Submission Guidelines for Material Culture
The Pioneer America Society is an interdisciplinary organization whose mission is to document the yield of human conduct on the landscape. Material Culture: The Journal of the Pioneer America Society is committed to offering a dynamic dialogue on all aspects of material culture through the contribution of authors representing a variety of professional backgrounds and cultural experiences. The topics covered by Material Culture include all aspects of the study of the material remains of the past. These include: the cultural patterns that explain distribution and diffusion; understanding tradition and innovation among individuals and the societies creating them; the meaning and importance of extant relics and objects to their makers and users; attempts at restoring and maintaining folk and popular culture landscape elements; and the importance of understanding the relationships of material culture extant in the contemporary landscape. We welcome manuscripts from scholarly individuals interested in these subjects.
Material Culture (M/C) is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal issued twice yearly (Spring and Fall) by the Pioneer America Society (PAS). M/C contains research conducted by members and friends of the organization, along with book reviews, reprints from early issues and other offerings deemed by the Editor to be of interest to its readership. Priority consideration will be given to articles in which the author’s work is determined to be of interest to our diverse membership. If the article is more narrowly appropriate for a more specific academic specialty, the Editor reserves the right to return the manuscript with that recommendation. M/C may also decline to publish readings of an individual book, film, or other media although reviews of some aspect relating to material culture from other genres, or sub-genres may be considered. First consideration is given to members of PAS for publishing their research materials in the event that the Editor has to make a decision based on prior commitments. Unless materials are under specific copyright by the author, all material becomes the possession of M/C and the PAS.
Those wishing to submit manuscripts to Material Culture are urged to observe the following guidelines:
- Manuscripts and submissions should be made directly to Sara Beth Keough. A final draft of the article and all images must burned onto a CD and mailed to Dr. Keough at the address above.
- All images must be submitted in electronic format and should be included in the initial submission. Images of eight and a half inches by eleven inches are the largest that can be reproduced. Images must be in Black and White (as that is how they will be printed in the journal). Authors are responsible for scanning photographs when digital images are not available. Scans should be done at a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch).
- All images should be referenced within the text of the article, imbedded within the article, and captioned. If images are the property of someone other than the author, it is the responsibility of the author to secure permission for their publication in M/C. Image files should also be included individually on the CD when submitted for publication, and the file name of the image should correspond to the reference in the text. Tables and graphs should follow the same standard, and although they may be included in the text, they should still have captions and data source.
- All manuscripts should be the original work of the author and should not be submitted to any other journal while they are under consideration by Material Culture. The author’s name should appear only on the cover page of the manuscript.
- Authors should provide a one-paragraph biography to be published in the same volume with the article. The biography should identify the writer’s affiliation, expertise and research interests. It is optional, but extremely useful for the biography to include an address at which the author can be reached so that readers can address questions and comments directly to the author. The biography will not be available to reviewers until after a decision has been made on publication.
- References should follow the adopted citation style, and authors are urged to look through issues of M/C (starting with volume 34) to see examples. Use a lower case “a” or “b” to differentiate publications by the same author in the same year. If the reference is to a single page, then “p.5” should be used. If the reference is to more than one page, use “pp.1-2”. Examples for the Bibliography or Works Cited at the end of the article, whichever is more apropos, are:
FORMAT EXAMPLE: Bibliography or Works Cited
Dickinson, Calvin. 1990. “Log Houses in Overton County, Tennessee.” Tennessee Anthropologist. Vol. 15:1-12.
Glassie, Henry. 2000. Vernacular Architecture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
_____. 1963. “The Appalachian Log Cabin.” Mountain Life and Work. Vol. 39 (4):5-14.
Goodspeed. 1887. Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Co.
Hsiung, David C. 1998. “’Seeing’ Early Appalachian Communities Through the Lenses of History, Geography, and Sociology.” In The Southern Colonial Backcountry. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press.
Kniffen, Fred. 1965. “Folk Housing: Key to Diffusion.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol.55(4):549-577.
Jordan, Terry. 1985. American Log Building. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
_____. 1978. Texas Log Buildings: A Folk Architecture. Austin: The University of Texas Press.
McAlester, V. & McAlester, L. 1984. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Rehder, John. 1992. “The Scotch-Irish and English in Appalachia.” In To Build in a New Land: Ethnic Landscapes in North America, Noble, A (ed.). Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.
