Submissions to Tea Circle are always welcome. We are happy to consider pieces in any of the following categories, provided Tea Circle is the first and only outlet for publication. We are especially interested in the work of new and emerging scholars of Burma/Myanmar.

You will find our submission policy and detailed instructions related to submission types, citations, plagiarism, and academic integrity below.

Submissions Policy

We intend for Tea Circle to be a platform for debate and discussion, and we also hope that our posts spark conversations off-site as well. While the journal is hosted by the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, we are keen to make it a place for both scholarly and non-scholarly contributions. We distinguish between posts that are based on research or fieldwork and those that express an individual’s opinion.

In seeking to avoid anonymous vitriol and ad hominem attacks, we do not have comments enabled on the site. However, we strongly encourage readers who have a strong reaction to a piece (positive, negative, or somewhere in between) to submit responses. Allowing for a diverse mix of contributions helps provide a platform for sharing a range of views on different topics related to Myanmar, from a multitude of perspectives.

In adopting this approach, we will publish controversial or unpopular perspectives, including opinions that members of our editorial team may strongly disagree with. Our editors carefully consider our guidelines; while we do our best to avoid publishing anything that is abusive, libellous, or insulting to individuals, we recognize that some readers will find some content challenging or objectionable. We reserve the right to refuse any submission.

Our standard for evaluation and inclusion of different perspectives on the site is itself a potential topic for debate. Just as we welcome continued submissions in response to any of our posts, we are happy to consider submissions that critically reflect on Tea Circle’s stated mission as a platform.

Burmese Language Submissions

We actively accept and review original research and analysis written natively in the Burmese language. If your submission does not cleanly match our listed categories below, please contact our editorial team at teacirclemyanmar@proton.me.

Types of Submissions

The vast majority of posts on Tea Circle are between 1,000 to 2,000 words. Shorter submissions are accepted as “Notes” (500 to 1,000 words), and longer comprehensive research pieces are accepted as “Essays” (over 2,000 words).

Our core publication taxonomy includes:

• Politics
• Policy Briefs and Research Reports
• Opinion
• Education
• Health
• Arts & Literature (including book reviews)
• History and Culture
• Interviews
• Letters

Anonymous Posts and Publishing with a Pseudonym

We recognize that safety and security concerns affect many of our contributors, whether you are inside Myanmar or abroad. In order to protect our authors, Tea Circle fully supports publishing anonymously or under a preferred pseudonym/pen name.

If you need to protect your identity, we strongly advise preparing your materials using a high-quality VPN and Incognito/Private browsing mode, and corresponding with us using a secure Proton account sent directly to: teacirclemyanmar@proton.me.

Tea Circle will never share your personal identity, contact details, or metadata without your explicit consent.

Citations, Hyperlinks, and Footnotes

For our digital journal format, we encourage authors to limit heavy academic footnotes and endnotes. Hyperlinks to online sources, reports, and news items are highly preferred and welcome.

However, it remains the strict responsibility of all authors to accurately attribute someone else’s material, whether using direct quotes or referencing a general argument. Err on the side of thoroughness and generosity in your digital citations. When in doubt, feel free to ask our editorial team.

Plagiarism and Academic Integrity

While submissions undergo a rigorous peer review by two of our editors, it is your responsibility to accurately cite external work. Using someone else’s ideas without citation or acknowledgement is plagiarism. The expectations for adequately citing work remain identical to formal academic spaces.

If you suspect a piece published on Tea Circle violates academic integrity, contact us immediately at teacirclemyanmar@proton.me. We will conduct an immediate review, removing the piece temporarily while a formal decision is reached.

Our approach in building this community is pedagogical and remedial rather than punitive. Depending on the nature of an error, we will most often choose to work directly with junior scholars to help them understand citation mistakes and safely revise their post rather than resort to public censure.