhD.
Abbie Pink, Deputy Editor
Abbie recently joined the Exclamat!on journal as Deputy Editor, and she is in the second year of her PhD in English Literature at the University of Exeter. Her research considers the representation of future urban spaces as climate change, multispecies habitats in contemporary science fiction. More broadly, her research interests include ecocriticism, science fiction studies, urban literary studies, world literature, and new materialist theory.
Tomi Adesina, Assistant Editor (Engagement)
Tomi is a second year Creative Writing PhD student at the University of Exeter. Her research focuses on representations of ageing and place in Nigerian and South Korean cinema. She is also a screenwriter and some of her works have streamed on Netflix. Tomi spends her downtime either writing poetry, recording podcast episodes, or playing FIFA.
Philippa Johnson, Assistant Editor
Philippa Johnson is in the second year of her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Exeter: with a background in Anglo-Saxon, she is working on a book of poetry about Women in the Landscape, focussing on the female bog bodies in Denmark, Ireland and the UK. Philippa is a tutor in Taunton, where she lives: she has two grown up children and an insane amount of books.
Reo Lewis, Assistant Editor
Reo is a first-year Creative Writing PhD student with an MA in Comparative Literature from SOAS, University of London. Her research interests include postcolonial studies, linguistics, and speculative literature, and she is working on a thesis titled "Decolonising Speculative Linguistics: Diasporic Voices in Science-Fiction and Fantasy." She is also a reviewer for the Science Fiction Review Association Journal. Outside of academia she is also interested in media studies and has worked as a Features Writer for Screen Rant.
Emily Spicer, Assistant Editor
Emily Spicer is a PhD student in Creative Writing at the University of Exeter. In 2007 she was awarded a BA (Hons) in the History of Art from the University of Oxford. For nearly a decade she worked as an arts journalist, interviewing some of contemporary art’s biggest names. In 2022 she was awarded an MA with distinction in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Her research focusses on climate change and archaeology in the literary imagination with a particular focus on the prehistory of the Orkney Islands.
Sue Watson, Assistant Editor
Sue Watson is a part-time mature PGR in the Creative Writing Department at The University of Exeter. The creative element of her work is called, 'My Mother's Daughter' and her thesis looks at 'Life Writing for Mental Health Recovery After Attempted Filicide'.
Fiona Williams, Assistant Editor
Fiona is a second-year PhD Creative Writing student and recently joined Exclamat!on as an Assistant Editor. Her thesis examines the potential of traditional folktale retellings to shed new perspectives on the representation of rural multiculturalism in contemporary British literature.
Her research interests include the literary representation of diversity in Britain, the social and political influences of folktales and traditional methods of storytelling on culture and identity, reinterpretations of mythology and folklore, and the relationships between nature, place and belonging in literature. She is particularly interested in creating narratives that discuss the presence of people of colour in Britain’s rural communities. Fiona holds a BSc Biological Science from the University of Westminster and more recently completed her MA Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.
Xiao Zhan, Assistant Editor
Xiao Zhan (Jaydon), a second-year PhD student specializing in Film by Practice at the University of Exeter. His practical expertise is matched by his academic rigor, as he delves into the interplay between film theory and practice to enhance the visual experience of audiences. His research encompasses film studies and documentary studies, with a primary focus on how to enhance the visual experience for audiences by combining film theory and practice, particularly in the integration of new digital technologies (such as VR panoramic technology and AI interactive technology) with traditional cinematic forms. He explores the role of technology in enhancing narrative capability, emphasizing the diversity and innovation in cinematic storytelling.
