Submission Guidelines
General Guidelines
Mississippi Libraries accepts research articles, general interest articles, book reviews, columns, and news of interest to librarians and information professionals in Mississippi and the greater Southeast region.
All submissions (not including Book Reviews) should be submitted via email as an attachment, preferably in Microsoft Word or a compatible format, to Hali Black, Editor, at Hali.Black@usm.edu . All submissions are subject to revisions, deletions and additions, which, in the opinion of the journal staff, support the author's intent. Photographs, screenshots, tables, figures, and all other graphics should be sent as separate files (.jpg or .png files are preferred) and must include a caption. Photographs must also include the photographer's name for attribution.
Research Articles
Scholarly articles should consist of original, qualitative or quantitative research relevant to the library profession. Although longer or shorter works may be considered, 2,000-5,000 word manuscripts are most suitable. No other publisher should be simultaneously considering a manuscript submitted to Mississippi Libraries. If the manuscript includes analyses of survey results, please acknowledge approval by the appropriate Institutional Review Board either through direct reference in the manuscript or acknowledgement as part of the manuscript submission. The author is responsible for the accuracy of all statements in the manuscript- contain an abstract of no more than 150 words and a maximum of five keywords.
- contain a literature review.
- contain a references section (type all references, do not use your word processor’s footnote/endnote features).
General Interest Articles
General interest articles should address professional concerns/issues of the library community. Of particular interest to Mississippi Libraries are articles that are of interest to librarians and information professionals in Mississippi and the greater Southeast region, including but not limited to best practices articles, position pieces, and emerging library trends. Although longer or shorter works may be considered, general interest articles should be a minimum of 1000 words. No other publisher should be simultaneously considering a manuscript submitted to Mississippi Libraries.- contain an abstract of no more than 150 words and a maximum of five keywords.
- contain a references section (type all references, do not use your word processor’s footnote/endnote features).
Book Reviews
Mississippi Libraries publishes book reviews, including nonfiction works that relate to Mississippi or the South and fictional works that are written by Mississippians or by individuals with ties to the state. Review should strive to be informative with analysis and critique with respect to similar publications and to previous offerings by the same author(s) as key elements. Other factors to consider are the author's purpose in writing the book and any unique contributions which the work makes to the body of literature. The reviewer should offer criticisms or commendations on the basis of the text with examples from the tex as well asiIndicate the type(s) of library and readership for which the title is recommended. Physical attributes, binding, plates, or illustrations may be notable.- be no more than 500 words.
- include the complete citation of the work being reviewed, to include: title, author(s), editors/illustrators/etc., publication year, city of publication, price, and number of pages.
- include the reviwer's name, job title, and employer/affiliate institution.
Due to great interest in contributing reviews, please contact Tori L. Hopper, Book Review Editor via email at thopper@lowndes.lib.ms.us , to be placed on the list of potential reviewers.
Authors and Publishers: If you would like your book to be considered for review, please contact the Book Review Editor via email at thopper@lowndes.lib.ms.us or at the following address:
Tori L. Hopper
Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System
314 7th Street North
Columbus, MS 39701
News
Calls for the news columns People in the News and News Briefs are sent via the MLA listserv, but news can be submitted to the Editor at any time. All submissions will be posted to the MLA website's news section. Submissions should be under 500 words. Common topics for People in the News include but are not limited to: new hires, retirements, awards, major promotions, and regional/national appointments. News about a librarian authoring a book should be sent to the Book Review Editor. Other news items will be published in the News Briefs column.
Cover Art
We welcome submissions of original artwork to use for the cover of Mississippi Libraries. Submissions should be large, high resolution images (at least 8.5 by 11 inches) in .jpg or .png format. Images with a vertical (portrait) orientation are preferred. We reserve the right to make minor modifications to the artwork, such as cropping or resizing, to best fit it to the cover. A thumbnail of the current cover also appears on the MLA website homepage. Artists with accepted images will be asked to sign an artist statement.