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Author Guidelines

Journal Article Guidelines

Book Review Guidelines

JOURNAL ARTICLE GUIDELINES 

Format and style of submissions Format and style of submissions: Manuscripts need to be in a Word file. In addition, please prepare an abstract of no more than 250 words.  You will be asked to cut-and-paste the abstract into a form after you upload your manuscript. Article manuscripts (including endnotes, tables, and references) should be double-spaced with one-inch margins on all sides. All manuscripts should be between 20 and 30 pages, not including endnotes. All footnotes/endnotes should use Arabic numerals, not Roman numerals. All figures should be placed at the end of the manuscript. Include full citation information in the first endnote, and use short form of citation in subsequent citations. Do not include a "works cited." All manuscripts not meeting these standards will be returned to the author for reformatting. Because American Studies uses a double-blind review process, contributors are asked not to put their names on manuscripts; only the title should appear on the manuscript. Contributors agree upon submission that manuscripts submitted to American Studies will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under review by American Studies.

Authors may submit manuscripts following the most recent editions of Chicago, MLA, or APA. However if the article is accepted it will be the author's responsibility to convert it to the citation rules of the Chicago Manual of Style as reflected in the AMSJ style sheet.

Form of submission We require authors to submit their work using the journal's online submission system. For questions regarding submissions or the online submission system, please contact: Assistant Editor, asjo@amsjeditors.org.

Graphics Submission Guidelines Photographs and other imagery often enhance the text and the journal considerably; the Editors encourage authors to provide illustrations with their submissions. We do, however, require the following: Electronic images are preferred. Our printer has specified they prefer halftone and color images be at minimum 300 pixels per inch (ppi), while line art should be scanned at 1200 ppi. If possible, images in .PNG or .TIFF are preferred. As nearly all images downloaded from the Internet are in .JPEG or .GIF format and will be 72 dpi, they are rarely acceptable to be printed. Sizing these images to fit the page can cause pixelation, rendering them unrecognizable or warped. If you have trouble finding an image of acceptable quality, please feel free to check online sources such as Flickr. Many images on Flickr are available to the public under a Creative Commons license. If sending physical photographs, please send us good quality, glossy prints or camera-ready line art, ready for press. We will not be able to use images/figures inserted in Word documents. If your submission is accepted, please send us original copies of all images included, along with captions, as well as notes indicating an estimated location for page layout. If we need to edit captions, we will of course check back with you during the proofing process. *Please note that authors are responsible for obtaining permission for any images they wish to use. If permission to reproduce the image is needed, we require the appropriate documentation granting that permission. Where necessary, the appropriate wording granting permission, which will be placed under the photograph or at the end of the article (“Reproduced by permission of . . . .,” etc.) should also be included. Please mail physical images to:

Lydia Epp Schmidt, Assistant Editor
American Studies
The University of Kansas 1440 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 213
Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7590
e-mail: asjo@amsjeditors.org 

BOOK REVIEW GUIDELINES

Book Reviews in American Studies

American Studies publishes reviews of scholarly books, films, or exhibits that deal broadly with American culture and that blur traditional disciplinary lines. We also hope to bring attention to discipline-specific texts with topics or themes that may interest scholars in a variety of fields.

Reviewers are professors, independent scholars, and professionals who hold a PhD or terminal degree in their field.  We assign some books to reviewers as they come in to our office, if we suspect the scholar would offer an insightful review of a particular book.  We also recruit reviewers by publishing a list of new books available for review on our blog, in our e-newsletter, and on social media sites.

Reviews should indicate the nature of the book’s themes and the quality of its scholarship. The review may mention other texts in order to situate the work being reviewed into the debates and conversations in which it takes part; however, we expect that the review focus on the particular book itself.  Reviews are generally 500 words in length, unless otherwise requested by the editors.

In addition to book reviews, we also publish book review essays that frame texts within the context of scholarly patterns and directions.  These are often assigned to specific reviewers by the journal’s editorial team, though individual scholars may propose review essays as well.  We publish review essays in most of our quarterly issues and in our summer reading issue.

Style & Formatting At the top of the review, please cite the book as follows: TITLE: Subtitle. By Author Name. City: Press. Year. If you quote from the book, please include a page citation in parenthesis immediately following the quote. Try not to use footnotes. Instead, embed the information in the text. At the end of your review, state your name and institutional affiliation. If the institution is outside the United States, please include the country. If the institution has several campuses, include yours after the institution name.

Submission Reviews should be submitted via the submission link above. For inquiries about books available for review, please e-mail Assistant Book Review Editor: bookreviews@amsjeditors.org.

REVIEW ESSAY GUIDELINES

In addition to book reviews, we also publish book review essays that frame texts within the context of scholarly patterns and directions.  Review essays are a suggested length of 15 pages/5000 words, reviewing 2-5 books on a particular topic or moment in history.  These are often assigned to specific reviewers by the journal’s editorial team, though individual scholars may propose review essays as well.  Review essays are subject to editorial review, with questions and concerns answered in a resubmission process.  We publish review essays in most of our quarterly issues and in our summer reading issue, where they are featured prominently.

We also occasionally seek to run review essays that focus on a relevant historical theme; for instance, a review essay on the sesquicentennial of the Civil War ran in Summer 2014.

All review essay proposals and completed review essays should be directed to: David Karjanen, Book Review Editor: dkarjanen@amsjeditors.org and Demiliza Saramosing, Assistant Book Review Editor: bookreviews@amsjeditors.org.

Special Issue Proposal Guidelines

Policy for Special Issues of American Studies

Our policy on special issues varies, to some extent, according to the project, but several features are consistent: all articles are peer reviewed. The guest editor is the primary arbiter of acceptances and revisions, but the final decision rests with the editors of American Studies. If the issue is built from a conference or panel, it is possible that a CFP will not be necessary, but in most cases, a CFP will be written by the guest editor, approved by the editors, and will be posted on the American Studies website.

Proposal Guidelines for Guest-Edited Special Issues

If you wish to propose a special issue of American Studies, please submit a 3-5 page statement of interest that includes the following elements: (1) a brief introduction to the topic or theme, (2) a statement about the relevance of this topic or theme for American Studies, (3) a justification for the need for a special issue at this time, and (4) a nuts-and-bolts summary of the type of project you have in mind (have you already identified the potential authors? Is this a group of papers that will be developed out of a conference panel? Or will this be a general call for papers on the topic?) Please let us know if you have further questions.The journal's policy on special issues varies based on the project, but several features are consistent: all articles will be peer reviewed. The guest editor will be the primary arbiter of acceptances and revisions, though the final decision rests with the editors. If the issue is built from a conference or panel, it is possible that a CFP will not be necessary, but in most cases, a CFP will be written by the guest editor, approved by the editors, and will be posted on the American Studies website.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • The manuscript is in a Word document.
  • The manuscript is double spaced, with 12 point font, page numbers, and 1" margins.
  • All footnotes/endnotes are in Arabic numerals, not Roman numerals.
  • All figures and images are placed at the end of the manuscript.
  • The manuscript follows the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, or MLA.
  • The author agrees to not submit the manuscript for publication elsewhere while under review by American Studies.
  • The abstract is no longer than 250 words.
  • The author has removed all identifying information from the manuscript.

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