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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
  • The text is double-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics rather than underlining; and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.

Author Guidelines

Articles

I. Length and Required Elements

1. Each essay should not exceed 8,000 words. This includes abstract, notes, and bibliography.

2. JLS publishes essays in English and/or Portuguese. Text in all other languages must either be translated or be accompanied by an English or Portuguese translation. For essays written primarily in English, Portuguese terms and citations need not be translated.

3. Each submitted essay should include the following:

  • Essay title (no more than 100 characters in length, including spaces)
  • Essay abstract in English (no more than 150 words)
  • Five keywords NOT already included in the essay title

II. Formatting

A. General

  1. All essays submitted to JLS must follow the MLA Style (8th edition).
  2. Page margins must be 1” on all sides, and all lines must be double-spaced.
  3. All essays should be copy edited by the guest editors prior to submission.

B. Main Body

  1. The first line of all non-block paragraphs should be indented .5”
  2. Sub-headings should be placed in bold and italicized. They should not be indented.
  3. English titles mentioned in the text, notes, or bibliography are capitalized “headline-style,” meaning first words of titles and subtitles and any important words thereafter should be capitalized.
  4. Portuguese titles mentioned in the text, notes, or bibliography are capitalized “sentence-style,” meaning only the first word of titles and proper nouns thereafter should be capitalized. The same is true for titles in all other Romance languages and Latin.
  5. Books, films, and periodical titles (titles of larger works) should be italicized.
  6. Article and chapter titles (titles of shorter works) should be enclosed in double quotation marks.
  7. The titles of most poems should be enclosed in double quotation marks, but the titles of very long poems should be italicized.
  8. Titles of plays should be italicized.
  9. Take a minimalist approach to capitalization. For example, use lowercase terms to describe periods, except in the case of proper nouns (e.g., “the colonial period,” vs. “the Estado Novo”).
  10. People’s names should be written in full the first time they appear in the essay. Thereafter, use only their last name/s. For example: “Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis” then “Machado de Assis.”
  11. In the case of stage names or pen names, please use these, presenting the person’s official name either in the text or in a footnote.
  12. A prose quotation of five or more lines, or more than 100 words, should be blocked. Three or more lines of poetry should also be blocked.
  13. Blocked quotations should be indented 1” using the word processor’s indention or line margins tool (not by hitting the space bar or pressing “Enter” to start a new line)
  14. Blocked quotations must NOT be directly followed by a new paragraph.
  15. Authors should use footnotes (NOT endnotes), but keep the number of footnotes to a minimum. Combining multiple notes into one note at the end of a paragraph is an acceptable strategy.
  16. It is possible to include images with essays; however, these should be kept to a minimum.

C. References

  1. Authors should include a bibliography at the end of their essay. The bibliography should be preceded by the subtitle “Works Cited” (or “Obras citadas” if the essay is written in Portuguese). For information on formatting, consult <https://style.mla.org/>.
  2. Please avoid “as cited in” references whenever possible; it is always preferable to take the citation from the direct source. It is acceptable to include a footnote, however, calling attention to another author’s use of the citation.
  3. All works mentioned in the body of the text (even in passing) must appear in the References section.
  4. Please include city of publication for print works and inclusive page numbers for book chapters and journal articles.
  5. English titles mentioned in the text, notes, or bibliography are capitalized “headline-style,” meaning first words of titles and any important words thereafter should be capitalized.
  6. Portuguese titles mentioned in the text, notes, or bibliography are capitalized “sentence-style,” meaning only proper nouns and the first word of titles should be capitalized. The same is true for titles in all other Romance languages and Latin.

III. Peer Review

Authors will receive acknowledgement of the receipt of their article. It will then be sent out for blind peer review. A decision regarding publication will be made in light of the reports submitted by reviewers. This process can take up to four months to complete. Reviewers often recommend alterations to improve the article; these will be forwarded to the author along with the recommendations of the Editorial Board. For a submission to be published, it must incorporate these recommended changes.


Translations

We are especially interested in receiving short submissions featuring the work of young, rising authors. Our journal aims to highlight their works and expand their reach beyond the Lusophone world, as well as enhance our readers’ curricular materials and pedagogical resources.

We accept submissions in poetry, short fiction and excerpts of longer fictional works. Submissions should include the original text (for evaluation purposes), bibliographic reference to the original publication, translation, as well as translator and author bios (150 words each). Translators are required to secure written permissions prior to submission.


Book Reviews

A book review may focus on only one book or monograph or several works. It must be no longer than 1000 words. It should give readers an engaging, informative, and critical discussion of the work. The review must follow the JLS style/structure guidelines listed below:

1. Introduction. A description of the general topic and/or problem addressed by the book in question; in essence, this implies a brief summary of the book's argument. If the book has an identifiable thesis statement, it should be presented here.

2. About the author(s). Basic biographical information about the author(s) or editor(s) of the book you are reviewing. Who are they? What are they known for? What qualifications and expertise do they bring to the subject? How might the work you are reviewing fit into a wider research or career trajectory?

3. Summary of contents. An indication of the range of substantive material covered in the book (e.g., chapter summaries).

4. Strength. Identify one particular area in which you think the book does well. This should, ideally, be its single greatest strength as an academic work.

5. Weakness. Identify one particular area in which you think the book could be improved. While this weakness might be related to something you actually believe to be incorrect, it is more likely to be something that the author omitted, or neglected to address in sufficient detail. This analysis of weakness must not dominate or saturate the review.

6. Conclusion. End your review with a concluding statement summarizing your opinion of the book. You should also explicitly identify a range of audiences whom you think would appreciate reading or otherwise benefit from the book.

Please keep in mind that the purpose of the review centers on evaluation of the book's original contribution to the discipline. Resist personalizing comments, and keep an even hand and tone when offering insights. Harsh or offensive reviews undermine the process and reflect poorly on the reviewer. The review process should focus on offering constructive, responsible criticism.


Guest-Edited Special Dossiers

I. Deadlines

A. The Journal of Lusophone Studies (JLS) publishes twice a year, in June and December. Guest editors should submit all proofread and peer-reviewed essays for a given special dossier to the executive editor at least three months prior to publication (i.e., March 1 for Spring issues and September 1 for Fall issues). The essays should be submitted directly to the executive editor via email attachment. The total length of each special dossier must not exceed 60,000 words.

B. JLS editors will proofread each submitted essay and suggest corrections, cuts, and alterations. It is the responsibility of the guest editor/s to send these to the authors and get them back to the journal as quickly as possible.

C. Once revised versions of each article have been returned, the journal editors will produce proofs of each article and send these back to the guest editor/s for final approval. Again, It is the responsibility of the guest editor/s to send these to the authors and get them back to the journal as quickly as possible.

II. Peer Review

A. It is the responsibility of the guest editor/s of each special issue to have each essay peer reviewed by two outside readers. The journal editors do NOT manage the peer review process for special dossiers.

III. Submission Guidelines

A. Special dossiers should consist of no more than eight essays. This includes the introduction.

B. Each essay should not exceed 8,000 words. This includes abstract, notes, and bibliography. For more details, please see the guidelines for articles.

C. Each essay should follow the formatting guidelines listed in the Articles section above. 

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