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These
guidelines for the editorial procedures and practices of The Annals of
Iowa are offered to clarify what authors may expect when
they submit their work to the Annals as well as to
indicate what the editor of the Annals expects of
potential authors and reviewers. The sequence of topics in
this set of guidelines roughly follows the stages of the
publication process, with articles discussed first, book
reviews later.
1.
Making Submissions
The
Annals of Iowa invites articles, edited documents, and other annotated, unpublished
primary materials on Iowa history and on subjects concerning the nation and the
Midwest with an Iowa focus. Regional and local studies of political, economic,
social, cultural, ethnic, institutional, archeological, and architectural history
are welcome. Manuscripts should be submitted to Marvin Bergman, editor, The
Annals of Iowa, State Historical Society of Iowa, 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa City,
Iowa 52240. The only compensation offered by the Annals is ten free copies
of the issue in which the author's article appears and a 40 percent discount on
the purchase of additional copies.
The
editor expects submissions to meet the criteria generally
established for scholarly journal articles. That means, in
short, that submitted manuscripts should (1) contain a clear
thesis statement that represents an original and significant
contribution to the existing literature in the field; (2)
state the thesis clearly, support it adequately, and develop
it in a way that is logical, convincing, and appropriate; (3)
be based on primary research that relates to a body of
acknowledged secondary literature; and (4) be clearly written,
well organized, and properly documented.
Manuscripts
should be printed double-spaced on sturdy, white, nonerasable
8½ x 11 paper. Authors should submit two copies of the
manuscript. Authors may but do not need to submit computer
diskettes with their manuscript submission. The editor prefers
manuscripts of 25-35 pages, including notes, although both
longer and shorter manuscripts will be considered in
exceptional cases. Authors' names should appear only on a
detachable title page.
Notes
will appear as footnotes in articles published in the Annals,
but authors may use either footnotes or endnotes for submitted
manuscripts. The style should conform to that recommended by The
Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 2003). Bibliographies are not necessary.
Tables
should be printed on separate sheets, with the approximate
location indicated in the text. Illustrations submitted with a
manuscript should be glossy prints, preferably 5" x
7", if possible, labeled on the reverse with all
pertinent information, including subject, date, and credit
line. The author is responsible for copyright release and
reprint permission.
Authors
should acquaint themselves with the guidelines that govern
"fair use" of quotations from sources, and authors
who quote extensively from primary or secondary sources should
obtain written permission to do so.
For
all general matters of technical style, including
capitalization, punctuation, and use of numbers in the text,
authors should refer to The Chicago Manual of Style,
14th ed. The editor also strongly urges authors to consult The Elements
of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, and
"How to Write History," by Stephen Cox (Annals of
Iowa 49 [1988]: 261-67).
By
preparing manuscripts in accordance with these guidelines,
authors can help speed along both the evaluation of their
submissions and the processing of them once they are accepted
for publication. The editor welcomes inquiries about these
guidelines and will be happy to send a sample issue of the
journal on request.
2.
Multiple Submissions and Previous Publication
The
Annals of Iowa
will not entertain a manuscript that has been previously published or that is
being considered by another journal at the same time. If other manuscripts based
on the same or closely related research have been previously published or are
under consideration for publication elsewhere, the author should so inform the
editor. In most cases, the editor is happy to consider manuscripts based wholly
or in part on conference or other public presentations. In such cases, however,
the author should inform the editor of the prior history of the manuscript, and
since conference presentations are generally considered "work in progress,"
authors should not submit such papers until after they have been presented
and commentators' responses have informed any revision of the manuscript.
3.
Acknowledgment
The
editor of the Annals
will acknowledge receipt of all manuscripts within one week of
their receipt. Because manuscripts and acknowledgments do get
lost on occasion, an author who does not receive such
acknowledgment within a reasonable time, no more than three
weeks, should inquire.
4.
Initial Evaluation
The
editor makes an initial judgment of manuscripts as they are
received to determine whether they merit further evaluation.
If the manuscript does not meet the scholarly standards
demanded by the journal, or if its subject matter is
inappropriate to the scope of the journal, the editor may
reject the manuscript at this stage without providing a
detailed critique, since authors are expected to acquaint
themselves with the character and scope of journals to which
they submit their work. The editor may occasionally recommend
that the author submit the manuscript for consideration for
publication by the editor of Iowa
Heritage Illustrated, the State Historical Society's
popular history magazine. If the manuscript is deemed worthy
of further evaluation, the editor occasionally may request
some revision of the manuscript before sending it to outside
readers. Usually, though, outside readers will be consulted at
this stage.
