Submissions to JPC
Manuscripts should be sent to Gary Hoppenstand, Editor, The Journal of Popular Culture, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Culture, Michigan State University, 235 Bessey Hall, East Lansing, Michigan 48824.
Authors must submit: 1) three hard copies of their manuscript, 2) a copy of their manuscript on disk in MS Word, 3) a self-addressed stamped envelope so that the reviews of their manuscript can be returned, and 4) a contact sheet containing the author's address, phone number, and e-mail address. Please do not include the author's name on any of the three hard copies and note that we cannot accept electronic submissions at this time.
All contributions to The Journal of Popular Culture will be forwarded to a member of the editorial board or other reviewer for comment. Manuscripts must not be previously published, nor should they be submitted for publication elsewhere while being reviewed by The Journal of Popular Culture’s editorial board or outside readers. The JPC institutes a blind review process, meaning that the author’s name will not be revealed to our reviewers.
Essays must range between fifteen and twenty-five pages of double-spaced text, including all endnotes and Works Cited pages. Essays should also be written in clear U.S. English in the active voice and third person, in a style accessible to the broadest possible audience. Authors should be sensitive to the social implications of language and choose wording free of discriminatory or sexist overtones.
For documentation, The Journal of Popular Culture follows the Modern Language Association style, as articulated by Joseph Gibaldi and Walter S. Achtert in the paperback MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. (New York: MLA, 2003) and in The MLA Style Manual, 2nd ed. (New York: MLA, 1998). This style calls for a Works Cited list, with parenthetical author/page references in the text. This approach reduces the number of notes which provide further references or explanation. Diana Hacker's online style guide is also an excellent source for authors wishing to learn more about documenting sources in MLA format. For punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, and other matters of style, The Journal of Popular Culture follows the MLA Handbook and the MLA Style Manual, supplemented as necessary by The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003).
It is essential for authors to check, correct, and bring manuscripts up to date before final submission. Authors should verify facts, names of people, places, and dates, and double-check all direct quotations and entries in the Works Cited list.
We are happy to receive your artwork in digital format. Please save line artwork (vector graphics) as Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) and bitmap files (halftones or photographic images) as Tagged Image Format (TIFF), with a resolution of at least 300 dpi at final size. Do not send native file formats. More detailed information on the submission of electronic artwork can be found at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/authors/digill.asp.
Authors of manuscripts accepted for publication must subscribe to The Journal of Popular Culture for at least one year at the time of acceptance. Subscription includes membership in the Popular Culture Association.
Upon acceptance of a manuscript, authors are required to sign a form transferring the copyright from the author to the publisher. A copy of Blackwell Publishing's copyright guidelines will be sent to authors at the time of acceptance.
Before final submission, the author will be responsible for obtaining letters of permission for illustrations and for quotations, which go beyond ‘‘fair use,’’ as defined by current copyright law.
Please note that unless specifically requested, Blackwell Publishing will dispose of all hardcopy or electronic material two months after publication. If you require the return of any material submitted, please inform the editorial office or production editor as soon as possible if you have not yet done so.
For book review submissions, visit the JPC website http://www.msu.edu/~tjpc/