Correspondence:
- Query letters to determine suitability for the Journal of Web Librarianship are welcome.
- Submit original, unpublished manuscripts only. Manuscripts should not be under consideration by other publications.
- Before submitting a manuscript, please verify the accuracy and completeness of all citations and references, including statistics and URLs.
Please submit all manuscripts electronically as an e-mail attachment to the editor. Microsoft Word or rich text format are preferred. If electronic submission is not possible, please submit three printed copies of your manuscript, double-spaced. In either case, please be sure pages are numbered.
JWL Checklist for Authors:
Completing the checklist below will improve your chance of acceptance and/or expedite the review and production process
Submission Requirements:
__ I have included a cover sheet in a separate document which has full information for all authors, including affiliation, email, full snail-mail address, and a brief professional biography of 30-50 words.
__ I have cited all my references using Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. FAQs for the Chicago Manual can be found at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/
__ If I have mentioned specific software (Morae), cite software manufacturers (TechSmith) and include a URL for the manufacturer/ software (http://www.techsmith.com/morae).
__ I have included a 200-500 word abstract and it follows the guidelines
__ I am including all figures and tables in a separate document. All my 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, and try to limit to 1 line. Also, it is helpful if charts and tables are submitted in data-editable form.
__ I have referred to all figures and tables within the text and put in [PLACE FIGURE 1] notes in the text where I think the figures and tables should be placed:
The library home page has a thrilling submit button (see Figure 1).
[PLACE FIGURE 1 HERE]
__ I have included 7-10 keywords to facilitate indexing
Checklist items for better writing:
__ I have had a colleague read / edit my wor. Please, please do this.__ Most, if not all, of my paragraphs start and end with my own words (i.e. a direct quote is not the first or last line of any paragraph.
__ My literature review is up-to-date and have explained how each citation relates directly to my topic [more suggestions].
__ If I am writing about a research project, I have identified future avenues for research.
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.
Abstracts can be the most important paragraph in your article: they will inform searchers whether or not they should read further. For all article, 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,
- abstracts should clearly explain the relevant characteristics of the environment. 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?
- abstracts should describe both problem and the solution
- abstracts should include future directions for research or questions left unanswered.
For empirical studies,
- abstracts should state in one sentence the problem under investigaion
- number of participants and relevant characteristics (age, gender, etc.)
- brief methodology
- findings, including a brief summary of statistical significance
- conclusions and implications of the research
For review articles,
- abstracts should clearly state the topic under review
- explain which sources were consulted to conduct the review
- the conclusion or implications fo the 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. 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, or 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 of library catalogs. 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.
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.
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These are the 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?