Occasional Papers: Editor & Author Guidelines

Description of the Occasional Papers Series

The purpose of this series is to publish scholarly, professional, or practical work relating to art librarianship and visual resources curatorship. Although priority will go to publications by ARLIS/NA units and members, work of non-members will also be considered. The Society reserves the right of first-refusal for publication of work produced by its units and papers delivered at its conferences.

An Occasional Paper may be a work stemming from the activities and interests of the Society and its members; a collection of papers on a particular theme, possibly illustrated, based on papers delivered at the annual conference, or brought together from various sources for publication or republication; a bibliography, index, guide, handbook, research manual or directory; a report of a survey or study of interest to art librarians and visual resources curators; a discussion of an historical period or event directly affecting art book publication or art or visual resources librarianship; a compilation of exiting documents such as library policies or procedures; or a concentrated study or analysis of a single idea or concept.

An Occasional Paper may NOT be a document which due to content or format might better be published as an article in Art Documentation, the Society's journal; a work directed toward art historians or artists rather than toward art librarians or visual resources curators; or commercial publicity, issuing from publishers, vendors, or other individuals in trades associated with art librarianship, although objective, nonpartisan contributions from such sources are welcome.

An Occasional Paper is normally between 30 - 125 printed pages in length, or the equivalent in the case of non-print formats. If due to length, subject matter or some other factor a manuscript does not fit into the Society's publications program or appears to warrant more ambitious production and distribution services than ARLIS/NA can offer, the Publications Committee may suggest that proposals be directed to another publisher.

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Style and Format

ARLIS/NA publications follow the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style. Consistency in terminology, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, underlining, spacing, as well as bibliographic format is desirable. Illustrations and diagrams should be camera-ready. Camera-ready text is highly desirable. If text is not camera-ready, it should be submitted in both paper and pc compatible disk copy and prepared using a standard word processor. Specific guidelines for formatting and style are as follows:

Format Guidelines

Avoid all outline formats.
Please submit files prepared in Microsoft Word.
Preferred fonts, in hierarchic order:
1. Chapter headings: Verdana (or comparable sans serif) 14 point bold
2. Section headings: Verdana (or comparable sans serif) 12-point bold
3. Sub-section headings: Garamond 14-point italic
4. Text: Garamond 12-point

Style Guidelines

References are to The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993).
Abbreviations:
1. Avoid abbreviations: Soulful State University, subsequently the university (all lower case), not SSU
2. Titles: abbreviate with full name, such as, Prof. Isaiah Drone; spell out with surname only, such as Professor Drone (p. 461); when used alone (without proper name), do not capitalize, such as, the president of the college
3. Editor or edition: use ed. in bibliography
Apostrophes:
1. In decades, omit: 1880s
2. Artist's books
Capitalization:
1. When in doubt, do not capitalize: contemporary design, modern art
2. Excerpts from a corporate name should have lower-case initial letter: Louise Learned Memorial Library, the library
3. Geographic areas: eastern Europe, eastern European languages
4. Styles can be capitalized:
  --Renaissance art
  --Classical architecture
  --Neoclassical sculpture
  --Pop art
5. World Wide Web, Web site
Contractions:
1. Avoid contractions.
2. Prefer do not, cannot, will not to don't, can't & won't.
Centuries:
1. Spell out: nineteenth century
2. Hyphenate when adjective: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century art (p. 219, p. 230, table 6.1)
Dash vs. hyphen:
1. Hyphen is -
2. Dash is -- or - (without spaces on either side; e.g., at this point in time-that is, after four or five years of this program-I usually. . .)
Diacritical marks: Employ whenever needed: catalogue raisonné
Hanging indent: Please use in numbered or bulleted lists.
EXAMPLE:
1. Reduction of anxiety in third-year architecture students seeking
section drawings of Fallingwater
Hyphens:
1. Avoid hyphenating at the end of a line
2. Prefer on-line to online
3. Hyphenate non-book
Initials & initialisms:
1. Include space if personal name: C. S. Lewis
2. Omit space in degrees and time designation: Ph.D., 10:00 a.m.
3. Use upper case for format: CD-ROMs
4. Avoid e.g., i.e., except in parentheses do not italicize
Italics:
1. Use for book or journal titles
2. Avoid with foreign terms, if relatively known: festschriften
Margins:
1. Top and bottom: 1"
2. Left and right: 1.25"
Numbers:
1. Spell out both cardinal and ordinal numbers from one through ten; for numerals greater than ten, use the numeral: 999,999
2. Use numerals for all decimals: 2.3 million
Person: Use the third person rather than the first.
Place of publication: when to include states, see Chicago Manual of Style, p. 556
Plurals:
1. Appendixes
2. Indexes
3. Festschriften
Pronouns:
1. Avoid overuse of the first person, singular possessive adjective: my library. Prefer the library.
2. Employ a plural noun or pronoun when a possessive adjective will refer back to it: students submit their papers (preferable to ". . . the student submits his or her paper. . .").
Punctuation: All punctuation should appear inside quotation marks, with the exception of the colon and semicolon.
Series: Include comma before conjunction: art, architecture, and design.
Spelling:
1. Conform to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition
2. Prefer catalog, cataloging
Years:
1. Inclusive: 1925-37, 1967-68, not 1967-8
2. A.D.: use for 1-1000 A.D.

