Submission Guidelines

Guidelines for the Electronic Preparation of Manuscripts

The electronic files you provide with the final version of your manuscript will be converted to XyWrite 4, the software used by the Press's copy editors. To facilitate disk conversion, we ask that you pay careful attention to the following guidelines. Note that we're unable to use PageMaker, Ventura, or QuarkXpress files or files prepared on a dedicated word processor (e.g., Brother). At some point while your manuscript is under consideration for publication, we'll ask you to send us a completed word-processing questionnaire and sample files for our review. If you have questions about these guidelines or other editorial matters, please contact the managing editor, Rebecca Crist, at 217-244-3279 or rcrist@uillinois.edu.

Use a fixed-space typeface such as Courier and 11- or 12-pt. type for everything, including endnotes and bibliography. Use 1-inch margins, justified on the left only, and turn off your software's autohyphenation feature. Double-space everything, including the endnotes and bibliography.
Use underlining rather than italics for book/journal titles and for emphasis. Include following punctuation and spaces between words when underlining. Avoid boldface type altogether.
Use endnotes rather than footnotes and print them out at the ends of chapters (beginning on a new page) even if they'll eventually be gathered at the back of the book. If you don't use your software's note-making feature but instead type the notes at the end of each chapter, be sure that the note numbers you type in the text itself are superscripted.
We can't work with a single document file that contains your entire manuscript, so please save each element in a separate file and copy all of the files onto one double-sided high-density disk. (Don't send your files via e-mail or on a Zip disk.) Name chapter files according to chapter numbers; name the remaining files according to their contents: frontmatter (title page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents, acknowledgments, preface, etc.); introduction; conclusion; afterword; epilogue; appendix; bibliography; tables; captions.
Number chapters consecutively using arabic (not roman) numbers. Type chapter titles in caps/lowercase and insert a colon to separate main titles from subtitles. Place the chapter number, chapter title, and chapter epigraph(s) at the top of the first page of the chapter, not on a separate page.
Don't number the following elements but otherwise treat them as in no. 5: acknowledgments, foreword, preface, introduction, prologue, conclusion, afterword, epilogue, appendix, glossary, discography, bibliography, notes on contributors.
Consistently format subheads within the text as follows: first-level subheads in caps/lowercase, centered, on a separate line; second-level subheads in caps/lowercase, flush left, on a separate line; third-level subheads in caps/lowercase, flush left, and underlined, with the text beginning on the same line. To mark divisions in chapters without using subheads, center three asterisks on a separate line. Add an extra line of space (i.e., an extra hard return) above but not below all subheads and centered asterisks.
In general, prose quotations of fewer than ten lines should be run into the text; verse quotations of fewer than four lines should be run into the text with a slash ( / ) separating one line from the next. Format lengthy quotes, whether prose or verse, as block quotations--that is, indented from the left margin either by changing the margin setting at the beginning of the block quotation (return to the original setting when the text resumes) or by using your software's block quotation feature. Don't use tabs and hard returns to format each line of a lengthy prose quotation.
Don't use the number 1 for the letter "l" and vice versa; also don't use the number 0 for the letter "O" and vice versa.
Begin all paragraphs with a single tab, not with multiple spaces, and don't insert an extra line of space between paragraphs.
Distinguish between single opening quotation marks (which must always be paired with single closing quotation marks) and words or numbers preceded by apostrophes by using ` (on the same keyboard key as the tilde) for single opening quotation marks and ' (on the same keyboard key as the double quotation mark) for apostrophes and single closing quotation marks. The Press prefers straight rather than curly quotation marks in manuscripts.
Use spaced periods (. . .) for ellipses rather than closed-up periods (...) or a three-dot ellipsis character.
Use two hyphens with no space before, between, or after in place of a long-dash character. In the bibliography, use six hyphens plus punctuation instead of repeating an author's name.
Either use your software's hanging indent feature to format the bibliography or tab-indent each entry, as you would paragraphs of text.
Use hard returns to mark the ends of paragraphs, subheads, items in a list, and lines of verse set off as block quotations.
Number pages consecutively throughout the manuscript using your software's header/footer feature. Don't type page numbers when you type the text.
The following special characters are available in most software programs and survive conversion to XyWrite: £ ¿ ¡ °(degree) á â à å(overcircle) Å(overcircle) ä Ä æ Æ ç Ç é É ê è ë í î ì ï ñ Ñ ó ô ò ö Ö ß(sharp s) ú û ù ü Ü ÿ. Use these characters even if your printer can't handle them. If your manuscript requires any other special characters, please obtain a list of generic codes from the managing editor to use in their place. Don't create special characters by drawing them or by combining two characters in overstrike mode.
Tables are more easily converted to XyWrite when you prepare them as text files rather than using your software's table-formatting feature. Avoid boxes, shading, and snaking columns, and print out each table on its own page. Gather all tables into a single file rather than combining them with the text. Give each table a title and provide sources and notes as needed. (Don't include table sources and notes in the sequence of numbered text notes.) Number tables consecutively throughout the text--except in edited collections, where the tables in each chapter should be numbered consecutively and by chapter number (e.g., table 1 in chapter 2 would be table 2.1). Mention each table in the text by number.
Figures (graphs and charts) and maps must be provided in a form suitable for photoreproduction and should never be pasted or drawn into your electronic text files. If you're taking figures and maps from a published source, provide them as glossy prints or clean, high-quality photocopies and submit written permission to use them. If figures or maps will be prepared especially for your book, remember that they're subject to copyediting and should be presented in draft form first. Provide figure and map captions and their sources/credit lines in a captions file, a printout of which must accompany your manuscript. Don't affix captions to figures or maps, and don't include figure or map sources or notes in the sequence of numbered text notes. Number figures consecutively throughout the text--except in edited collections, where the figures and maps in each chapter should be numbered consecutively and by chapter number (e.g., figure 1 in chapter 2 would be figure 2.1). Maps may be included in the sequence of numbered figures or numbered separately. Mention each figure or map in the text by number. For information on preparing figures and maps, see the Press's style guidelines.
Submit illustrations (photographs, paintings, drawings) as black-and-white glossy prints or, with prior approval, as electronic files (but don't paste or scan illustrations into your electronic text files). Provide illustration captions and sources/credit lines in a captions file, a printout of which must accompany your manuscript. Don't affix captions to illustrations, and don't include illustration sources in the sequence of numbered text notes. If illustrations will be integrated with the text, then treat them as figures (see no. 19). If illustrations will be grouped, then temporarily number them in a sequence separate from figures and maps (these numbers are for reference only at the editing and composition stages).
Print out your manuscript on one side only of ordinary photocopy paper and don't bind it in any way. Also print out a disk directory and verify that only one version--the latest version--of each element of your manuscript is on the disk. Write your name, type of hardware (PC or MAC), type of software (program and version), and date on the disk label.
Unless the managing editor advises otherwise, the printout you send must exactly match the disk version of your manuscript. Keep handwritten corrections on the manuscript to a minimum and enter all such changes on the disk you send to us.

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