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Contents

Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines (for all submissions except book reviews)

Overview

  • The Goose accepts submissions in English and in French.
  • Use the following fonts:
    • Main Body: 12 pt. Calibri.
    • Footnotes (used sparingly, if at all): 10 pt. Calibri.
  • Use current MLA (Modern Language Association) format for citations.
  • Do not include page numbers, headers, or footers. These will be added by the editors.
  • All margins (left, right, top, and bottom) should be 1 inch, including for figures and tables. Page size should be 8.5 x 11 inches.
  • Double space your text.
  • Include a short author’s bio at the end of the document (after the Works Cited entries, if any). The author’s bio should begin with your name in bold and all caps.
  • Copyedit your manuscript.
  • Fact check your manuscript, including checking all dates and proper nouns, and checking all quotations and citations against the original source. (Look for typos, check page numbers, dates, titles and subtitles, etc.) Fact-checking is the responsibility of the author and not the editors.
  • Submit your manuscript in Microsoft Word or RTF format. Embed any images, tables, and appendices into the submitted document as a single file. Do not send images as separate files unless requested by an editor.
  • Please keep in mind that your formatting will not be the final version and do what you can to make it easy for the editors to edit and format your document.

Specific Guidelines

Foreign terms

Whenever possible, foreign terms should be set in italics.

Titles

Titles of books, movies, etc., should be set in italics.

Footnotes

Footnotes should be used sparingly, if at all. Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced rather than at the end of the document. Footnotes should be in 10 pt. Calibri, they should be single spaced, and there should be a footnote separator rule (line). Footnote numbers or symbols in the text must follow, rather than precede, punctuation.

Figures and Tables

To the extent possible, figures and tables should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text. Large tables or figures should be placed on pages by themselves. Avoid the use of overly small type in tables. In no case should tables or figures be in a separate document or file. All tables and figures must fit within 1-inch margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right) in both portrait and landscape view.

References and Citations

Citations should follow current MLA bibliographic format. For details on MLA formatting, visit https://library.wlu.ca/help/activity/citing-sources/styles#libcontent-mla.

Book Review Preparation Guidelines

Overview

  • The Goose accepts submissions in English and in French.
  • Use the following fonts:
    • Main Body: 12 pt. Calibri.
    • Footnotes (used sparingly, if at all): 10 pt. Calibri.
  • Left text alignment
  • Single spaced
  • One space between paragraphs (beginning of paragraphs are not indented)
  • Block quotations should be indented.
  • All margins (left, right, top, and bottom) should be 1 inch. Page size should be 8.5 x 11 inches.
  • Use current MLA (Modern Language Association) format for citations.
  • When quoting from the text you are reviewing, please cite page numbers in your review according to MLA format.
  • Use em-dashes (—) rather than en-dashes (–), omitting any spaces before and after.
  • Copyedit your review.

Specific Guidelines

Length of Book Review

The type of material being reviewed will determine the appropriate length of each submission. Recommended maximum word counts are as follows:

  • Poetry collection: 800 words
  • Works of fiction or monographs: 800-1,000 words
  • Edited collections: 1,200 words

Formatting

The title of your review, the title of the book being reviewed, its publication information and price, and your name should be included at the top of the book review. These details should be formatted as follows:

[Your Title] [in bold, if applicable—a title is not required]

The Reinvention of the Hand by PAUL VERMEERSCH [all in bold, all caps for author's name] M&S, 2009 $29.95 [Canadian price, if possible]

Reviewed by JANE DOE [your name in bold and all caps]

Text of the book review

Works Cited [if applicable. Align left]

CONTRIBUTOR’S NAME followed by bio details.

Include a short author's bio at the end of the document (after the Works Cited entries, if any). The author's bio should begin with your name in bold and all caps.

Footnotes

We discourage the use of footnotes in book reviews. If you must use a footnote, however, it should appear at the bottom of the page on which it is referenced rather than at the end of the document. Footnotes should be in 10 pt. Calibri, they should be single spaced, and there should be a footnote separator rule (line). Footnote numbers or symbols in the text must follow, rather than precede, punctuation.

Spelling

The Goose employs Canadian spelling.

Titles

Titles of books should be set in italics. Titles of poems, articles, and chapters should be set in “quotation marks.”

References and Citations

Citations should follow current MLA bibliographic format. For details on MLA formatting, visit https://library.wlu.ca/help/activity/citing-sources/styles#libcontent-mla.

Submission

Completed reviews can be submitted online on our website on or before the Book Review deadline. Please ensure that “Book Review” is selected as the Type of Submission.

Metadata

Article Title: the Article title field should give the title of the reviewed book and the author of the book: for example, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (unfortunately we can’t use italics in the title field).

Abstract: For book reviews the abstract takes the form: Review of Fred Stenson’s Who by Fire.