Publication Guidelines

Contributions to the Journal of Icon Studies are solicited in all areas of icon research. Submissions and any questions should be sent by email to the editor, Wendy Salmond.

The Journal of Icon Studies follows editing practices of The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). For spelling, refer to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary or Webster’s Fourth. For transliteration from Russian to English, please use the Library of Congress transliteration system.

All submissions must be sent electronically, either via e-mail or a large-file transfer service such as YouSendIt.com. The Journal of Icon Studies does not accept hard-copy submissions.

Submission checklist:

  • The manuscript in Microsoft Word, all elements of which must be double spaced (including endnotes and numbered captions) with a maximum of 16,000 words, including endnotes. Please do not send PDFs, since these files cannot be altered to preserve anonymity during blind peer-editing;
  • An illustration list in Microsoft Word, also double spaced, with a maximum of 20 images;
    A Microsoft Word file no larger than 10 MB containing all illustrations. If the file is larger than 10 MB, the JoIS is unable to send it to peer reviewers, since many institutional firewalls block files larger than 10 MB.
  • A cover sheet with author’s name, a 50-word biographical statement (double spaced), and the manuscript’s total word count, including all text and notes. The author’s name should appear only on a separate cover sheet. The title of the article, but not the author’s name, should be repeated on the first page of the text.
  • A 100-word abstract of the article with a list of keywords

Peer Review

All submitted articles are given an initial review by the Editor of the Journal of Icon Studies. This initial evaluation is guided by the following criteria:

  • The material is original and important.
  • The writing is grammatically correct and clear.
  • The data are appropriate to the topic and factually correct.
  • The conclusions are reasonable and clearly supported by the data.
  • The topic has general interest to the icon research community.

Based on these criteria, the Editor assesses the paper’s initial eligibility for publication. If a manuscript does not satisfy all these criteria, it is rejected and notice sent to the author. If the manuscript satisfies most of these criteria, it is sent to three members of the Editorial Board with knowledge of the topic of the submission. They may, in turn, submit it to outside reviewers. The identity of the specific reviewers is kept confidential from the author(s) just as author identities are kept confidential from the reviewers. Reviewers are required to maintain confidentiality about the manuscripts they review and must not divulge any information about a specific manuscript or its contents to anyone not involved in the review process.

Editing

If the manuscript is accepted as is, the author is so notified and the publication process is begun. If it is accepted with revisions, the manuscript is returned to the author for revision with reviewer comments. Authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including changes made during editing. The final form rests in the hands of the Editor of the Journal after consultation with the author and reviewers.