Article Submission
This section describes the process that the Reconstruction editors follow when managing submitted articles. If you require more information please do not hesitate to contact the managing editor or the submissions editor.
- Authors submit their article to the issue editors. Authors meet the following guidelines:
- The article should be in DOCX or similar format. If authors write in other text editors, they can save as to convert to DOCX or similar. (Open Office and Google Docs both allow for saving as DOC format.)
*If the author wishes to provide specific formatting requests, she or he must request them from the special issue editor. If the article is approved, the author may submit her or his article using PDF format for the purpose of retaining special formatting. - The article should NOT include bio, but may include abstract and keywords. The author should include a bio and/or personal information in the body of the email, but not in the body of the essay.
- Authors may use a descriptive file name of their choice.
- The article should be in DOCX or similar format. If authors write in other text editors, they can save as to convert to DOCX or similar. (Open Office and Google Docs both allow for saving as DOC format.)
- Recon editors either accept the article as is, with suggested changes, or reject with suggestions where authors may publish elsewhere, or reject the article outright.
- Recon editors send an acceptance email along with the Preparing Accepted Articles for Online Publication section to authors of accepted articles.
- After receiving an acceptance email and reviewing Preparing Accepted Articles for Online Publication section, authors complete suggested changes, then prepare their articles for publication.
- Authors send their final articles to issue editor and managing editor.
- Issue editor or managing editor collects final articles then sends them to technical editors.
- Technical editors review articles for correct style application. If article does not meet style requirements, technical editor sends the article back to author to update.
- Technical editors collect articles from all authors.
- Technical editors build new Reconstruction issue, which includes:
- Confirming correct style is applied
- Creating table of contents
- Collecting author bios
- Building article files
- Confirming author-supplied URLs.
- Collecting media
- Technical editors create a test issue for editors and authors to review.
- Technical editors notify managing editors that the test issue is ready for review.
- Technical editors add author and managing editor change requests.
- Technical editors move issue to live area and update links to officially publish the issue
Considerations and Prerequisites
All articles accepted for publication in Reconstruction are done so under the following conditions: If the article has not appeared in English previously, the article will not appear in publication before its publication in Reconstruction. The author of said article is responsible for any and all legal complaints made against the work, and is thus financially responsible for any legal actions. Any subsequent publication of the article, in any form, must acknowledge its earlier publication in Reconstruction.
If you require more information please do not hesitate to contact the managing editor.
Open Issue Submission Process
Contributors for Open Issues are asked to send their full-length essays or other work to the Reconstruction Submissions Editor. The author is asked to include with the submission a selection of no more than three keywords from a keyword list. The Submissions Editor then chooses two blind reviewers from the journal’s Editorial Board based upon the keywords chosen by the contributor. If the reviewers cannot reach agreement on a submission, a third reviewer may be asked to read the submission and/or a Domain Editor called in to resolve the conflict.
Themed Issue Submission Process
Contributors for Themed Issues are asked to respond to the individual Call for Papers for the respective issue. The Managing Editor and a panel of Domain Editors assist in reviewing each themed issue prior to publication.
Article Submission Requirements
If you require more information please do not hesitate to contact the managing editor or the submissions editor.
Submitting authors must:
- Prepare manuscripts following the Modern Language Association style guide, or American Psychological Association, with endnotes (short form), and a bibliography. You can find an MLA style guide here and an APA style guide here.
- Indicate which style guide you’re using on page 1 of the manuscript.
- Include 250-300 word abstract on page 1 of the manuscript.*
- Include a one paragraph biography (50-100 word) on page 1 of the manuscript, and indicate your preferred email address.**
- Include a statement in the article acknowledging that the author(s) of the piece authorize its review for publication in Reconstruction, and that it is currently not under review elsewhere or has previously been published in whole or in part (although exceptions can be made in the case of the latter).
- Include three keywords selected from the following list (this allows the editors to properly match reviewers to your manuscript):
Age Studies; Anthropology; Art History; Communication; Culture Studies; Ecocriticism; Education; Ethics; Ethnography; Feminism; Gender, Sex & Sexuality; Geography; Globalization, Transnationalism & Postnationalism; History (may specify region or period); Industrialism & Development; Linguistics & Semiotics; Literature; Media; Marxism; Modernism/Postmodernism; Museums & Archives; Music; Peace Studies; Philosophy; Place & Space; Political Science; Postcolonialism; Poststructuralism; Psychoanalysis; Queer Theory; Race & Ethnicity; Religion; Rhetoric; Science & Technology; Sociology; Television & Film; Theater & Performing Arts; Urban Studies; Visual Culture. - Abstain from using all special formatting besides bold and italicized text.
