Blanket Statements
Editorial Guidelines
SUBMISSIONS
- Submissions must be sent as digital files, either by email or on a CD/DVD. (Hardcopy is acceptable only by prior arrangement with the Editor.) Send to: paulapahl@q.com or Paula Pahl, 9204 Sugarstone Cir., Highlands Ranch, CO, 80130.
- Deadlines for submission are Feb. 1, May 1, Aug. 1, and Nov. 1. However, for cover articles and feature stories, it is better to submit at least two weeks before the deadline. If you have questions about when your article may be published, contact the Editor.
APPROXIMATE WORD COUNTS
Cover story is a research article.
Second feature story may or may not be research.
PLEASE NOTE: ALL ARTICLES ARE SUBJECT TO EDITORIAL CHANGES FOR CLARITY OR LENGTH.
- Cover story (2 pages) 1400 - 1600 words
- Full page, 3-column feature story 1,000 words
- Full page, 2-column feature story 750 words
- 1/2 page, 3-column story 500 words
- 1/2 page, 2-column story 375 words
- 1-column sidebar story 250 words
- 1/2 column sidebar story 125 words
PHOTOS:
- 1 column vertical photo (approx. 2 1/2" x 3") approx. = 150 words
- 2 column horizontal photo (approx. 5" x 3") approx. = 200 words
FORMAT
- For general guidelines on grammar and punctuation, please follow The Chicago Manual of Style, which can be found at any library or accessed online at www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html.
- Use a word-processing application such as Word or Word Perfect. Please do not use a page-layout program such as PageMaker or Quark.
- Use minimal formatting; avoid the use of automatic formatting on the computer. Indicate paragraph breaks with a line space rather than an indent. Do not use the word processor's automatic paragraph indent function. Do not justify the right margins.
- Book titles and periodical titles may be underlined or typed in italic; they will be printed as italic in the finished article. Enclose the titles of articles in double quotation marks.
- Capitalize the names of specific quilts and patterns (e.g., the Temperance quilt or Nine Patch), but present types of quilts or techniques in lower case (e.g., chintz appliqué, or mourning quilts). Quilts which are considered by their makers to be works of art (e.g., Study in Scarlet) may be underlined or italicized. In most instances, quiltmaking is one word, as is quiltmaker. Use catalog instead of catalogue.
- Always capitalize “Seminar” when referring to the annual meeting of AQSG.
- Whenever possible, write in active voice. For example, Use: Anne Orr designed the quilt (active voice) instead of: The quilt was designed by Anne Orr (passive voice).
- Avoid the use of contractions, except for quoted passages. Use “did not” instead of “didn't”.
- Abbreviations: Except for very commonly accepted abbreviations (e.g., etc., Dr.), spell out words in the text. State names may be abbreviated using the two-letter postal codes.
- The only hyphens that should appear in your manuscript are those in hyphenated compound words. Do not hyphenate words at the ends of lines. It is best to turn off the automatic hyphenation feature on your word-processing software.
- Use two hyphens (--) for a dash (–).
- Dates and numbers:
- Use nineteenth century, not 19th or Nineteenth.
- Use 1890s, not 1890's.
- Use 1856-1882, not 1856-82.
- Circa refers to approximately a ten year span. Use circa (c.) with a single date to indicate the date range: c. 1935 instead of c. 1930-1940.
- Generally spell out numbers less than 100, use numerals for higher numbers.
- Use commas in numbers of 1,000 or more.
- Use 3 percent, not 3% or three percent.
- Turn off the "Auto Format" function in word processers that replaces ordinals with superscript numbers, i.e., copy should show “1st,” not “1st”.
- At the end of the article, include a short paragraph (2-3 sentences) “about the author” and send a photo (head-shot) of yourself.
PHOTOS/FIGURES
- All photos and figures must be sent as individual files. DO NOT EMBED PHOTOS INTO THE TEXT FILE. Each file name should include the author’s name and the figure number [example: Miller_fig1.jpg]
- Photos should be saved at a resolution of 300 dpi (ppi) and saved as “tiff” (.tif) or jpeg (.jpg) files. Before sending photos via email, the photo file should be saved as jpeg (.jpg), as this is a compressed format. If using some other compression software, please save the file so that it is self-extracting.
- Include a complete caption for each photo/figure, and indicate in the text approximately where the photo should go [example: The lovely redwork quilt (see Fig. 1) was made in 1932.] Captions should be descriptive and informative, and should include the source of the figure.
