Submission Guidelines
Manuscripts
Scope welcomes original contributions in film and television studies. Please note that we do not publish work that has been previously published in other print or online forums. In addition, while we do welcome repeat contributions to the journal, we ask that potential contributors to all sections not submit more than one article or review for consideration in a one-year period.
Articles: Articles should be between 5000-7500 words long, and should be submitted electronically as e-mail attachments. Authors are requested not to place their names on articles, but are required to submit personal details in their e-mail. The information must include all the following information: name, institutional affiliation and position, contact address, research interests, and email address. All submissions must include a short abstract (around 200 words) plus five keywords. The email and attachment should be sent to the articles editor (see main page for email address). Scope is a refereed journal. Articles submitted to Scope: An Online Journal of Film Studies should not be under consideration by any other journal. Any images must be accompanied by copyright permissions. Where films and websites are cited, a filmography and website references must be supplied (see guidelines below).
For articles queries and submissions please contact the Articles Editor.
Book Reviews: Scope is particularly keen to publish book-review essays of 2,000-3,500 words. We presently do not seek reviews of single books, but ask that prospective reviewers choose two or more titles that could be included in an omnibus review. A list of books currently available for review is posted on the website.
For book review queries and submissions please contact the Book Reviews Editor.
Film Reviews: Scope is particularly keen to publish film and television review essays of between 2000-3500 words, although we also publish shorter reviews of 1000-2000 words. Reviews can be of a single film or TV programme, or more than one title if a strong connection exists. Reviews of retrospective films or TV programmes will be considered but these should make clear why it is especially timely for these to be reviewed (for example, a new box-set, a retrospective etc).
For film/television reviews queries and submissions please contact the Film and Television Reviews Editor.
Conference Reports: Each year Scope commissions reports on four major annual conferences: SCMS (Society for Cinema and Media Studies), MeCCSA (Media, Communication, and Cultural Studies Association), Screen (University of Glasgow), and NECS (European Network for Cinema and Media Studies). In addition, it considers reports on other conferences of interest to Scope readers for possible inclusion in the journal. Anyone interested in submitting a report is encouraged to contact the section editor at the earliest opportunity to confirm whether a review of the conference they would like to review has already been commissioned. Conference reports should be between 1000-2500 words.
For conference report queries and submissions please contact the Conference Reports Editor.
Style Guide
General Format
All articles should be submitted to the Articles Editor as word documents, using Times New Roman type, twelve-point font size, and text should be single-spaced. Abstracts should be sent as a separate attachment.
Quotations
Quotations of less than 40 words should be included in the text with double inverted commas and single inverted commas for quotes within quotes. Quotations of more than 40 words should be indented (0.5” or 1 cm) and formatted to eleven-point font size, and should not include quotation marks (i.e. inverted commas) around the entire quote.
Placement of ellipses and full stops around quotations
Ellipses: Ellipses can be used within quotations if words have been excised from the original source. Ellipses are not required at the beginning or end of a quotation, even if prior or following wording has been excised from the original source.
Full stops: When parenthetical citations are used at the end of a sentence, full stops should follow the parentheses except in the case of block quotations. For block quotations, include the parenthetical citation after a full stop at the end of the quotation.
Dashes
If using dashes, you may use double hyphens or en or em dashes; simply be consistent with whichever version you choose, and do not use single hyphens in place of dashes.
Numbers
Numbers under 20 should usually be spelt out rather than presented as numerals. Percentages and dates should always be presented in numeral form.
Notes
Please do not use the automatic footnotes or endnotes function on a computer when formatting your submission for Scope . Instead, numbered references [1] , [2] , [3] …etc -- which should be kept to a minimum -- should be listed at the end of the article and referenced within the article as detailed below. If you must gloss important points or concepts outside the main body of the text, please use a numbered reference. Appendices should be avoided. However, if it is absolutely necessary to provide an Appendix, this should be placed at the conclusion of the paper and before the list of References.
In-text referencing
Scope follows a version of the Harvard Referencing System. In-text referencing provides author's surname, year of reference and page number, as in the following:
(Cohan, 1997: 38).
Bibliography
This should appear at the end of the paper, after all numbered references (and Appendix if necessary). The full names of authors should be provided in bibliographies, not just first initials. For our formatting purposes, hanging indents are not required.
To avoid duplicating the same reference details in the body of the text, authors should use 'Ibid.' when consecutively citing the same source.
Books
Naremore, James (1998) More than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Articles
Klinger, Barbara (1997) The Road to Dystopia: Landscaping the Nation in Easy Rider, in Steven Cohan and Ina Rae Hark (eds.), The Road Movie Book. London: Routledge, pp. 179-203.
Or,
Staiger, Janet (1985) The Politics of Film Canons, Cinema Journal 24 (2), (Spring), pp. 4-25.
Filmography
If required, a filmography should be provided after the References with a separate heading. The filmography should include the following information: title (italicised), year, director, and a key production reference (production company, major distributor or releasing studio—authors may choose one key reference). For example:
Brokeback Mountain. 2005. Dir. Ang Lee. Universal Studios.
References to television shows should include the following details: title (italicised), year(s) of broadcast, and original broadcast network. For example:
Lost (2004 – present) ABC.
Websites
Websites should include both the full address and the date of downloading or printing. Websites regularly update, and you need to be clear not only about the address to which you are referring, but also the date on which you referred to it. Where possible, web citations should also include details of author, publication name and publication date, e.g. when citing online news sources. For example:
Rose, Steve (2001) The Film is So Slow -- It's Like Grandma Telling Stories, Guardian Unlimited [online], 13 February. Available at: <http://www.film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,437326,00.html> [Accessed: 29 July 2001]
Online scholarly articles should be included with print articles in the References section.
Spelling and Punctuation
Scope: An Online Journal of Film & Television Studies has a global readership, and as such both US and British English spelling and punctuation are acceptable as long as the style remains consistent throughout.
Proofs
Proofs will be sent to authors electronically. They must be carefully checked for formatting errors, corrected and returned to the Editor within three weeks. Major alterations to the text cannot be accepted.
Copyright
It is a condition of publication that authors vest copyright in their articles, including abstracts, in Scope: An Online Journal of Film and Television Studies . This enables us to ensure full copyright protection and to disseminate the article, and the journal, to the widest possible readership in print and electronic formats as appropriate. Authors may, of course, use the article elsewhere after publication without prior permission from Scope , provided that acknowledgment is given to the Journal as the original source of publication, and that it is notified so that our records show that its use is properly authorized.
A copy of the submission guidelines can be downloaded here
Any queries concerning copyright, or any other matters not discussed in the above Guidelines for Submissions, should be sent to julian.stringer@nottingham.ac.uk.