Spoden, Muriel (ed.). 1976. Historic Sites of Sullivan County, Tennessee. Kingsport, TN: Kingsport Press.
In listing the publisher and place of publication, there are four rules:
- If the state is named in the name of the publisher, it is not included in the place.
Examples:
(named) Lexington: University Press of Kentucky
(unnamed) Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. - Use postal code abbreviations for states.
- Generally, if a publisher has U.S. and overseas offices, use the U.S. office.
- If the city of the publisher is well known, such as New York, it is not necessary to list the state.
Web citations:
In-text Citations: When referencing a website within the text of the article, the name of the website author, or the organization, or the website itself should be state in parentheses with the date of publication. If a date of publication is not available, the date the website was accessed by the author should be included. The URL is not appropriate for an in-text citation.
Bibliography or Works Cited: Web sites should not be cited solely by a URL. The bibliographic information should be as complete as possible using the following format. Do not italicize the name of the webpage. Authors must list the date the website was last accessed.
Examples:
Smith, N. 1987. “Gentrification and the rent gap.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 77 (3): 462-478. http://www.jstor.org/view/00045608/di010484/01p0011c/0 Last accessed December 3, 2007
Keiffer, A. 2007. “PAS Welcome Message.” Homepage. http://www.pioneeramerica.org/index.htm Last accessed December 3, 2007
- Manuscripts should contain an abstract, an introduction where the author’s purpose or argument is clearly stated, a body divided with appropriate subheadings, and a conclusion. Particularly in long manuscripts, this subdivision reinforces the overall structure of the argument and helps the reader follow the author’s reasoning.
- In writing, try to keep technical jargon at an absolute minimum. This is particularly true when using architectural terms. If a clasped purlin is important enough to include in your manuscript then it is important enough to warrant a brief definition or better yet a small sketch. This is particularly important in dealing with vernacular buildings where the terminology has not yet become fully standardized and where the terms used in formal architecture do not always neatly fit folk examples.
- The same philosophy should be used when introducing locations. Everyone in Batavia may know the location of Clermont County. However, for those who are not familiar with the area, it is helpful to provide a little prompting. For example: “Clermont County, on the Ohio River just west of Cincinnati, provides some excellent examples of this kind of structure.” Because readers come from many different backgrounds, it is perhaps wise to err on the side of over explanation. Also, a small, accurate map to introduce a region with data location is preferred.
- Avoid the use of informational or explanatory footnotes. Points, which are important enough to be included in the manuscript, ought to be important enough to include in the text of the article. Even for technical information, it is preferable to include it in a separate paragraph rather than to bury it in a footnote.
- A long title should be spelled out the first time, and an appropriate acronym follows for future reference. In this document, Material Culture (M/C) was spelled out initially and succeeding references have used M/C.
- Numbering from one to ten should be spelled out while anything (including centuries) after 11 should use numerals in all occurrences. All units of measure should use numerals with American units although metric conversions can be included.
- All submission drafts should be double-spaced. All final submissions should be single-spaced. It is fine to skip a line between paragraphs.
- One space should appear after all punctuation.
- The text should be 12 point sans serif characters, and should start at the flush left margin.
- Scientific notation is the preferred citation style. For a paraphrased statement simply put author and year (Jones 1991). “A direct quote should be set off in quotation marks with page numbers supplied” (Jones 1991, 56). If needed, authors should use endnotes rather than footnotes.
- Length of manuscript is not an overriding consideration. M/C welcomes short notices, comments on previous articles, and longer works, including individual examples to wider theoretical interpretations.
- Remarks quoted from those who have had first-hand experience with preservation, recording, restoration, and interpretation of material culture are always useful. Long quotes should be single spaced and indented.
- Once all of the materials are submitted in the proper format, the submission will be forwarded for a blind review. This usually takes place in a timely manner and the Editor will be happy to keep track and report on the process. Authors will be notified when a final determination has been made on their manuscript.
- If there are any additional questions, they should be directed to the Editor as quickly as possible. It is the goal of PAS to publish its periodicals in a timely manner, and the Editor requests that authors appreciate this and work with her in the same fashion.
- Please address all submissions, questions, comments, and inquiries to the Editor of M/C.
Thanks in advance for your cooperation. We appreciate your interest in Material Culture and look forward to reading your manuscript.
Sara Beth Keough, Ph.D. Editor
(rev. 05/09)