ABC-CLIO is an award-winning publisher of reference, contemporary thought, and professional development content, created to help students, educators, librarians, and general readers of all ages wrestle with complex challenges. Throughout our history, we have invested resources in the development of new content genres, giving our diverse customer and reader communities the opportunity to explore deep factual treatments of the topics that matter, and delivering the most current scholarship and perspectives on those topics.

Our editorial staff compiles some of the reference content on our databases, while other reference material is gathered from recognized scholars and writers in various fields. Objectivity and balance are always of the utmost importance to our staff, both in writing pieces and editing work submitted by contributors. We are guided by our editorial boards and advisers, as well as our own editorial policies and fact-checking procedures.

The materials presented in the Enduring Questions section of our Idea Exchange are peer-reviewed essays written by scholars and experts in the field. Enduring Questions follow a "big questions" approach that examines major issues in a topic area—issues that all students may well encounter in their introductory work. By and large, these essays take a position on an issue that has no easy answer. The intention is to bolster critical thinking skills by showing a spectrum of approaches to an issue and allowing students to begin to appreciate the inherent complexities of these big questions as they start to formulate their own views. The Idea Exchange has two goals: 1) to provide informative, thesis-driven, and peer-reviewed essays from multiple perspectives on topics that are mainstays of community college and undergraduate paper assignments, and 2) to model effective essay writing. Our expert authors are asked to craft well-reasoned arguments from their particular points of view. As a result, these pieces can be challenging, even controversial. The opinions represented do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ABC-CLIO staff.

Please contact us if you have further questions about our policies: editorial@abc-clio.com.

World History: The Modern Era
World History: The Modern Era (covering history from the Renaissance to today) is the latest update of the reference standard of electronic history reference materials for students and researchers seeking accurate, authoritative, and comprehensive materials on modern history.

The World History: The Modern Era Team

Advisory Board
Nancy Stockdale, University of North Texas, Chair
Michelle Tusan, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Ezekiel Walker, University of Central Florida
Jessica Chapman, Williams College

Editorial
Judy Fay, Director, Editorial (Electronic)
David Tipton, Manager, Editorial Development
Greg Wolf, Writer/Editor
Jennifer Hutchinson, Writer/Editor
Michael Millman, Senior Acquisition Editor

Media
Caroline Price, Media Services Manager
Ellen Rasmussen, Senior Media Editor

Technical
Marcy DeMassa, Director, Web Strategy
Neal Schaefer, Director, Product and Content Management Systems
Mattio Valentino, Technical Development Manager
Susan Basch, Software Engineer
Chris Martinich, Software Engineer