diff --git a/src/cms/forms.py b/src/cms/forms.py
index c4c450eaa2..e21a434560 100755
--- a/src/cms/forms.py
+++ b/src/cms/forms.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def clean_top_level_nav(self):
 
 class SubmissionItemForm(JanewayTranslationModelForm):
 
-    text = BleachField()
+    text = BleachField(required=False)
 
     class Meta:
         model = models.SubmissionItem
diff --git a/src/core/forms/forms.py b/src/core/forms/forms.py
index e6738942b2..109c1eb000 100755
--- a/src/core/forms/forms.py
+++ b/src/core/forms/forms.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class Meta:
 
 class EditorialGroupForm(JanewayTranslationModelForm):
 
-    description = BleachField()
+    description = BleachField(required=False)
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         next_sequence = kwargs.pop('next_sequence', None)
diff --git a/src/press/forms.py b/src/press/forms.py
index 776f7eeae5..ba8a9294d5 100755
--- a/src/press/forms.py
+++ b/src/press/forms.py
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ def save(self, commit=True):
 
 
 class PressJournalDescription(forms.Form):
-    description = BleachField()
+
+    description = BleachField(required=False)
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.journal = kwargs.pop('journal')