Guidelines for Authors

Information for Authors

Manuscripts

Articles for the Feature Article section include research articles and scholarly articles ranging in length up to 5,000 words. Longer papers may be acceptable. Non-research, informative articles range in length from 1,000 to 3,500 words. Authors should submit word-processed, double-spaced manuscripts via email attachment or in hard copy with an accompanying disk. A separate cover page should include the title of the article and name, address, position, institution, and telephone number of the author(s). The author(s) should not be identified anywhere else in the manuscript.

Abstracts

The first page of text should begin with the title followed by a 100-word abstract describing the purpose of the article.

References

References should be typed, double-spaced at the end of the text following the American Psychological Association (APA) citation format.

Reviews

Reviews should identify books by title, author, place of publication, publisher, date, number of pages, cost, and ISBN. The reviewers' name, position, institution, and address should appear above the review, in a separate paragraph following the bibliographic description of the book. A review should describe the purpose of the book and include a brief objective summary, the reviewer's judgments, and an evaluation of the usefulness of the book. Reviews should generally be 150-300 words, double-spaced, and provided via email attachment or in word-processed hard copy with accompanying disk. Critical reviews may require more than 500 words. Review essays should be submitted as articles. Authors and reviewers may contact an editor for more specific guidelines.

Submitting Manuscripts

Articles should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Anne-Elizabeth Powell, The Christian Librarian, Ryan Library/PLNU, 3900 Lomaland Dr., San Diego, CA 92106
Email: apowell@ptloma.edu

Submitting Reviews

Reviews should be sent to the Review Editor, Phyllis Fox, The Christian Librarian, Media Services/PLNU, 3900 Lomaland Dr., San Diego, CA 92106
Email: pfox@ptloma.edu

Guidelines for Articles

The Christian Librarian, the journal of the Association of Christian Librarians, is directed primarily to Christian librarians in institutions of higher learning. The journal publishes articles on Christian interpretation of librarianship, theory and practice of library science, bibliographic essays, reviews, and human-interest articles relating to books and libraries. Unless arranged in advance with the journal, manuscripts are accepted with the understanding that The Christian Librarian has first rights. Authors will be required to sign a Grant of License to the Association of Christian Librarians for the work. This agreement grants to the Association of Christian Librarians permission to print the article in The Christian Librarian and also provides for possible future use by the Association of Christian Librarians. All other rights remain with the author.

Scholarly articles may be up to 5,000 words in length. Some longer articles may be accepted. Shorter papers from 1,000 to 3,000 words are generally preferable for practical and non-research papers. Please prepare manuscripts using the following guidelines:

  1. Double-space all text, abstracts, and endnotes.
  2. Allow one inch margins all around.
  3. Use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation format.
  4. Create a cover page including title, author's name, position, institution, street address, email address, and telephone numbers. The author should not be identified anywhere else in the manuscript.
  5. The first page of text should include a 100 word abstract.
  6. Unless the author indicates otherwise, it is assumed that the manuscript has not been printed elsewhere or simultaneously submitted to another journal.
  7. Quotations of five or more lines should be typed as a separate indented, double-spaced paragraph without quotation marks.
  8. Take special care with accuracy in quotations and documentation.
  9. Do not hyphenate words at ends of lines. If the complete word cannot be typed within the margin, type the word on the next line.
  10. Place tables and figures in the text where applicable - not at the end
  11. Make good use of headings to break up the text.
  12. References and footnotes should be numbered consecutively and double-spaced at the end of the text; use the American Psychological Association (APA) style.

Submit via email attachment or as hard copy with an accompanying disk (hard copy alone is acceptable if there is no alternative for the author) to the Editor-in-Chief, Anne-Elizabeth Powell, The Christian Librarian, Ryan Library/PLNU, 3900 Lomaland Dr., San Diego, CA 92106
Email: apowell@ptloma.edu

Guidelines for Reviews

Reviews in The Christian Librarian are directed primarily to librarians, who use them in the selection of materials and in providing reference services. College and seminary faculty and students also make use of the reviews. Review copies may be requested of the Review Editor from among the titles listed in the "Resources Received" list published in the journal. Reviewers may keep the books in exchange for their reviews. Reviews should include the subject and scope of the work and a statement of the author's thesis. They should reveal the nature of treatment: reference book, introductory, scholarly, textbook, etc., with a synopsis of the book's content. They should evaluate the work and identify the author if he/she is not well known. Does the book achieve its purpose? How does it compare with others of its kind? What does it contribute to its field? Is it clear, thorough, and well documented?

Please use the following guidelines when preparing reviews:

  1. Double-space.
  2. Allow one inch margins all around.
  3. General reviews should be 150 to 300 words in length, while critical reviews may go beyond 500 words.
  4. Longer review essays which survey the literature of a topic should be submitted as articles to the Editor-in-Chief of the journal.
  5. Quotations and allusions to specific points should be followed by page numbers in parentheses.
  6. Reviews should be headed with the format of the following sample:

Toward Paperless Information Systems, by F. W. Lancaster, New York: Academic Press, 1978. 179 pp. $17.50; ISBN 0-12-436050-5

Reviewed by James R. Martin, Head, Circulation Department, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

Submit via email attachment or as hard copy with accompanying disk (hard copy alone is acceptable if there is no alternative for the author) to the Review Editor, Phyllis Fox, The Christian Librarian, Media Services/PLNU, 3900 Lomaland Dr., San Diego, CA 92106
Email: pfox@ptloma.edu