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Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines for Bearing Witness: Joyce Carol Oates Studies

Formatting should follow the most recent edition of the MLA Handbook, except as noted below:

Formatting Requirements

  • Do not include a title page or abstract. (Begin the document with the introduction; a title page, including the abstract, will be added to your paper by the editors.)
  • Do not include page numbers, headers, or footers. These will be added by the editors.
  • Use footnotes, not endnotes.
  • Write your article in English.
  • Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single file (Microsoft Word or RTF files are accepted).
  • Page size should be 8.5 x 11-inches.
  • All margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 1.5 inches (3.8 cm), including your tables and figures.
  • Single space your text.
  • Use a single column layout with both left and right margins justified.
  • Font:
    1. Main Body—12 pt. Times or the closest comparable font available
    2. Footnotes—10 pt. Times or the closest comparable font available
  • If figures are included, use high-resolution figures.
  • Copyedit your manuscript.

Additional Guidelines

Indent all paragraphs. Use tabs, not spaces for indenting.

Sentences should be separated by one space, not two.

Posessives

The posessive of a name ending in "s" should end with an apostrophe and an additional "s" — Oates's, for example.

Colored text

Set the font color to black for the majority of the text. We encourage authors to take advantage of the ability to use color in the production of figures, maps, etc., however, you need to appreciate that this will cause some of your readers problems when they print the document on a black & white printer. For this reason, you are advised to avoid the use of colors in situations where their translation to black and white would render the material illegible or incomprehensible.

Please ensure that there are no colored mark-ups or comments in the final version, unless they are meant to be part of the final text. (You may need to "accept all changes" in track changes or set your document to "normal" in final markup.)