1. Submissions. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly receives manuscript submissions online through Sage Track, powered by ScholarOne's Manuscript Central^TM. Authors should register for an account at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jmcq, where they will create a login ID and password. Sage Track will serve as the center for editorial staff to communicate with authors, editors, and reviewers electronically, and it will function as the platform for the review process.

The text format should be double-spaced, 12-point font size and follow the American Psychological Association (APA) style 7^th edition. Manuscripts should be submitted as Word documents, which will be converted to PDF files. Author identification should not appear anywhere on the main text pages or in the main text file. JMCQ manuscripts are typically between 6,500 and 9,000 words of main text (excluding references, notes, abstract, tables, figures and/or appendices), and their length is evaluated as part of the review process. Longer manuscripts up to 10,000 words may be considered, but authors must provide strong justifications in the cover letter for the extra length or they won’t be sent out for review. Manuscript length should be in proportion to its contribution to the field. Submissions must be unpublished original manuscripts not under review elsewhere and all submissions will go through a double-anonymized review process. First decisions are made in 4-6 weeks.

2. Abstract and author information. An abstract of no more than 100 words should be included as a separate electronic file, named Title Page. The Title Page should also indicate all author identification and contact information, institutional affiliation, Ph.D. granting institution, and any funding sources. Authors should provide 4 - 5 key words below the abstract that identify the content of the submission. Author identification should not appear anywhere except on the Title Page. Authors are encouraged to register at https://orcid.org/ and supply this information during manuscript submission. The published article will list the authors’ ORCID both in print and online.

3. Keywords. Select appropriate keywords in each keyword category provided in Manuscript Central. The keyword categories are explained in the editorial essay of the summer issue of our journal. Incorrect keyword selection will hinder the reviewer selection process.

4. Style. For initial review, we accept manuscripts written in common citation styles such as Chicago or Harvard. For final acceptance, use APA Style (7^th. ed.) guidelines. Use % instead of percent. Underline or italicize names of cities when using newspaper names, i.e., New York Times. In reporting probability, never use p=0.000 as per SPSS output. Use p < 0.0001.

Heading Styles. There are five levels of headings in APA Style. Proceed through the levels numerically, starting with Level 1, without skipping levels. The number of headings needed for a paper will vary depending on the paper’s complexity and subject matter. Sections of similar importance have the same level of heading.

• Don’t use “Introduction” as your first heading—it’s assumed that the beginning of the paper is the introduction.
• Use boldface and/or italics only for headings within the body of your paper
• Use regular font formatting (no boldface or italics) for all section titles, such as Abstract, Author Note, Title of Your Paper (on the title page and on the page where the text begins), References, Appendix/Appendices, and Footnotes. These are not headings but labels for these sections.
• Tables. When creating tables, use the Word (or similar software) table feature. Do not duplicate material in text and tables. Tables and figures should be used only when they substantially aid the reader, not merely because computers make tables easy to create. Place each table on a separate page at the end of your manuscript, after the reference list. Page margins depend on the size of the table but must be at least 1 in. (2.54 cm). Tables may use single-spacing or one-and-a-half spacing. Information necessary for understanding the table and definitions of abbreviations used within the table appear in a table note.
• Figures. Place each figure on a separate page at the end of your manuscript, after any tables (or after the reference list, if there are no tables). Place a caption below each figure describing its contents and defining any abbreviations used in the figure.

5. Cover Letter. All new submissions must include a cover letter explaining whether the manuscript uses a particular dataset for the first time. If not, then the author should report previous articles or submissions to other journals using the same dataset and explaining the advancement of knowledge of the submitted manuscript over previous articles and other manuscripts under review in other journals.

6. Citations. In-text citations are expected in APA style such as (Smith, 2013). For works with two authors, list both separated by an ampersand (Johnson & Smith, 2013). For works with three or more authors, list the first author followed by “et al.” (Clark et al., 2013).

7. Citing your own works. Authors who need to cite their own works should cite them in the same way as other authors. There is no need to specify the work is written by the author. The only exceptions are in-press or forthcoming articles. In those cases, the in-text reference should be (Authors, in-press/forthcoming).

In addition, do not cite a particular author excessively (more than five times) to avoid misidentification of the author during the anonymized review process.

8. Book Reviews. For Book Reviews, see the following resource page (https://www.gregperreault.com/jmcqreview) and contact Dr. Gregory Perreault [email protected] to propose a book review. 

9. Reference style examples:

a. Journal Articles

Wang, A. (2006). Advertising engagement: A driver of message involvement on message effects. Journal of Advertising Research, 46, 355-368. doi: 10.2501/S0021849906060429

b. Books

Napoli, P. (2011). Audience evolution: New technologies and the transformation of media audiences. Columbia University Press.

c. Book chapters

Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1997). Motivated attention: Affect, activation, and action. In P. J. Lang, R. F. Simons, & M. Balaban (Eds.), Attention and orienting: Sensory and motivational processes (pp. 97–135). Erlbaum.

d. Online Sources

Author, A. (Date). Title of work. Source Name. URL

News institutions are publishers and not counted as authors. However, institutional and corporate sources such as the American Psychological Association, the United Nations, Knight Foundation, etc. should be cited as authors in the text (e.g., American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, 2007) and in the references as below:

American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (2007). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.hmtl

For Web page with no authors:

New child vaccine gets funding boost. (2001). Retrieved March 21, 2001, from http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/story_13178.asp

Cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title or abbreviated title ("New Child Vaccine," 2001).

Refer to the APA style at http://www.apastyle.org/ and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7^th edition for all other formatting requirements. Any inquiries regarding manuscript submission may be directed to the Editorial Office at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Iowa State University, 613 Wallace Rd, Ames, IA 50011, U.S.A. Email: [email protected] or [email protected].