Guidance for authors

General rules
 

Is the content relevant / appropriate?

The main focus of the Journal is on featuring current projects, research and issues in and around Public Libraries in the UK. We aim to contribute towards building an 'evidence base' for public libraries by featuring examples of good practice and recommendations for improvement. Recent back issues of the Journal will give a direct steer to the tone, style and coverage of PLJ – if you are not a current subscriber then we can arrange for a sample copy to be sent to you.

What type of articles does PLJ publish?
- Articles that describe an initiative/project;
- Articles that are research-based (with a focus on / relevance to practical application);
- Articles that raise an issue for debate;
- Information that is transferable, of use to the profession, inspirational - read it and act.…

Of course we like success stories – but if you are writing about an initiative or project, it is also useful to consider whether anything went wrong / could have been improved. This can help to create an 'evidence base' for best practice and prevent mistakes from being repeated. You may also like to consider whether the project is transferable to other library services and anything that another library would need to bear in mind if undertaking a similar initiative.

What doesn’t get published?
- Articles that are too descriptive or too general;
- Articles that are without recommendations/conclusions;
- Descriptions that are not particularly clear or relevant;
- Articles from private companies that are 'advertorials': it is OK to mention your product briefly, but it must be in the context of an objective article;
- Slanderous / personal articles (although controversial / strong views are encouraged)
- Articles that have been previously published in another journal.

As a general rule, if there isn't a public library somewhere in there then it is unlikely to feature in the Journal.

We have published and do consider articles that are non-public library / non-UK centred. However, such pieces need to have a strong link / relevance to public library work / the UK picture and/or be innovative in a way that will challenge or inspire practitioners, researchers and readers. The wider cultural sector and local government developments are increasingly relevant to our work and best practice/new policy from this domain would fall into this category.

Around 75% of each edition of PLJ is commissioned work but we are more than happy to receive non-commissioned articles.
 

• Who is your audience?
  

  
  The Journal is read by Chief Librarians, frontline staff, academics, students… so as a broad guide we would suggest that contributors aim at ‘middle managers’, i.e. don’t assume complete lay person/novice status but at the same time try not to aim it at senior managers alone or at a purely academic readership.
  
  

• What are the objectives of the article?
  

  
  This might sound patronising, but a considerable number of articles sent to PLJ lack a clear direction/focus/purpose. We are always looking for the ‘so what?’ What recommendations would you make to others? What did the project deliver? What were the key achievements? What are the lessons learned?
  
  Articles should have a clear beginning, middle and end.
  
  

• 'Repackaging' research for the Journal
  

  
  While the Journal is read by many academics, it is primarily practitioner-focused and this should be borne in mind when preparing articles based on research. This does not mean dumbing down; it is about making the article relevant to people working in public libraries. For example, a brief overview of the methodology will usually suffice, and it will often be possible to combine results and conclusions in order to provide a more direct link between the research findings and the implications for practice. A recommendations section should be provided. The article should be in narrative form (rather than large tables, for example) and the style should communicate enthusiasm for the research: why is this research important?

New writers

One thing that PLJ prides itself on is publishing articles from 'first timers' alongside regular contributors and leading lights in the public library world; this balance is one of the things that make the Journal unique. Please don’t be put off submitting a piece for PLJ – be confident in your own style and message, although it is always a good idea to look over past editions (for ideas on format; what jumped out at you as being good and why?); use the spell-check; get someone else to read your article before you send it our way; make sure your employees are OK with your content; and read these guidelines.

Copy deadlines

As PLJ is a quarterly publication and finances limit the format and scope of the Journal, competition for space is common so we would request that all contributors keep the Editorial team up to date with any changes in feature content, length or issues with meeting copy deadlines.

We ask that the given deadline be considered as final; although, if necessary, a degree of flexibility can be agreed with the Editor if discussed beforehand. As PLJ is a quarterly journal (with tight turnaround times re. editing/publishing), it is unlikely that we would be able to grant an extension of more than 6/7 days from the published date.

The copy deadlines for the next 2 issues of the Journal are published in each edition of PLJ. However, a full set of copy deadlines will be available on the PLG website all year round, or on request from the Editorial Board.

Word limit

The current formatting of the Journal gives us space for c. 1,000 words per page, When commissioning a piece for PLJ, the Editor will generally give a guide limit for writers to adhere to, although this is negotiable, and contributors need not worry if a feature article is a couple of hundred words under or over the given target.

The word limits allow us to balance the desire to publish a wide range of articles in the Journal with the constraints on space, while allowing features to go into the necessary depth.

As a broad guide:

• News items – up to c.500 words. Generally, these pieces tend to come in around 300 words and this keeps content current and varied in this section.
• Short conference/project reviews – up to c.1000 words. These short/sharp pieces are generally more ephemeral in topic-interest than the longer pieces. These ‘one-pagers’ have proved increasingly popular.
• Viewpoint/project-based articles – between c. 2000/3,000 words.
• Project-based/Research-based articles – between c.3000/4000 words

In exceptional circumstances we will consider articles of a greater length than 4,000 words, but this is with the prior agreement of the Editor.

