1. Editorial Policy

EJC/REC is devoted to the study of communication theory, research, practice, and policy. Manuscripts reporting original research, methodologies relevant to the study of human communication, critical syntheses of research, and theoretical, philosophical, and pedagogical perspectives on communication are welcome.

2. Submission:

Most issues of EJC/REC are organized around particular themes and are edited by one or more scholars with particular expertise in the domain of that theme. Authors seeking to submit a manuscript for consideration in a theme issue should consult the call for papers associated with that issue.

Authors may also submit manuscripts to EJC/REC for review without association with a special issue. In this case, authors should submit their manuscripts to the Managing Editor. Submissions are accepted on a continuous basis and those accepted for publication that are not part of a theme issue appear in a specially demarcated section of EJC/REC.

Whether considered within the context of a theme issue or considered independently, all manuscripts submitted to EJC/REC receive blind review.

In general, space is not a consideration in publication decisions, so there are no absolute page limits for submitted manuscripts. However, authors should note that, regardless of publication medium, brevity and simplicity continue to be important virtues in scholarly writing.

The Managing Editor for EJC/REC is Teresa M. Harrison; she may be contacted by electronic mail at Harrison@albany.edu Alternatively, you may contact her at the Department of Communication, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, 518-442-4883.

Authors submitting papers for publication in EJC/REC warrant that their papers are not currently under consideration by any other publication and that the material contained within the work is not subject to any other copyright, unless consents as required are obtained. Authors are free to re-publish their work in any other format or publication outlet. However, authors agree, in any other publication of the work, to credit original publication of the work in EJC/REC.

Word processing conventions for producing text electronically vary greatly. To produce text that everyone can receive, download, and print, manuscripts appearing in EJC/REC must conform to a universal standard. Thus, manuscripts must be submitted in electronic form using a standard word processor such as Microsoft Word or HTML text format. HTML is a markup language used to produce text for the World Wide Web. Most word processors have a utility for transforming word-processed text into HTML text format. Alternatively, and preferably, manuscripts can be coded in HTML by hand or through the use of the HTML editor Dreamweaver. Refer to particular calls for papers regarding instructions for how to submit manuscripts for review. See further instructions below (B1) regarding how to format manuscripts and how to submit final versions of manuscripts accepted for publication.

Ideally, manuscripts should be submitted in word processed or HTML text format via electronic mail to the Internet address of the Special Editor or the Managing Editor and should avoid the use of complex cascading style sheets (see section B1 below). Additionally, manuscripts may be submitted on floppy disks sent to the postal address of the appropriate editor via the postal service, although this is generally not encouraged. Consult the call for papers for a given issue for further instructions.

Submissions should be accompanied by an electronic "cover sheet" providing information about the author(s), the manuscript, and acknowledgment. See below (B.8) for cover sheet information.

3. Style guidelines

Except for the conventions noted in these instructions, manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (now 5th edition, 2001) or the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (now 2nd edition, 1998). In some instances, it may be possible to prepare manuscripts following other style guides (e.g., Chicago Manual of Style, etc.). Check with the Special Editor of the issue to which you are submitting or the Managing Editor if you are considering using style guides other than APA or MLA conventions.

Contact the Special Editor or Managing Editor with any style/format questions that are not covered by these instructions.

B. Preparation of Manuscripts

1. General guidelines:

Manuscripts should be submitted in English.

Single space most text including endnotes and references. Insert blank lines between paragraphs, between headings and text, and between references and between endnotes.

In general, do not hyphenate words across lines. Hyphens may be used in words that normally contain them, as in: hypothetico-deductive.

In general, do not underline; instead, use bold text to emphasize text, as in: Do not underline. Titles appearing in the reference list should be bolded rather than underlined.