- Each photo must have a photo credit (photographer’s name, institution that provided the photo, etc.). For copyrighted images, the author must secure permission for the image to be published in Blanket Statements.
CITATIONS
- All borrowed language must be identified as such. Short quotations may be incorporated into the text and enclosed with double quotation marks. In general, longer quotations of two or more sentences should be set apart in a block, indented from the left margin. Use your word processor's indent function, usually on the ruler or in the format paragraph menu, to indent the paragraph. If indented, do not use quotation marks. All quotations must include a reference (citation).
- Use an ellipsis (. . .) to indicate omissions from quotations. If you delete a full sentence or more, use an extra period before (. . . .) the ellipsis. Do not use an ellipsis at beginning of a quotation. Type an ellipsis as three periods separated by spaces; please do not use the special three-dot character available on some computers.
- Unless information is considered "public knowledge" or "common knowledge," the source must be indicated. Common knowledge is defined as information that could be found in any number of general sources.
- Sources of information, quotations, and notes are cited in the text by superscript numerals (set above the line) without parentheses, which correspond to the appropriate Endnotes. Citations in the text are numbered in the order of appearance (first citation is ¹, second citation is ²…). The citation number should be typed at the end of the pertinent sentence or paragraph, after the punctuation.
ENDNOTES
- Notes and references will be printed at the end of the article. Do not use the automatic embedded footnote function of your word-processing program.
- Notes and references should be numbered in the order they appear in your text. Please be sure to double-check the endnote numbers to confirm that they match the text references.
- All of your sources and references should be included in your notes. Notes should include all references to the following:
- Published works
- Unpublished manuscripts
- Oral communications
- Quilt or textile collections
- Other sources of your information
- Please avoid the use of internet URLs in references whenever possible. Internet locations are unstable and may change before the article reaches your readers. In many cases a printed reference for the same information is available and will be more helpful to readers and researchers. If you must use an internet address, please drop the "http://" prefix.
ENDNOTE FORMATS
Listed below are the most common types of references used for articles in Blanket Statements. All examples are taken from The Chicago Manual of Style. Endnotes may also include “notes” or comments relevant to the text. PLEASE NOTE SPECIFIC PUNCTUATION (ITALICS, PARENTHESES, QUOTATION MARKS, ETC.).
-
Book: includes author’s name (or Editor’s name), title of the book, place of publication if known, publisher if known, page number.
- Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin of Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), 23.
- Ori Z. Soltes, ed., Georgia: Art and Civilization through the Ages (London: Philip Wilson, 1999), 280. Chapter or titled portion of a book:
- Brendan Phibbs, “Herrlisheim: Diary of a Battle,” in The Other Side of Time: A Combat Surgeon in World War II (Boston: Little, Brown, 1987), 117–63. Journal Article: includes author’s name, title of article, title of journal, volume of journal, date of publication, page number.
- Kathleen Burnett and Eliza T. Dresang, “Rhizomorphic Reading: The Emergence of a New Aesthetic in Literature for Youth,” Library Journal 69 (October 1999): 439. Letters and Other Communications in Published Collections:
- Adams to Charles Milnes Gaskell, London, March 30, 1868, in Letters of Henry Adams, 1858–1891, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930), 141. Periodical (Magazine): includes the author’s name, title of article, title of periodical, volume [and number if known] of periodical, date of publication, page number.
- Philip Kitcher, “Essence and Perfection,” Ethics 110, no. 1 (October 1999): 60. Newspaper: includes the name of the author (if known), the headline or column heading, the name of the newspaper, the month (often abbreviated), day, and year of publication. Because a newspaper’s issue of any given day may include several editions, and items may be moved or eliminated in various editions, page numbers may be omitted.
- Mike Royko, “Next Time, Dan, Take Aim at Arnold,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1992. Online sources: includes Author's name, document title, date of Internet publication, <URL> (that is, the "www" address), date of access (that is the date you accessed that page).
- Lawrence Osborne, “Poison Pen,” review of The Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach, by Alice Kaplan, Salon, March 29, 2000,www.salon.com/books/it/2000/03/29/kaplan/index.html (accessed July 10, 2001). Interviews: includes name of the person interviewed, name of the interviewer, date of the interview, place of the interview, any other relevant comments.
- Personal interview of Jack Jones by Mary Weather, May 15, 2006, New Orleans, LA
A reference to a letter, memorandum, or similar communication in a published collection begins with the names of the sender and the recipient, in that order, followed by a date and sometimes the place where the communication was prepared. The title of the collection is given in the usual form for a book.