5.
Outside Readers
The
Annals of Iowa is a refereed journal. Before making a decision regarding
publication of a manuscript, the editor will consult one or more readers outside
the editorial office. Although the system of peer evaluation prolongs the time
between submission and final decision, it is important to ensure both the expert
assessment of manuscripts and the quality of articles accepted for publication.
In
choosing readers, the editor seeks referees with a record of
publication that indicates an understanding of the role of
scholarly publishing as well as expertise on the subject of
the manuscript to be evaluated. The editor tries to avoid
choosing scholars known to be or to have been close associates
of the author, but some fields of specialization are so small
that it is not possible to find qualified readers who are not
well acquainted with the author.
6.
Blind Evaluations
To
help ensure the impartiality of evaluations, the editor
removes the name or other identification of the author from a
manuscript, where this can be done without undue mutilation,
before sending it out for evaluation. This is why we request
authors to place their names only on a separate title page.
The editor also sends reports to authors without disclosing
readers' names, except when readers prefer to forgo
anonymity.
7.
Length of Time for Evaluation
The
length of time required for evaluation of individual
manuscripts varies according to the nature of the manuscript
and the schedules of the editor and the readers, but the
editor's goal in all cases is to notify authors of the
result of the evaluation of their manuscript no more than 90
days after the manuscript has been received. The editor will
notify the author if a delay seems likely-if, for example,
readers prove hard to secure or sharply differing opinions
among a first set of readers make it necessary to seek
additional opinions. An author who has not heard from the
editor within the specified period of time allotted for the
evaluation process should contact the editor.
8.
Conditions of Acceptance
Once
the readers' reports reach the editorial office, the editor
reassesses the manuscript in light of the reports and reaches
a decision. There are several options: the editor may reject
the manuscript and offer little or no encouragement to believe
that revision would improve its chances; encourage revision
and resubmission without making a commitment to eventual
publication; accept it on condition that specified revisions
are made; or, in rare cases, accept it without revision.
Because the range of contingencies is broad, the editor tries
to communicate clearly to authors the status or prospects of
their manuscripts and the requirements for securing final,
unconditional acceptance. If that is not clear, the author
should request clarification before proceeding further.
In
most cases, the editor will send readers' reports to authors
of both accepted and rejected manuscripts. In the case of
conditional acceptance, the editor will indicate how the
readers' comments are to be used in revision. Before
revising, the author should resolve any doubts about how to
proceed by writing for further, clearer guidance.
9.
Schedule for Publication
The
editor's letter offering final, unconditional acceptance of
the manuscript will, whenever possible, specify the issue in
which the author's article will appear and when the author
may expect to receive the copyedited manuscript. The complete
production cycle-from the day the editor submits the
copyedited text of an article to the author until the day the
issue is mailed to subscribers (and authors)-takes about
four months.
An
author who agrees to acceptance of a manuscript for
publication may not withdraw it from the journal except in
extreme and unusual circumstances. The editor, of course, is
similarly bound, and may not remove an accepted manuscript
from the publication schedule except in extreme and unusual
circumstances.
10.
Copyediting the Manuscript
The
editor of The
Annals of Iowa copyedits accepted manuscripts for
conformity to the journal's house style for footnote form,
special terms, capitalization, punctuation, and the like, as
well as standard grammar and spelling. The editor of the Annals
also edits for clarity, consistency, and conciseness, but
always with the intent of preserving the author's voice. The
editor may often suggest larger changes, such as adding or
deleting material, rewriting ambiguous passages, or
rearranging sentences or paragraphs to improve the flow of the
narrative or argument. The editor may query the author about
such matters as internal inconsistencies, incomplete
footnotes, or apparent errors of fact.
The
editor sends copyedited page proofs to authors to approve
editorial changes, to respond to queries, and to make any
necessary last-minute changes. The editor expects authors to
engage actively not only queries but editorial suggestions as
well. Editorial suggestions are just suggestions; except on
matters related to technical aspects of house style, the
editor respects the right of authors to restore passages to
their original state, but hopes that where there are
differences, author and editor can work out mutually
acceptable revisions that are better than both the original
passage and the editor's suggested revision. Editors try not
to make arbitrary revisions, but we recognize that our
revisions are not always the best solutions to perceived
problems; we ask only that authors take our suggestions
seriously, recognizing that maximum clarity is in the author's
as well as the journal's best interest, and that is what we
should both be striving for.