If a piece is significantly over or under the specified word limit, PLJ reserves the right not to publish the piece or to request the author to amend the article accordingly.

Titles / foreword

The Editor holds the right to alter and/or compose a title for the article. However, contributors are welcome to submit their own. We ask that these be limited to 4 or 5 words maximum.

We would ask that the foreword be up to 30 words in length and briefly describe the subject matter of the article. It must also contain the names of the authors (in CAPS)

Here are a couple of examples:

Abstracts and keywords

With the Public Library Journal moving into online publication in the near future we ask that an author provides a 50 word abstract of their article covering the main topic/points of their feature. We also require the author to identify a number of keywords (up to 5) to facilitate indexing.

Sub-headings

We ask that authors break up the main body of text into a number of sections. Each section should be given a sub-heading (bold text, same font size as main body) and this should obviously be relevant to the content of the section to follow. A sub-heading should generally be no longer than 4/5 words – ‘Background’; ‘Project outcomes’; ‘Recommendations and conclusions’ are all examples of suitable sub-headings.

Insets

Please consider including insets in your article. PLJ tends to be 'text heavy', i.e. a lot of words per page, so it always helps to have something to break up the flow and the 2 column format. Examples of this include: quotes from stakeholders being placed in a shaded area, a project’s objectives highlighted in a stand-alone box, a crucial/excellent line picked out for emboldening…

Images

We would be glad to have quality images and diagrams to accompany the main body of text. The images must be relevant and 'add something' to the piece and authors need to consider that we will generally only have space for 1 per page.

With all images, we ask that contributors check that copyright has been verified and permission granted. Please provide a caption succinctly describing the contents of each picture and where and how the owner needs to be credited. We only want to publish quality pictures – images/diagrams should not be considered as filler.

Where possible, we ask that images be supplied in jpeg format.

Diagrams

We would ask that all diagrams be referred to in the body text. An accompanying caption should be provided.

Accompanying diagrams need to be attractive and add value to the article, rather than simply take up space. Intricate bar charts or convoluted graphs, for example, may be difficult to interpret or may be unclear when shrunk to fit on the page.

Further information

Articles in PLJ often generate interest and we try to point readers in the right direction should they seek extra information or wish to give feedback, discuss matters arising from the piece etc. In line with this we would look to give author contact details at the end of the article (Name, Job Title, Postal Address, Email address, Telephone number). If there is any other relevant information that might be useful to readers please include it in this short section.

References

We would ask that where an article, report, book, research paper etc. is cited in the article, or has been used in the writing of the piece that as full a bibliographic reference as possible is given. General practice is for these references to be published at the end of the article, following any 'Further information' and would follow this format:
For articles: Author, A. (2008). ‘Something to do with public libraries’. Public Library Journal v.21(3). London: CILIP.
For books: Other, A.N. and Other, A.N. (2006). Public Libraries are great. North Pole: Penguin.
For online materials: Public Libraries Group (2008) Public Libraries Group Home [online]. London: CILIP. http://www.cilip.org.uk/specialinterestgroups/bysubject/
public/ [Accessed 27 May 2008]

Stages in the publishing process

Broadly, the stages in the process of producing PLJ are as follows:

• Article commissioning / discussions
• Copy deadline
• Editing
• Pages passed to Managing Editor to format
• Pages returned to editorial team for proof reading
• PLJ passed to printers
• PLJ distributed

The article will be read by the Editor and other members of the Editorial Board, and feedback will be provided in the event that your article is not used. The whole process from copy deadline to publication takes just over a month.

Please note that a 'commission' or expression of interest from PLJ is not a guarantee that your article will be published. We reserve the right to reject articles or hold them over until a later issue.

Key contacts

Generally the key contact would be the Editor. However, in certain cases a member of the Editorial Board will take the lead on a particular article. Contact details are posted on the PLG website and within the Journal itself.

Complimentary copies

It is standard procedure for the Editor to send the author(s) 5 copies of ‘their’ edition of the Public Library Journal as a way of thanking them for their contribution. If more ‘extra’ copies are required simply contact the Editor. It is therefore necessary to provide the Editor with full postal contact details.

Extra copies will generally be distributed within a month of publication.

Evaluation

A number of articles generate a positive response and the Editorial Board would like to hear if your article receives feedback/expressions of interest. In this way we can collect some ad hoc evaluation – get a sense of which pieces produce the heaviest mailbag, which articles we might like to do a follow-up feature on, for example. As well as using this information as a means of measuring the impact of the Journal, we are also looking at how we can make more of readers’ responses (e.g. encourage discussions on lis-pub-libs).

Final words

The Editor reserves the right to amend the copy of any article, although clearly we would always strive to remain as true to the original tone and style as is possible.

If a contributor wishes to see the final version of his/her article, the Editor can supply a copy of the final text prior to publication.