Publishing Criteria

To facilitate Hawaiian cultural vitality and high-quality publications, all submissions are reviewed against the following criteria:

Language and Culture

Encourages and facilitates a living, vibrant Hawaiian language.
Reinforces the contemporary importance and relevance of Hawaiian language, history, oral traditions, literature, practices, beliefs, spirituality, and values.
Provides views of our past that are grounded in established Hawaiian traditions.
Reflects the diversity of established Hawaiian traditions.
Supports long-term perpetuation (and evolution) of hana no‘eau.

Cultivates a sense of Hawaiian identity based upon inherent genealogical, geographical, and historical connections to an ancestral past.
Contextualizes Hawaiian roles and identity within a sociocultural framework of ʻohana, kaiaulu, and lāhui settings.
Creates opportunities for critical, in-depth consideration of current Hawaiian issues that build understanding for Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike.
Teaches everyday life skills, or academic content or skills, using Hawaiian contexts and perspectives.

Inspires or strengthens efforts to restore or maintain the integrity of natural environments and cultural places—especially as these relate to specific locations, entities, and resources; their connections to one another; and their connections to contemporary Hawaiian communities.
Inspires contemporary behaviors that reflect the best of Hawaiian modern, historical, and ancient heroes/heroines.
Reflects a sense of aloha and respect for oral informants in the acquisition and presentation of information and other guidance provided by informants.
Inspires and facilitates active involvement in current Hawaiian issues.
Motivates and enables Hawaiians to take on kuleana (rights and responsibilities) implicit in our roles in our ‘ohana, schools, workplaces, kaiaulu, and lāhui.
Builds meaningful bridges between Hawaiians and others in our local and global communities.
Builds capacity for Hawaiian self-determination.

Aligns with Kamehameha Schools’ vision for a thriving lāhui and the development of ‘Ōiwi leaders.
Conveys a high level of relevance to the needs of Native Hawaiian communities.
Demonstrates intergenerational appeal and impact.
Expresses ideas in clear, accessible language.
Uses an approach that is effective and appropriate for the intended audience.
Exhibits a high level of integrity and quality in the process used to create the work and in the work itself.
Reflects a high level of creativity and artistic expression.
Reflects a high level of intellectual rigor.