Author Guidelines

How to Submit

All submissions should be uploaded through the submission portal on this website. To initiate your submission process, first Register to create an account with The Owl. Once you have registered, Login and navigate to the How to Submit Page (this page) under the Submissions tab. Then click "Make a new submission." Note: the system should automatically log you in when you first create your account.

Call For Submissions

The final deadline for submissions is January 17th, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST. You may upload your manuscript at any time prior to the deadline. We aim to inform you whether your submission has been accepted by March 20th, 2024. Manuscripts are chosen based on scholarly merit, not submission date. The Owl has a rolling submission process and accepts manuscripts for the next available issue throughout the academic year.

All acceptances are pending appropriate revisions. Revisions may include basic copyediting (finishing copy edits will be completed by journal editors), revisions for clarity, corrections to in-text citations and/or the references page, and/or revisions for academic and methodological rigor.

Submission Components

• Abstract
• An electronic copy of the manuscript or creative work (and accompanying Research Statement) with an appropriate title
• Read and affirm your agreement to the Student Submission Agreement on the "Submit Article" page.
• Documentation of IRB Approval for Human-Subjects Work (or an explanation of why IRB approval was unnecessary)

Submission Length

• The mandatory bio has a 50-word limit
• The mandatory abstract should be between 150–200 words
• The mandatory manuscript should be between 1400–5000 words (excluding references)
• The mandatory Research Statement for creative submissions should be between 500–1400 words

Creative Submissions 

• You may submit up to five (5) visual art pieces and up to three (3) written pieces for creative submissions. The sum word count of creative works should be under 5000 words. There is no word minimum for creative works, but see the word minimum for the required Research Statement of creative work submissions above.
• Research Statements: Like research articles, research statements must abide by the formatting requirements listed below. Research statements should distill your creative journey by describing your creative goals, inspirations, theoretical and technical bases, themes, and messages. Due to their personal nature, Research Statements can and should make use of first-person pronouns and may be written in a narrative style. However, Research Statements must also make use of APA-style citations and references to academic literature. Questions you may consider for your Research Statement include, but are by no means limited to, the following:
  • How does my creative production, process, and/or style depart from or build upon previous work?
  • For projects that touch on current events or social issues: what research informed your approach to these topics?
• See this article for some tips on how to write a research statement for creative works.

Format

• .doc or .docx format (Microsoft Word)
• 12-point font
• Times New Roman
• 1-inch margins
• Double spaced
• Place only one space after each period
• Page numbers required
• Citations must be in APA format. Click here for rules and guidelines for in-text citations in APA format, and here for rules and guidelines for creating a references page in APA format. See below for example APA citations

The text and title page of your manuscript do not need to be in strict APA format, as long as they meet the requirements above regarding font, margins, and spacing, and as long as the in-text citations and references page are in APA format. Please do, however, use clear, precise English. Please also take the following notes into account:

• Use American spelling when applicable (e.g., "behavior" instead of "behaviour")
• Capitalize after colons if what follows the colon is an independent clause
• Use serial commas (e.g., "...France, Italy, and the UK")
• Label figures, tables, and graphs numerically (e.g., "Figure 1; Figure 2...; Table 1; Table 2..."), and label appendices alphabetically (e.g., "Appendix A; Appendix B...")
• Use hyphens to tie words together (e.g., "one-third"), en dashes to connect objects/words related by (temporal) distance (e.g., "January–March"), and em dashes to offset a parenthetical insertion or redirect a thought (e.g., "Sophocles is one of the few ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived—though many of them have only survived in fragmentary form")
• If you are quoting 40 or more words of material from another source, format the material as a freestanding block quotation (and omit the quotation marks)

Example APA reference list citations

• Doe, J., & Smith, J. (2018). Shaking fists at copyeditors: Unifying citation style makes life easier for everyone. Journal of Samples and Examples, 5, 100-110. [Style for articles]
• Doe, T. J. (2018). APA style: The format that keeps everyone on the same page. Publisher Location Here: Publisher Name Here. [Style for books]
• Doe, E. J., & Smith, R. J. (2018, May 22). Websites: Sometimes good sources, other times not. Retrieved from http://placeyourlinkhere.com [Style for websites]
• Note that references must have a hanging indent on your references page
• You can view a sample APA references page on p. 9 of this PDF

Figures, Tables, Graphs, Illustrations, & Pictures

• All figures, tables, graphs, illustrations, and pictures must be publication-ready (300–600 dpi is typically appropriate; if you are concerned about image quality, please send the original images rather than screenshots/reduced file size versions)
• Place all figures, tables, graphs, illustrations, and pictures where you would like them to be within the paper (i.e., do not place all figures at the end of the article, unless you would like them to be printed at the end of the article)
• Resizing will be necessary and will be done by the editorial staff if your paper is chosen to be published
• Your figure, table, graph, illustration, and/or picture should be interpretable regardless of whether in black-and-white or color

Criteria for Journal Publication

• The manuscript must be written for general audiences. Avoid excessive use of jargon. Please add a glossary if necessary
• The manuscript must follow the formatting guidelines outlined above
• The references and in-text citations must be in APA style. Your paper will not be rejected on the basis of small deviations from APA style; if necessary, such deviations will be corrected during the revision process
• The author’s/authors' name(s) should only appear on the first page/title page of the paper. This aids the editorial board in conducting a blind review
• Prior to submitting, read the Frequently Asked Questions page for important information regarding your manuscript
• Prior to submitting, read the Peer Review Process page

Plagiarism Policy

All articles are screened for plagiarism upon submission through the Turnitin. Unoriginal or plagiarized work will not be considered for publication.