American Short Fiction endorses and abides by the Code of Ethics developed by the Council of Literary Magazines and Press (CLMP):
The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree
— to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
— to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
— to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.
Selection Process
To be certain that each manuscript submitted to one of our prize competitions receives the fairest and most thoughtful consideration, all manuscripts are given to readers anonymously and are judged anonymously at each stage of the process.
When a manuscript is received, identifying material and cover letters are removed and hidden until the conclusion of the competition. The manuscripts are then sent to readers, who rates each story on a scale of 1-4 and make notes and recommendations as they see fit. All of the “4” and “high 3” manuscripts—the semi-finalists—are printed and brought to a staff editorial meeting, where each is read two more times. There are usually between 120-200 stories in this round. The editorial staff then rates each story on a scale of “1-5” and writes their score on the back of the final page so as not to influence the second reader. After each story is rated twice, the scores are added, and the stories with the highest scores move on to the semifinalist round. Ten stories are selected from this batch by the coeditors of American Short Fiction and sent to the judge for final consideration. After a winner has been announced, all decisions about which additional manuscripts are to be published are made by the editors.
Conflicts of Interest
Staff and volunteers currently affiliated with American Short Fiction are ineligible for consideration or publication. Additionally, students, former students, and colleagues of the judge are not eligible to enter. We ask that previous winners wait three years after their winning entry is published before entering again. Guidelines for submitting to the contest can be found on the contest page on our website.
American Short Fiction is thoroughly committed to safeguarding the integrity of our contests.