All content submitted to the Classics Network is reviewed by a member of our Editorial Team before it is published on the website. This Editorial Policy provides information on the criteria used to determine whether essays, links and creative writing submitted to the site are accepted, and the Editorial Rating they are assigned.

 

An essay will only be accepted if it meets the following prerequisites:

• it receives an Editorial Rating of at least 1 star;
• it is relevant for the category to which it was submitted;
• it is not plagiarized (our system uses random string searching to verify the legitimacy of your submission by comparing it with text on the internet);
• it is at least 500 words in length; and
• it is written in English.

The reviewer will assign each essay an Editorial Rating on a scale from 1 to 5 stars during the review process. Each essay is judged by the following criteria before it is assigned an Editorial Rating:

• logic and coherence;
• demonstrating a sound knowledge, informed by literary theory, of the text or author or topic;
• scholarship; and
• flair.

Most student essays completed at late school or early university level receive an Editorial Rating of 2 stars, with excellent student essays receiving 3 stars. Only outstanding essays, usually written by scholars or postgraduate students, receive ratings of 4 stars or more; and ratings of 5 stars are traditionally very difficult to achieve. For this reason, please do not be alarmed if your essay is rated two stars or less -- it is still very useful to students and we are still very pleased to have it on the site.  

It is important to realise that the Editorial Rating is intended to rank essays according to their relative value. For this reason, the process rewards critical and analytical writing. For example, you may complete an assessment in your studies which involves writing a plot summary for a text. If your summary is near-perfect, and receives 100% from your teacher or lecturer, this does not mean that it will receive 5 stars when you submit it to the Classics Network. In fact, it is likely to only receive 2 stars if it does not contain detailed, scholarly analysis of the text. Our editors keep the following guidelines in mind when reviewing essays:

• synopses and plot summaries receive up to 2 stars;
• notes on a particular aspect of a text (for example: generic elements, context, characters, setting) which do not address a specific thesis receive up to 3 stars;
• essays which analyse the text thoroughly, addressing a specific thesis and proving it using textual evidence, receive up to 4 stars; and
• essays which meet the above criteria for 4 stars and demonstrate an outstanding level of scholarship, flair and knowledge of literary theory may receive 5 stars.

Because of our editorial policy places an emphasis on the value of your essay to visitors, rather than on how well you completed a set task, it is possible that the Editorial Rating your essay receives may be quite different to the mark you get for it.

 

The process used to assess links is outlined in the Classics Network's Common Policy on Link Submissions. A brief summary of this document follows.

A link will be accepted if it is relevant in the category to which it was submitted and if it is a valuable resource for the study or enjoyment of the humanities.

The reviewer will assign each link an Editorial Rating on a scale from 1 to 5 stars during the review process. Each link is judged on the following criteria before it is assigned an Editorial Rating:

• its substan content (sites which have original essays, analyses, critiques or responses will receive the highest rating)
• how comprehensively it covers the category content (sites which comprehensively deal with a single topic will receive the highest rating)
• whether it provides links to other resources (sites which only link to others and have no resources of their own will receive the lowest rating; but links used to compliment hosted resources will increase a site's rating)
• ease of navigation through the site; and
• aesthetics.

We understand that the internet is dynamically changing and that your site may expand and improve after it is first submitted.  You may apply to have your link reassessed 30 days after it is first submitted. If you submitted your site more than 30 days ago, you may apply for link reassessment.

 

 

We do not assign submitted creative writing items an Editorial Rating. Our Associate Editor in Creative Writing will, however, review your writing to ensure that it is original, not plagiarized, and that it is not offensive, vulgar or discriminatory. Our Editor will also select outstanding creative writing to be featured on the sidebar of the site and for the 'showcases' in each category.