Article Guidelines
Contents
Introduction and Submission Information
The Christian Librarian welcomes submissions of original, unpublished work that are not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere and serve the mission and scope of the journal. Authors are requested to submit research articles through the online submission portal at https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/tcl/. No submission fee is required.
Submission of a manuscript implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint) and that its publication is approved by all authors, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere without the written consent of the copyright holder. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the statements and statistics included in a submission.
Authors may submit their manuscript files in Word (as .doc or .docx), or in RTF format. Word files should not be protected. Upon acceptance of an article, authors are asked to complete this downloadable ‘Grant of License’ form. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a ‘Grant of License’ form or a link to the online version of this agreement.
Submissions should be written in American English and conform to the standards of The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. Submissions should have citations in footnotes and be supplemented with a bibliography. Spelling will follow Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition. Authors who feel their manuscript may benefit from professional editing are encouraged to use language-editing and copyediting services. Obtaining this service is the responsibility of the author and should be done before initial submission.
Types of Articles
Editorial
The editors’ meditations on a particular topic or the introduction to an issue of the journal.
Refereed Article
Refereed (i.e. peer-reviewed) submissions should be original research findings, case studies and/or evaluations of library-related services or programs, and/or other extended reflections on issues relevant to the aim and scope of the journal.
Refereed submissions should be between 4,000 and 8,000 words and will go through a double-blind review process.
EssaysEssay submissions cover issues or topics relevant to the scope of the journal but are not suitable as a refereed article.
Essay submissions should be between 2,500 and 5,000 words.
Reviews
Book or resource reviews should be relevant to the scope of the journal and should include the subject and scope of the work and a statement of the author's thesis. Reviews should reveal the nature of treatment: reference, introductory, scholarly, textbook, etc., and a synopsis of the content. They should evaluate the work and identify the author if they are not well known. Reviews should address how well the resource achieves its purpose. How does it compare with others of its kind? What does it contribute to its field? Is it clear, thorough, and well-documented?
Book review submissions should be no more than 1,500 words.
A list of available resources for review can be found online
here.
If you are interested in reviewing a resource, please contact Editor for Reviews, Addison Lucchi.
Bibliographic Essays
Bibliographic essays are book or resource reviews that, typically, cover more than one book or resource and critically analyze their relationship to each other. Often these are organized around several books or resources that address a particular topic or theme. Bibliographic essays should address themes or topics relevant to the aim and scope of the journal.
Bibliographic essay submissions should be no more than 3,000 words.
Manuscript Preparation
Refereed Articles, Essays, and Bibliographic Essays
All manuscripts submitted as refereed articles, essays, or bibliographic essays should be in Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and have page numbers. All submissions should include the following sections:
- Title
- Author(s)
- Affiliations
- Abstract and they should end with:
- About the author
- Bibliography
Illustrations and tables should be numbered in ascending numeric order upon their first appearance. Tables, charts, and other illustrations should appear as soon as possible after the first text reference to the table, chart, or illustration.
TitlesAuthors are encouraged to submit titles that are concise and descriptive with fewer than 300 characters and without abbreviations.
Authors
All author names should be listed in the following order:
- First names
- Middle names (or initials, if used), and
- Last names
A concise and factual abstract is required, briefly stating the purpose of the research and principles results/conclusions. Abstracts should not contain citations. Maximum 150 words. Reviews
Reviews should be headed with the appropriate format outlined in the following samples: Work
Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Location: Publisher, Date
Last Name, First Name, ed. Title of Work. Location: Publisher, Date Reviewer
Jane A. Smith, University of Higher Education
John A. Smith, Pastor, City Church, Chicago, IL
References
Citations and references should be formatted according to The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.Submissions should have citations in footnotes and be supplemented with a bibliography.