Submission Guidelines

With the beach season just around the corner, we highlight a creature that represents tenacity, growth, and curiosity: the hermit crab. With its ever changing shell and meticulous selection of identity, we bring this concept to our Spring 2026 issue. The hermit crab reflects the experiences of our community here at UCF in many ways. Hermit crabs use their shells for protection, scavenging for the perfect place to call their home. As students, you have gone through many phases of your life, hopping from “shell” to “shell” when the right conditions arise. Embrace these changes and share your different shells–your heaviest, shortest, most influential, and favorites–through your submission to Imprint. UCF is a sum of many generations, and through each era, the university has donned and shed dozens of shells. We invite you to explore not only your own shells, but UCF’s as well, and how these shells have influenced and/or affected your time here at UCF.

Submission Ideas/Suggestions:

  • Tell a story about a “shell” that changed you. What moment, experience, or transition reshaped your personal identity? How did that experience contribute to your future career (the major you chose)?
  • Share about a (metaphorical) shell that became home. Reflect on how finding your place at UCF through academics, communities, or friendships have influenced your sense of belonging.
  • Write about a shell that may have been too heavy to carry. What did it teach you? How does it influence you? What can other students learn from your experiences?
  • Reflect on a shell we collectively share at UCF and your perspective on the evolving identity of UCF.
  • Describe a time leading up to or during your time at UCF where you were without a shell. Hermit crabs thrive in social groups and have a strong sense of identity— without their shells, they are exposed and vulnerable. How did that experience shape your sense of self both as a person and a UCF student?

We are currently accepting submissions. Ideas beyond the issue’s theme might include but are not limited to:

  • Opinion pieces about your identity as a UCF student,
  • Features on Knight life, Knight travel, and/or Knight events,
  • What makes studying in Florida (near the coast) unique to the college experience,
  • UCF faculty, students, and/or staff of impact,
  • UCF landmarks, mascots, attractions, etc.
  • GKCO spring athletics
  • Knights learning in the community and studying abroad,
  • Featured student organizations and/or student activities that are making a difference.

With this in mind, Imprint welcomes articles, photo essays, and entries on the shells we occupy for our Spring 2026 edition! 

Article Guidelines

For your article to be considered, you must be a current UCF undergraduate/graduate student (faculty and staff are excluded from submitting). Your article must be written for a UCF audience, and content should be applicable to the UCF community. At Imprint, we are passionate about creating a publication by Knights, for Knights!

Here are guidelines for your submission:

  • Content must be appropriate and accessible for all students. Avoid excessive swearing, ranting, and political bashing. Include a content warning as needed.
  • Submissions should be between 500 to 1,250 words in length, in 12-point font and double-spaced. We ask that submissions come in through MS Word.
  • If you are taking on an experimental form (see genre section below), reach out to the editorial team about length and submission guidelines.
  • All submissions should be submitted by March 30 to Imprint@ucf.edu

GenAI Guidelines

Each author must submit an AI disclosure statement that includes justification for any use of AI. The intention of Imprint is to publish works written and designed by students, for students–we publish original works. In the age of emerging technology uses, we want to ensure students preserve their voice, opinions, and ideas. For this reason, we ask that each submission include an AI disclosure statement at the top of the first page before the title; please use Card Writer to draft the statement: https://cardwriter.vercel.app/

About Imprint

Imprint is a UCF student-run online magazine that is supported by the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Our mission is to entertain, empower, and evoke action to leave a lasting impression on the UCF student population. We currently publish two issues per year at the conclusion of the Fall and Spring semesters. Our magazine contains articles written by students of all majors, cultures, and walks of life.

Thank you for your interest in Imprint! Want to get your writing noticed? We want to publish your work! If you are interested in publishing a nonfiction article, we would love to consider it for publication in our upcoming edition!

All queries and submissions should be sent to Imprint@ucf.edu

We are currently accepting queries for Spring 2026. 

For further information, contact Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Editor-in-Chief at Imprint@ucf.edu. Feel free to send along a query; a query is a pitch for your piece that helps our editorial team decide if your idea fits with our upcoming issue. Unsure how to write a query?  Here’s a link for examples.  Send queries to imprint@ucf.edu.