- Submit the file only in RTF, DOC, or DOCX format. If your piece uses special formatting for the purpose of calling out critical inquiry, contact the issue editor.
- Use your last name in the file name. If two or more authors author a piece, they use both last names in the filename. If an author or authors submit more than one article, she or he append the a number in the file name differentiate between each article.
*If a manuscript is accepted for publication, the author can update the abstract during the issue release window.
**If a manuscript is accepted for publication, the author can update her or his biographical statement.
If any of these submission guidelines are not met, submissions will be returned. If you require more information please do not hesitate to contact the managing editor or the submissions editor.
Style Requirements Specific to Reconstruction
The following style guide lists requirements in addition to APA and MLA style requirements. You do not necessarily need to apply the following style requirements when you submit your article, but upon acceptance, you must update your article with them.
Foot/Endnotes
Please convert foot/endnote markers from superscript to standard font size, and have them appear in the text as such, prior to punctuation: [1]. Endnotes are the only method used. Please include them at the end of the same document, with all superscript markers converted to standard font size and placed in brackets.
Length
While authors should provide the most thorough study possible, articles length should fall between approximately 5,000 to 10,000 words. Because the Internet allows almost infinite space, feel free to submit studies that might normally be dismissed by print journals for their length alone.
In the matter of reviews and review essays, the latter is any review which is over 1,000 words, the former anything under.
Paragraph Format
Each paragraph should be preceded by its sequential value, properly designated, i.e. the first paragraph by <1>, the second by <2>, the third by <3>, and so on. This is becoming standard for matters of citation so that when a second party utilizes your work, they can properly cite you, as was the case with page numbers previously.
You insert a hard break between paragraphs, meaning that there is actually a blank line between one paragraph and its successor.
Preparing Accepted Articles for Online Publication
After that your article is accepted, you are ready to prepare it for electronic publication. Refer to the checklist below for steps you take to prepare your article. After you are done making changes you send your article and associated materials to the issue editor, or, if it’s an open issue, the Reconstruction editors.
| Step | Item | Description |
| 1 | Confirm that the chosen style guide has been applied and indicate on page 1 of your article which style guide you’re using. | Refer to online resources for style guidelines.
Your article will be returned for updates if it does not meet style requirements. |
| 2 | Remove all special formatting from the article | Special formatting can include:
|
| 3 | Include a one paragraph biography. | Your bio should be between 50 and 100 words. Include it on on page 1 of the manuscript and indicate your preferred email address. |
| 4 | Include statement of authorization. | Include a statement in the article acknowledging that the author(s) of the piece authorize its review for publication in Reconstruction, and that it is currently not under review elsewhere or has previously been published in whole or in part (although exceptions can be made in the case of the latter). |
| 5 | Include three keywords. | You can use the following keywords: Age Studies; Anthropology; Art History; Communication; Culture Studies; Ecocriticism; Education; Ethics; Ethnography; Feminism; Gender, Sex & Sexuality; Geography; Globalization, Transnationalism & Postnationalism; History (may specify region or period); Industrialism & Development; Linguistics & Semiotics; Literature; Media; Marxism; Modernism/Postmodernism; Museums & Archives; Music; Peace Studies; Philosophy; Place & Space; Political Science; Postcolonialism; Poststructuralism; Psychoanalysis; Queer Theory; Race & Ethnicity; Religion; Rhetoric; Science & Technology; Sociology; Television & Film; Theater & Performing Arts; Urban Studies; Visual Culture. |
| 6 | Save your article in RTF, DOC, or DOCX format. | If you are using an open source or online text editor, save the file as one of the listed file types. |
| 7 | Include your last name in the article’s file name. | If two or more authors author a piece, use both last names in the filename. If an author or authors submit more than one article, she or he append the a number in the file name to differentiate between each article. |
| 8 | Send the completed article to the issue editor. | Indicate that the article is ready for electronic publishing. |