Proposal Submission Guidelines

As a special topics journal, Studies in the Literary Imagination does not accept unsolicited articles for publication. Any scholar who wishes to propose a special issue topic for which he or she will serve as Contributing Editor may do so in a proposal to the SLI Committee. For Contributing Editor Guidelines, click here, and for Contributing Author Guidelines, click here. Submission guidelines for Studies in the Literary Imagination are listed below. From inception to completion, the publication of a journal issue takes approximately two years. The Contributing Editor is expected to notify the journal's Managing Editor or General Editor of your progress at regular intervals; they, in turn, will endeavor to assist you in every possible way.

1. The prospective Contributing Editor(s) must submit to the editors and to the Studies in the Literary Imagination Committee a full description of the scope and content of the proposed issue (1,000-1,500 words) along with his or her CV. Proposals must include a working title and an overview of the proposed topic, including its purpose and current relevance to literary scholarship.

2. The Contributing Editor must submit along with his or her proposal a list of names of prospective contributors and their academic affiliations, and preferably, a CV for each contributor, along with a brief abstract of each contributor's proposed article. The Contributing Editor and Managing Editor may agree to make changes to the list of contributors as the project develops.

3. The Committee will notify the prospective Contributing Editor whether or not the proposal has been approved within sixty days of its receipt.

4. The Contributing Editor will be responsible for the introduction to the issue, the necessary correspondence with contributors (including the distribution of author guidelines, contracts, general procedures, deadlines, and so on), and the initial editing of the articles.

5. The journal's editors reserve the right to refuse individual articles once completed versions have been submitted and reviewed.

6. Whereas the final editing will be the responsibility of SLI's editors, it is expected that they will work closely with the Contributing Editor in preparing a final text of the issue.

7. Any departure from the plan or list of contributors as originally proposed must be approved by the SLI Committee before the Contributing Editor proceeds.

(Updated Feb. 11, 2011)

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Contributing Editor Guidelines and Deadlines

Any scholar who agrees to edit an issue of Studies in the Literary Imagination should follow the guidelines and deadlines listed below. From inception to completion, the task is about a two-year process. You are expected to notify the journal’s Editor (Paul Schmidt) and/or the Managing Editor (Lori Howard) of your progress at every stage of the process. The editors will endeavor to aid you in every reasonable way. Following approval of your general subject and specific topic by the SLI committee, you should begin work on your issue. The first step is to invite submissions. Contributors’ essays should be submitted to you in a hard copy and also as an electronic file or on a CD (Microsoft Word for PC or some compatible program). The Production Manager will typeset the Word files for the printer.

	Essays to Contributing Editor	Essays to SLI	Issue to Printer	Issue to Subscribers
Spring	July 1	October 1	March 1	May 1
Fall	January 1	April 1	September 1	November 1

Responsibilities of Contributing Editor: Choose a general subject, a focused topic, and a title; seek and obtain approval of the SLI committee; solicit approximately eight original essays, each of approximately 25 to 30 pages in length (or of about 6,000 to 8,000 words) and prepared in current MLA documentation format (alternatively, submit fewer essays that are longer, or a mixture of longer and shorter essays, for a total of approximately 280 pages double-spaced in Word—about 150 completed manuscript pages); receive essays from the Contributors (electronically and in hard copy); perform first line edit immediately; if necessary, return essays to authors for correction; write introduction; submit introduction and clean, edited, publishable essays to the journal editor by e-mail and in hard copy, along with contact information and brief bios (about 50 words each) for Contributing Editor(s) and contributors; receive and correct camera-ready copy (at least once); return corrected copy to Managing Editor; meet all deadlines.

Responsibilities of SLI Editors: Invite proposals for issues of SLI; assist prospective Contributing Editor in refining topic proposal; present proposals to SLI committee; notify prospective CE of the committee's decision. Receive edited essays from CE; copyedit essays; typeset essays; send camera-ready copy to CE and contributors for correction; send corrected camera-ready copy to printer; receive finished journal; meet all deadlines; promote and distribute journal; and, in general, supervise all stages of production.

Please note: Specifications in addition to the above may apply and will be determined for individual issues at the discretion of the Editors. The above schedule is provisional; Contributing Editors will be notified if any of the deadlines differ for a particular issue. Georgia State University retains copyright of all material published in Studies in the Literary Imagination. If any Contributor wishes to re-publish elsewhere an article or a revised version of an article first published in SLI, either in print or in any other format, s/he must notify GSU and give proper acknowledgement to Studies in the Literary Imagination (SLI Editor will provide acknowledgement text).

November 2009 (Replaces earlier versions)

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Contributing Author Guidelines and Deadlines

Any scholar who agrees to contribute an article to Studies in the Literary Imagination should follow the guidelines and meet the deadlines listed below. From inception to completion, the production of an issue takes approximately two years. The contributor is expected to notify the journal's assistant editor of the issue's progress at each stage of the development. The assistant editor will endeavor to assist in every reasonable way.

Article Format

• 25 to 30 pages (between approximately 6,000 and 8,000 words), double-spaced throughout, 1.25" left and right margins, 1" top and bottom margins
• written and documented according to MLA style, which includes:
  • a works cited page;
  • if used, endnotes (not footnotes) containing explanatory information placed between the body of the essay and the works cited page; and
  • parenthetical documentation within the body of the essay
• Microsoft Word for PC or compatible file format

You should submit your essay to the consulting editor in hard copy and electronically according to the calendar of deadlines below. Along with your essay, you also should submit a brief bio (about 50 words), your mailing address, and your e-mail address (if you do not use email, please supply a fax number and mailing address). You then should expect to be notified by the consulting editor if any changes to your essay are required. When the consulting editor is satisfied with your essay, he or she will forward it to the journal editors for copyediting. You will have the opportunity to proofread your essay at least once before it is printed. In the interest of time, the consulting editor might be given the right to approve all copyediting for articles in an issue that is behind schedule.

 

	Essays to Contributing Editor	Essays to SLI	Issue to Printer	Issue to Subscribers
Spring issue	July 1	October 1	March 1	May 1
Fall issue	January 1	April 1	September 1	November 1

For your information: Responsibilities of Consulting Editor: Chooses a general subject, a focused topic, and a title; seeks and obtains approval of the SLI committee; solicits approximately six to eight original essays; receives essays from contributors (hard copy and electronic format); performs first line edit; if necessary, returns essays to authors for correction; writes introduction; submits introduction and clean, edited, publishable essays to the assistant editor, along with mailing addresses and brief bios (about 50 words each) for consulting editor(s) and contributors, electronically and in hard copy; receives and corrects camera-ready copy (at least once); returns corrected copy to assistant editor; meets all deadlines.

Please note: Specifications in addition to the above may apply and will be determined for individual issues at the discretion of the Editors. The above schedule is provisional; consulting editors will be notified if any of the deadlines differ for a particular issue. Georgia State University retains copyright of all material published in Studies in the Literary Imagination. If any contributor wishes to reprint elsewhere an article or a revised version of an article first published in SLI, either in print or in any other format, s/he must inform Georgia State University and give proper acknowledgement to Studies in the Literary Imagination (SLI editor will provide acknowledgement text).

November 2009 (Replaces earlier versions)

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