Where
editors perceive problems or lack of clarity, we are happiest
when authors do find solutions that are better than
ours.
In
addition to reading proofs for matters of substance, authors
should attend to any typographical errors, marking them on the
margin of the page. If there are grammatical or factual
errors, authors should call them to the editor's attention.
11.
Offprints of the Article
The Annals
does not make offprints available to authors. Each author will
receive ten free copies of the issue of the Annals in
which their article appears. Authors may purchase additional
copies at a 40 percent discount off the regular price of a
single issue. Authors who wish to order additional copies
should inquire when they return their copyedited manuscripts
to the editor, since extra copies will not be printed after
the regular order has been submitted to the printer.
12.
Interval before Publication
Authors
frequently submit portions of forthcoming books or other work
in progress for publication in historical journals. The
practice is a healthy one that enables journals to publish the
best current scholarship, and authors to present their
findings at an early stage. The Annals has no
established policy on the lapse of time between the
publication of an article and its appearance in substantially
the same form in a larger publication, but authors should
alert the editor to the likely time of publication of a larger
work that contains their article or a substantial portion
thereof. They should also inquire as to the required form for
acknowledging the journal article in the larger work.
13.
Copyright and Reprint Policy
The
editor of the Annals
of Iowa asks all authors to assign copyright for their
article to the publisher of the journal, the State Historical
Society of Iowa. The Society is an ongoing institution capable
of protecting copyright over a long period. We also receive
occasional requests from noncommercial publishers (such as
local historical societies or community history groups) to
reprint articles from the Annals. In the interest of
long-term protection and making historical material
(originally published with the support of public funds)
readily available to the public, we think it desirable for the
Society to hold copyright on Annals articles.
The
Society will grant authors permission for subsequent use of
their own material in their own work without restriction. The
Society will also undertake to protect authors' interests
against unfair use of their articles. Working through the
Copyright Clearance Center in New York, we are able to control
photocopying of authors' articles. Free copying is allowed
for personal use, scholarly research or reference, and limited
classroom teaching. There is a fee imposed for photocopying
beyond the provisions of "fair use." For copies made
for other purposes, the user must pay one dollar for each copy
of the article. Part of the fee goes to the Copyright
Clearance Center to defray processing, the balance to the
Society.
14.
Assigning Book Reviews
The Annals of Iowa
discourages submission of unsolicited reviews, and does not
assign books on request, but the editor welcomes suggestions
of books that should be reviewed. The editor also welcomes
requests from scholars to have their names placed on file as
potential reviewers.
When
a book is chosen for review, the editor seeks a reviewer
knowledgeable about the subject, prescribes an approximate
number of words, and states a deadline. By accepting an
assignment, a reviewer tacitly accepts these stipulations. The
only payment the reviewer receives is the review copy of the
book and two free issues of the journal in which the review
appears. The editor will send with the review copy a set of
instructions outlining what is expected from the reviewer. The
content of reviews, unless wildly irrelevant or libelous, is
up to the reviewer. If the editor elects to publish
correspondence from authors, or others, in response to book
reviews, the reviewer will be given a chance to respond.
15.
Processing Reviews
The
editor will edit book reviews for clarity, consistency, and
conciseness, as well as for grammar, spelling, syntax, and
conformity to house style in such matters as punctuation and
capitalization. Recognizing that reviews are essentially
commissioned work, the editor makes a special effort to ensure
that copyediting does not alter the reviewer's voice or
opinions about the book under review. Reviewers will have the
opportunity to approve page proofs.
16.
Publication of Book Reviews
The
editor of the Annals
will not reveal the reviewer's name to the author or
publisher of the book before the issue is in press. Once the
issue has been printed, the editor will send two copies of
each review to the publisher of each book. It is the publisher's
responsibility to send a copy to the author. Reviewers will
receive two free copies of the issue of the Annals in
which their review appears.
17.
Conclusion
By
making these guidelines available to authors and potential
authors, the editor hopes to avoid potential misunderstandings
in the process of developing articles; authors can do their
part to avoid misunderstandings by taking responsibility for
understanding the subjects covered by these guidelines and
questioning the editor about matters that are unclear. If
authors and editors keep channels of communication open and
question each other whenever ambiguities arise, the potential
for problems will be minimized. Authors and editors have the
same goal, after all: the best possible presentation of the
author's work.
All
correspondence, including manuscript submissions, related to The Annals of
Iowa should be directed to:
Marvin Bergman,
editor
The Annals of Iowa
State Historical Society of Iowa
402 Iowa
Avenue
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
319-335-3391
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