Instructions for Authors

Correspondence:

Query letters to determine suitability for the Journal of Web Librarianship are welcome to jweblib@gmail.com.

Submissions:

Submit original, unpublished manuscripts only. Manuscripts should not be under consideration by other publications.
Submit all manuscripts electronically as an e-mail attachment to the editor at jweblib@gmail.com. Microsoft Word or rich text format are preferred. If electronic submission is not possible, please submit three printed copies of your manuscript, double-spaced.

JWL Checklist for Authors:

Please complete the checklist below before submitting your manuscript.

Copyright and author information:

__ Review and accept the Taylor & Francis copyright form and Schedule of Author Rights (Note: if there are any issues or questions about this, please email jweblib@gmail.com before you submit your manuscript). More information on T&F copyright.

__ Include complete information for all authors:

First and last name(s)

Affiliation

Email

Full snail-mail address

Manuscript components:

__ Include a 200-500 word abstract and it follows these guidelines.

__ Include 7-10 keywords to facilitate indexing.

__ Include all figures and tables in a separate document when applicable. All figures and tables have captions that are not part of the figure itself but accompany the figure / table in plain text. Note: Ideally, readers should be able to know what the table / figure is from the caption alone. Please do not make captions of more than 2 lines, try to limit to 1 line. Also, it is helpful if charts and tables are submitted in data-editable form.

__ Refer to all figures and tables within the text and put in [PLACE FIGURE 1] notes in the text where the figures and tables should be placed:

The library home page has a thrilling submit button (see Figure 1).
[PLACE FIGURE 1 HERE]

__ Include a complete References list.

__ Number all pages.

Citations:

__ Cite all references using Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, Author-Date system. [ See JWL's brief guide to Chicago Style ].

__ Verify the accuracy and completeness of all citations and references, including URLs.

__ Review the References list: Does it contain only citations that are mentioned in the article text?

__ Check that every in-text citation has a corresponding full citation in the References section.

__ If specific software (e.g., Morae) is mentioned, cite software manufacturers (TechSmith) and include a URL for the manufacturer/ software (http://www.techsmith.com/morae).

Tools for Better Writing:

__ Have a colleague read / edit your work. Please, please do this.

__ Start and end most, if not all, paragraphs with your own words (i.e. a direct quote is not the first or last line of any paragraph.)

__ Verify that your literature review is up-to-date and explain how each citation relates directly to your topic [more suggestions].

__ Identify future avenues for research when writing about a research project.

JWL Local Style Sheet

If accepted, your submission will be profesionally copyedited for local style issues. If you would like to know what our local style rules are, you can read the JWL local style sheet.

Guidelines for Abstracts

Abstracts can be the most important paragraph in your article: they will inform searchers whether or not they should read further.

For all articles, abstracts should:

use the present tense and active voice. Think about using verbs rather than nouns: "Students enjoyed the program," not "Student enjoyment resulted from the program."
spell out all abbreviations that a reader may not immediately understand ("course management system" rather than "CMS").
define unique terms or jargon.

For case studies,

describe the big-picture problem and why this case study is a relevant example.
explain clearly the relevant characteristics of the environment. For example, if you implemented a new online business instruction curriculum at an academic library, how big is your College of Business? If you started a gaming program for teens in your public library, how many teens are in your user population? How big is your library?
summarize the solution(s) or lessons learned. Focus on how they suggest action for other librarians, libraries, or the profession. What do you want to see happen as a result of readers reading your case study?
include future directions for research or questions left unanswered.

For empirical studies,

state in one sentence the problem under investigaion.
declare the number of participants and relevant characteristics (age, gender, etc.).
include a brief methodology.
present findings, including a brief summary of statistical significance.
include conclusions and implications of the research.

For review articles,

state clearly the topic under review.
explain which sources were consulted to conduct the review.
include the conclusion or implications for the review.

Literature Review:

The literature review section of your paper should include references from the current or immediately preceding year if at all possible. Be sure you tie each reference in your literature review to your research. For example, if your article is about a usability test of your library catalog, do not just cite Jakob Nielsen just because he is a usability guru. Cite him if you used his work to inspire your research, its methods, its analysis, or if you are contrasting his work with the guru who did inspire your research.

Furthermore, you do not need to cite every single user study. Find the studies that are most like the one you will conduct or that had interesting implications you want to respond to or engage with. Be sure to include recent studies.

When you proofread your literature review, think about starting and ending every paragraph with your words. If you don't, be sure that's a conscious choice. Also, check to make sure that you are connecting each citation or group of citations with your research in some way.

Authors rights:

Authors can post preprints of articles on their personal websites, so long as they include the following statement:

This article is a preprint and will appear in the Journal of Web Librarianship, published by Taylor & Francis, Inc. (http://www.lib.jmu.edu/org/jwl).

For more details, please see the following document: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authorrights.pdf

Peer-Review Process:

The Journal of Web Librarianship is a peer-reviewed journal using double-blind reviewing. The editor will assign manuscripts to reviewers with expertise in the field. Reviewers will have no direct information about the author's identity or affiliation. Upon completing their review, reviewers will make one of the following recommendations to the editor:

Acceptable with few or no editorial revisions.

Acceptable but requires some rewriting by the author.

Not acceptable in its present condition, but author should be encouraged to revise and resubmit.

Does not warrant further consideration by the Journal of Web Librarianship.

Authors will be informed of the reviewers' comments. The review process will take two to six weeks.

Criteria sent to peer reviewers

Is the topic of the article relevant to researchers and/or practitioners of web librarianship?
Is the content of the article useful to researchers and/or practitioners of web librarianship?
Does the content of the article provide current and up-to-date information?
Is the article organized and well-written?
If the article presents original research, has the author done a complete and thorough literature review, and presented it in an appropriate fashion?
Has the author cited his/her sources completely and accurately?
Did you enjoy reading this article?