International Association of School Librarianship
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School Libraries Worldwide

Guidelines for Contributors

Contributors are invited to submit new scholarly works, such as research reports and reviews of research. Individual issues of the journal may also include a theme section, introduced by a Theme Editor and including several articles on the theme. The Theme Editor works with the Editor to issue a call for papers on the theme but may also invite researchers with a special interest in the theme to submit papers.

Content

Content School Libraries Worldwide, IASL's international journal for school librarianship, is issued twice yearly in January and July. Contributors are invited to submit manuscripts for publication on current research on any aspect of school librarianship. Each issue of the journal usually includes a theme section, introduced by a Theme Editor and including three or four articles on the theme. School Libraries Worldwide primarily publishes new scholarly works, such as research reports and literature reviews. On occasion, due to the nature of the theme chosen, the Theme Editor may invite the submission of other types of papers including personal narratives, commentary and opinion.

Audience

Authors need to be mindful of the international audience of the journal. In most cases, authors can use the library terminology that is used in their locale. However, when writing about schools and students, it is important to state the age of the students being educated in those schools. Schools systems vary greatly around the world, and readers find it hard to understand what age of school children authors are writing about in their articles. For example, high school students in Eastern and Central Europe means students in university or institutes (usually over 18 years old), and primary school in many countries means the first six grades (perhaps ages 6-11 years) while in other countries primary school means the first three grades (perhaps ages 6-8 years). It is also important to explain terminology used to identify schools. The names applied to types of schools, such as junior high schools, middle schools, gymnasiums or lycee, or compulsory schools, can create difficulty in understanding for our readers.

Format

  • The manuscript should be word processed or typed, double-spaced throughout, and should not exceed 6000 words, excluding graphics and references.
  • The first page of the manuscript should include the manuscript title and an abstract of approximately 100 words. To ensure anonymity in the review process, the author's name should not be placed on the manuscript itself.
  • Where appropriate, the author may provide the title and abstract in a language other than English, in addition to the English title and abstract, for inclusion in the published article.
  • A separate cover page should be provided with the title of the paper, the author's name, affiliation, mailing address, and other contact information (including e-mail address, fax number and phone number, where possible); and a brief biographical note (50-100 words) about the author, suitable for publication with the manuscript.

Editorial Style

Sample citations:

For a book:
Walker, G., & Janes, J. (1993). Online retrieval: A dialogue of theory and practice. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

For a part of an edited work:
Limberg, L. (1991). Sweden. In J.E. Lowrie & M. Nagakura (Eds.), School libraries: International developments (2nd ed., pp. 24-36). Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.

For a journal article:
Doll, C. A. (1997). Quality and elementary school library media collections. School Library Media Quarterly, 26(2), 95-102.

For an article from an Internet-only journal:
Harada, V. H. (2002). Personalizing the information search process: A case study of journal writing with elementary-age students. School Library Media Research, 5. Retrieved April 2, 2002, from http://www.ala.org/aasl/SLMR/vol5/search/search.html

Referencing

  • Note sources in parentheses after each reference, giving author's name (unless mentioned in the text) and year of publication, and (for direct quotes only) page number(s), for example, (Walker & Janes, 1993) for a reference in the text; (Walker & Janes, 1993, p.72) for a direct quote in the text.
  • Place direct quotes of 40 words or fewer in double quotation marks and incorporate them into text; place direct quotes longer than 40 words in indented block format without quotation marks.
  • List all sources in alphabetical order at the end of the manuscript under the heading References using the APA style.
  • Explanatory notes, numbered consecutively and marked in the text with superscript numerals, may appear before the References under the heading Notes. Any citations in the notes follow the same APA format as other references.

Graphics

  • Place each table and figure on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. Be sure each has an explanatory title or caption.
  • Provide figures, charts, and diagrams in camera-ready form.
  • Number tables in Arabic numerals and place the table number, e.g., Table 1, at the top of the table above the title or caption of the table.
  • Number figures in Arabic numerals and place the figure number, e.g., Figure 1, at the foot of the figure and above the title or caption of the figure.
  • Indicate placement of figures and tables in text, e.g., Insert Table 3 here

Submission Copies

  • Provide submit your paper to the School Libraries Worldwide online journal system at http://slw.cci.fsu.edu. This system will allow you to track your paper through the review process.
  • Please keep a copy of all submitted materials.
  • Submission to School Libraries Worldwide implies the manuscript is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Review Process

School Libraries Worldwide receives about 100 submissions each year and the editors aim to communicate editorial decisions in a timely manner. The average turnaround time to first decision is about 60 days, with an approximate acceptance rate of 50%. To avoid unnecessary delays, a paper may be returned to the author before full review if the editors determine that it is not suitable for the journal. This decision is made in the interest of the author to avoid loss of valuable time.

A large number of submissions were rejected because of either poor quality or their subject areas were out of the scope and coverage of the publication. We scan every submission for plagiarism with several tools and papers that contain more than 50% will be rejected automatically; papers that contain more than 50% may be rejected after the editors consult with the authors and original sources.

Submissions to School Libraries Worldwide are blind reviewed by a minimum of two members of the Editorial Board.

Copyright

Copyright of works published in School Libraries Worldwide is jointly held by the author(s) and by the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL). The author(s) retain copyright of their works but give permission to IASL to reprint their works in collections or other such documents published by or on behalf of the International Association of School Librarianship. Author(s) who give permission for their works to be reprinted elsewhere should inform the Editor of School Libraries Worldwide and should ensure that the following statement appears with the article: Reprinted, with permission, from School Libraries Worldwide [issue volume, number, date, pages].

Further information (if necessary) is available from the editors: Dr. Nancy Everhart at everhart@fsu.edu and Dr. Marcia Mardis at mmardis@fsu.edu.

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