rev. 032205

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Procedures for Submitting a Prospectus

Authors/editors are strongly urged to submit a prospectus to the Occasional Papers Editor in order to verify that the concept is appropriate to the Occasional Papers series, as well as to allow the committee and Society to plan and budget for upcoming publications. The Editor will form a subcommittee to review the prospectus.

A prospectus should consist of the following:

an outline of the publication;
a description of the project including purpose and value, involvement of ARLIS/NA units, contributors to the publication along with their vitae, and sample chapter(s);
information concerning the intended audience, anticipated format and length of the publication as well as the number of first-run copies, nature of graphic material to be included, timetable for completion, and current status of the project;
suggested advertising venues along with costs and contact information; and
suggestions for appropriate reviewing journals.

The recommendations of the subcommittee will be compiled by the Editor and forwarded, along with cost estimate, to the executive board for approval. Once approval has been obtained, the Editor will contact the author/editor.

Approval of the prospectus is not a commitment to publish. The completed manuscript will also undergo review.

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Procedures for Manuscript Submission

Four copies of the manuscript should be submitted to the Occasional Papers Editor, who will form a subcommittee for review. If a prospectus has not previously been submitted, a cover letter should address the issues of intended audience, anticipated number of first-run copies, suggested advertising venues and their cost, and significance of the project.

The subcommittee will evaluate content, presentation, and style, as well as whether it is appropriate for publication by ARLIS/NA. The subcommittee will submit a recommendation to accept, decline, or accept with modifications (modifications specified). Manuscripts needing more than minor revision should be resubmitted to the Publications Committee for final approval after rewriting. A positive recommendation for manuscripts which have not received board approval at the prospectus stage is forwarded to the executive board. Projects previously submitted to the board will be sent to the president, treasurer, and executive director only if the final bid exceeds the established budget.

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Responsibilities of the Author/Editor

The editors and/or authors are expected to assume the costs of research and manuscript production. If financial assistance is required, ARLIS/NA members may apply to the ARLIS/NA Research Fund to cover some of the expenses of research and manuscript production.

Authors and editors are responsible for obtaining any necessary copyright permissions.

Authors and editors are responsible for revising the manuscript according to the Publications Committee recommendations, and for adhering to the timetable specified in the prospectus, or for keeping the committee informed of any major alterations in the timetable.

Upon acceptance of the manuscript the author/editor will work with the executive director on final copy editing and the development of advertising copy.

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Responsibilities of ARLIS/NA

When the Society accepts a manuscript for publication as an Occasional Paper, it assumes the costs of printing and distribution and major responsibility for publicity.

An author whose work has been approved for publication should expect timely publication. However, delays may occur, due either to authors' circumstances or the editorial/production process itself. If publication is unreasonably delayed, the author may be released from his/her commitment by mutual consent.

All ARLIS/NA publications are deposited in the Library of Congress. The copyright is registered. Editors, or the author in the case of a single-author publication, are listed as the author, with ARLIS/NA as copyright holder. Editors or single authors are asked to sign a transfer of copyright agreement with the Society.

Individual authors who do not wish to transfer their copyright to ARLIS/NA may (a) notify the editor or executive director before the printing stage that a copyright notice should be affixed to the individual essay or chapter and (b) register the separate contribution with the Library of Congress after publication.

Text by Jeanne Brown, Publications Committee Chair, approved May 1996. Amended July 2004.

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