Information for Authors
Submitting A Paper
Essays in Criticism is edited by Christopher Ricks, Professor of the Humanities, Boston University, and Seamus Perry, Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.
Articles for publication may be sent to Seamus Perry at the editorial address below or emailed, preferably as Word attachments, to [email protected]. The review pages are edited by Christopher Ricks.
Essays in Criticism is an Oxford journal, but it has a world-wide circulation and suitable articles from abroad are welcome. Decisions on acceptance are made as promptly as possible, and publication is usually within a year. Please refer to Style Points (listed below) for guidance.
The Editors reserve the right to amend the phrasing and punctuation in all articles and reviews. References should be worked into the text as far as possible, and end-notes kept to a minimum. Publication of an article or review is deemed to confer on its author the right to a half-share of any permission fee arising from that article's major re-use in critical anthologies etc., and the Publisher will use his best endeavours to pass this on.
Editorial Address:
Balliol College
Oxford
OX1 3BJ
UK
Book Reviews
Book reviews are commissioned, and unsolicited reviews are unlikely to be acceptable. Book reviews should be proposed to Christopher Ricks, [email protected].
English review copies should be sent to our editorial address at Oxford. American review copies should be sent to:
Professor Ricks
Editorial Institute
Boston University
143 Bay State Road
Boston MA 02215
USA
Style Points For Contributors
Use - ise endings where available (realise, recognise)
Use an en rule - with space either side - for parenthetical dashes
Use single quote marks throughout; double only for 'quotes "within" quotes'
Acronyms/Abbreviations:
In general don't use points: AD, BBC, BC, MP RADA, RSC, UK, USA; St, Dr, Mr, Mrs
Hyphenation:
eighteenth century verse
historically minded, sincerely held
late Victorian
no one
postcolonial
postmodern
post-structuralist
Possessives:
add 's except in Classical -es names: Dickens's, but Ulysses', Alcibiades'
Capitalisation:
Romantics
Western (cap. when a political concept; l.c. if geographical)
Quotations
Prose:
In general, only display prose quotations of over c. 40 words. The first line should only be indented if a new paragraph begins in the original; otherwise, begin full left.
Avoid using ellipses at the start of quotes (whether displayed or run on in the text): it can be assumed that a prose quote isn't taken from the very start of a work.
Poetry:
Any length of quotation can be displayed, though if a lot of short quotations are given consider whether they may be better run on in the text. In run-on quotes, indicate line divisions with a solidus / with space either side.
References/Notes
Use references sparingly. At first citation give full details in a note (see templates below). Give place (= town) of publication unless it is London.
Subsequent references to works that are the subject of the article should be given in parentheses in the text. Avoid using a bare number: (p. 99) (l. 300) not (99) (300). Subsequent references to secondary academic studies should be given in the notes, using author surname + short title (e.g. Kermode, Shakespeare’s Language, p. 50).
Reviews: no notes; all references should be within the text.
Templates
Chapters in edited books:
David Riede, 'Transgression, Authority, and the Church of Literature in Carlyle', in Jerome J. McGann (ed.), Victorian Connections (Charlottesville, Va., 1989), pp. 99-130.
Editions of works:
The George Eliot Letters, ed. Gordon S. Haight, 9 vols. (New Haven, 1954-78), ii. 126.
Journal articles (spell out journal titles in full):
Janice L. Haney, '"Shadow-Hunting": Romantic Irony, Sartor Resartus and Victorian Romanticism', Studies in Romanticism, 17 (1978), 300-30: 327.
Figure accessibility and alt text
Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.
Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs.
Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article.
Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text.
A-Z
AD
age: 30 years old
analyse (not -yze)
BC
BBC
bishop of Ely, but Bishop Patrick
Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, VII. 99; individual tales roman: Monk's Tale
date: 22 July 2000
denouement
duke of Northumberland
earl of Leicester
eighteenth century (not 18th)
eighteenth century verse (no hyphen)
enquiry (not in-)
focusing
historically minded, sincerely held (no hyphen)
in so far (three words)
judgement (e)
late Victorian
MP
no one (no hyphen)
numbers: spell out up to 100 except ages (30 years old), percentages (30 per cent), and statistical passages generally
offstage
onstage
paralyse (not -yze)
per cent: 30 per cent
play text
play-goer
possessives: add 's except in Classical '-es' names: Dickens's, Apemantus's, but Ulysses', Alcibiades'
postcolonial
postmodern, modernism, modernist
post-structural
Author Toll Free Link and Discounts
All corresponding authors will be provided with a free access link to their article upon publication. The link will be sent via email to the article’s corresponding author who is free to share the link with any co-authors. Please see OUP’s Author Self-Archiving policy for more information regarding how this link may be publicly shared depending on the type of license under which the article has published.
All authors have the option to purchase up to 10 print copies of the issue in which they publish at a 50% discount. Orders should be placed through this order form. Orders must be made within 12 months of the online publication date.
Copyright
It is a condition of publication in the Journal that authors grant an exclusive licence to Oxford University Press. This ensures that request from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely disseminated as possible. In assigning copyright, authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the Journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication, and Oxford University Press is notified in writing and in advance.
Upon receipt of accepted manuscripts at Oxford Journals authors will be invited to complete an online copyright licence to publish form.
Please note that by submitting an article for publication you confirm that you are the corresponding/submitting author and that Oxford University Press ("OUP") may retain your email address for the purpose of communicating with you about the article. You agree to notify OUP immediately if your details change. If your article is accepted for publication OUP will contact you using the email address you have used in the registration process. Please note that OUP does not retain copies of rejected articles.
Open Access
Essays in Criticism offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution.
Should you wish to publish your article open access, you should select your choice of open access licence in our online system after your article has been accepted for publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence.
Details of the open access licences and open access charges.
OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.
Third-Party Content in Open Access papers
If you will be publishing your paper under an Open Access licence but it contains material for which you do not have Open Access re-use permissions, please state this clearly by supplying the following credit line alongside the material:
Title of content
Author, Original publication, year of original publication, by permission of [rights holder]
This image/content is not covered by the terms of the Creative Commons licence of this publication. For permission to reuse, please contact the rights holder.
Author Self Archiving/Public Access Policy
Information about this journal’s policy.
Crossref Funding Data Registry
In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources in the manuscript. Further information on this process or to find out more about the CHORUS initiative.
Additional Author Resources
For additional information regarding submitting a manuscript, what to expect through the publication process, and guidance on how to promote your published article, please see our Author Resources.
