Our Philosophy

The Schola (ISSN 2508-7835) is an academic journal of high school scholarship in the humanities and social sciences, published by Veritaum. It recognizes sustained analytical work by young scholars and serves as a selective forum for disciplined inquiry.

The Schola publishes original scholarship, and we use that word precisely. We are looking for essays that move beyond the existing scholarship—that offer a reading, an argument, or an interpretation that could only have come from sustained engagement with particular material. Work that primarily summarizes existing debate or applies established frameworks without extending them will not meet this standard.

Strong submissions typically emerge from a moment of genuine intellectual friction: complicating received wisdom, reframing a familiar problem, or revealing what the secondary literature has missed or glossed. The research behind such essays is often extensive, but it is in service of an original claim—not a substitute for one.

We recognize that the threshold we are describing is a high one for secondary school scholars. We also believe it is the right one. The essays we publish are distinguished by the clarity and necessity of their argument.