Manuscript Submission Guidelines


Utah State University Press is a refereed scholarly press, publishing principally folklore studies, western history, composition studies, and regional studies and works, including a small number of literary works.

Proposals

Individuals wishing to submit a manuscript in these areas should offer a prospectus, including a cover letter explaining the purpose and scope of the manuscript and the audience it is intended to reach. Attach a table of contents and one or two sample chapters, preferably the Introduction or preliminary chapter. Send these items to the director or editor of the Press, who will either request or decline to see the entire manuscript.

Full manuscript

When the full manuscript is submitted, it will be reviewed in-house. If the work seems a likely candidate for publication, it will move through a standard scholarly referee process of review by two or more readers with particular expertise in the field. This process may result in the Press declining to publish the manuscript or requesting revisions and subsequent readings. After a successful peer review process, the Press will present the manuscript to our editorial board, composed of USU faculty members from a range of disciplines; this group has the final approval for all titles published by the Press. Some revisions to the manuscript may be required by the editorial board, or they may approve the work as submitted. When the manuscript is transferred to the editorial department, you will receive additional information on the editorial, production, and marketing processes.

Preparation of manuscript

When submitting the manuscript for peer review, please send one electronic file (by email). We prefer that it be prepared according to The Chicago Manual of Style in all respects, including documentation; however, if you've prepared it in another style, we can certainly review it without asking you to reformat. Please consult with a USU Press editor for particulars, but in general, please especially note the following:

  • include the full manuscript--all chapters--in one file, either in a word-processing program or in PDF
  • please remove your name and affiliation, and those of your contributors, so that the manuscript may be review in a blind process
  • please double space, including notes and indented quotes
  • use 1-inch margins
  • use only one font, preferably in 12-point size
  • number all pages consecutively (i.e., do not restart numbering with each chapter)
  • for the peer review, include low resolution scans (or simply call-outs indicating placement) of contemplated photographs, graphs, tables, or drawings and figures; number them (e.g., Figure 1), and indicate their location in the text with call outs:
    ------------------------------------------
    Figure 1 about here
    ------------------------------------------
  • after your manuscript is accepted, you will separately provide originals (or high resolution scans) of photos, maps, illustrations, screen-prints, etc.

Citation Style

If the manuscript is accepted for publication, please consult your editor for advice on whether to use Chicago humanities or Chicago author-date style. If you're editing a collection, please enforce one of these styles on all your contributors. In their references list, please confirm that no uncited references are retained.

What about an electronic file?

You will be asked to submit the final revised and accepted manuscript in electronic copy--normally in a common word processing format. In preparing your file, the general idea is to keep formatting codes basic and to a minimum, since idiosyncrasies must be reformatted by your editor or the typesetter. Here are some general conventions to observe. Many of these will be the default settings on your system.

  • include a note indicating the software used (platform, program, and version)
  • one-inch margins all around
  • 12-point type
  • use only one font throughout the manuscript
  • if your word processing program applies a "style" to every paragraph (MS Word does this), please use the same style (e.g. "normal") for everything
  • double-space everything, including blocked quotes, lists, dialogue, notes, and references
  • no headers or footers (also called "running heads")
  • chapter title flush left, in upper and lower case
  • type subheadings as normal text, flush left in upper and lower case
  • do not "style" your titles and subheadings with the preformatted styles available in your program; we just take those out
  • avoid all-caps, small-caps, and boldface in headings or text
  • use italic for emphasis, for book titles, for non-English words, for technical terms, etc. (i.e., not underlining, bold, all caps, or other format)
  • if appropriate, add a list of accented letters or special characters—a key to how they are marked in the manuscript
  • if there are special or unusual features of language or format, let's talk; we'll be happy to work out ways to accommodate
  • keep all other formatting to a minimum, since most of it must be removed by the typesetter


We welcome your inquiries and comments. Feel free to contact us by phone, fax, or email (or even by snailmail!).

Utah State University Press
3078 Old Main Hill
Logan, Utah 84322-3078
phone: 720-406-8849
fax: 435-797-0313
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An imprint of University Press of Colorado
5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C
Boulder, Colorado 80303

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