EJC/REC manuscripts appear in 12 pt . Times, New Roman font style. If you are not able to format HTML text for this font, please send the final version of an accepted manuscript in word processed text

Upon final acceptance of a manuscript, EJC/REC staff will engage in an HTML markup process that requires a considerable amount of internal link creation and other internal file manipulation. For example, we create links between all references in the text and the citation list. We also frequently reformat tables and graphics to conform to the conventions of the Journal. It is thus important to receive a manuscript that is as simply constructed as possible. Generally, the use of complex cascading style sheets (CSS) complicates our tasks considerably.

When submitting final versions of manuscripts accepted for publication, please submit texts in HTML files or files produced through the following standard word processor programs: Word Perfect, Microsoft Word, RTF, WordPro, or TeX. We prefer that HTML files be hand coded to avoid CSS or that files be produced with Dreamweaver 4.0 or later versions. In general, we ask authors to avoid the use of other html editors such as Front Page. If you use a word processor to save your text in HTML, then you must submit the original version of the word processed text file that produced the HTML file along with the HTML file. Please feel free to consult with the managing editor on this issue if you have questions.

In general, we prefer not to link EJC texts with web sites external to CIOS resources. This is because such sites tend to become dead within a relatively short period of time. Please do not link URLs in the citation list to existing web sites. It is permissible to use URLs as part of your citation, following conventional style sheet requirements, but avoid constructing links to external resources.

2. Title and author information:

The title of the manuscript should appear centered at the beginning of the file, in capital letters.

Skip two blank lines and list each author's name and institutional affiliation (upper and lower case), also centered. Skip one blank line between each author's name/affiliation.

Below is an example of how title and author lines should appear.

THE OPERANTCY OF PRACTICAL CRITICISM

Steven R. Brown
Kent State University

Margaret Mathieson
University of Leicester

3. Margins:

Format manuscripts with left margins set at column 1. Do not justify the text at the right margin. Long quotations can be set off from the text as a free standing block (do not use quotation marks).

4. Headings:

Major headings within the text should be centered and bolded.

Subheadings should appear on lines flush with the left margins and bolded.

When three levels of headings are required, use centered major headings, flush side subheadings, and indented paragraph headings, followed by a period and bolded.

Do not underline headings.

All headings should appear in upper and lower case.

5. Abstracts:

Manuscripts should be accompanied by an abstract of 200 words or less preceding the text of the manuscript. The abstract should appear between the author's information and the beginning of the manuscript text.

Abstracts should be positioned as indented or blocked text.

6. References and Notes:

All references and notes should appear at the end of the manuscript. Endnote numbers within the text and in the list of notes should appear inside square brackets (e.g., [1]). The endnote section should appear between the end of the manuscript and the beginning of the references.

Insert blank lines between items in lists of notes and references.

Do not underline titles or volume numbers in a reference. Titles and volume numbers should appear in bold.

7. Tables, Graphs, and Figures:

Tables, graphs, and figures may appear in two ways. First, tables, graphs, and figures can appear within the text itself, as close as possible to discussion in the manuscript that is relevant to them. Skip two lines before and after the presentation of the table, figure, or graph. Such tables should in general be formatted as HTML tables. If you are not able to format HTML tables, then send the text as a word processed file, with the table constructed in your word processor. EJC will convert the table to HTML upon acceptance of the manuscript.

Tables, graphs, and figures should be accompanied by titles; table, graph, or figure number in Arabic numerals; and they may also be accompanied by explanatory notes.

Alternatively, tables, graphs, and figures can appear in GIF or JPG format. Please make sure that the locations of tables within these files are identified appropriately within the text and be sure to remember to send the required files along with the manuscript text.

8. Include a cover sheet or letter with your submission that contains the following information:

• First author's name
• First author's address
• First author's E-mail address
• First author's phone number and fax number (if available)
• Add other authors' names and addresses as necessary
• Style guide employed: (check one or specify)
  APA Publication Manual 5th ed.__________
  MLA Style Manual 2nd ed. __________
  Other (please check with editor):
  ___________________________________
  
• Acknowledgments and relevant information about the history of the manuscript (thesis/dissertation, presented at conferences, etc.):