All submissions for publication should conform to the current MLA Handbook, include a list of works cited, and normally should be between 5,000-10,000 words. Full-length reviews of books should be 1,000-7,000 words, and Briefly Noted reviews may be as short as 500 words. Please inquire with the editor before submitting book reviews or shorter "notes." Notes and Letters are generally of a factual or speculative nature, or express opinions or responses to material in Mythlore, in contrast to scholarly articles. Submissions should be formatted as Microsoft Word or as plain ASCII text files and submitted electronically through this web page only.

This document provides some details on typesetting and layout requirements pertaining to final manuscript submission to Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature. However, the Styles Sheet in the left column is the most authoritative document on our style. Paper that do NOT adhere to the Style Sheet may be reviewed by the editor, but they will not be sent on to a referee until corrected.

Formatting Requirements

• Do not include a separate title page, but DO include the title. A cover sheet with the title will be generated by the system.
• Do not include your name on the document or as a page header. It should not be visible to referees.
• Include page numbers, but do NOT include other headers or footers. These will be added by the editors.
• Write your article in English.
• Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single file.
• Double space your text.
• Use a single column layout.
• If figures are included, use high-resolution .jpg figures.
• Copyedit your manuscript carefully.

Additional Recommendations

Indenting, Line Spacing, and Justification

Indent all paragraphs. An indent should be at 5 spaces.

Do not insert extra space between paragraphs of text with the exception of long quotations. These should be set off from the surrounding text by additional space above and below and the entire paragraph should be indented 3 spaces.

Language & Grammar

All submissions must be in English. Except for common foreign words and phrases, the use of foreign words and phrases should be avoided, or a translation should be included.

Please ensure that there are no colored mark-ups or comments in the final version. (You may need to "accept all changes" in track changes or set your document to "normal" in final markup.)

Emphasized text

Whenever possible use italics to indicate text you wish to emphasize rather than underlining it.

Font faces

Except where special symbols are needed, use Times New Roman or the closest comparable font available. Use Junicode if Times does not include characters needed for Old English. If you need to include text in an invented language, such as one of Tolkien's Elvish scripts, insertion as a .jpg is preferred, but can be discussed with the editor.

Foreign terms

Whenever possible, foreign terms should be set in italics rather than underlined.

Headings

Headings (e.g., start of sections) should be distinguished from the main body text by using small caps. There should be an extra space above headings.

Titles

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

Footnotes

Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced rather than at the end of the paper. In Word, use the “Insert reference” function to insert your footnotes in proper format. Footnotes should be in 10 pt. Times or closest comparable font available, 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. Excessively long footnotes are probably better handled in an appendix.

Tables and Figures

To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text. Large tables or figures should be put 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.

References and Citations

All in-text citations and your works cited list should conform to MLA style. See the current MLA Handbook and the full Style Sheet for complete details and examples.

In MLA style, short citations in the text refer the reader to a bibliography at the end of the work.

Any full citations in your text should be replaced with abbreviated citations and moved to your bibliography. Use MLA format (with year at the end rather than after the author) for works cited list. MLA 9th no longer requires the place of publication for most publishers, and has changed the abbreviations used in citing periodical articles.

References should appear right after the end of the document, beginning on the last page if possible. Use a hanging indent of 3 spaces for your reference list.

Preferred editions:

The 50th Anniversary one-volume edition of The Lord of the Rings (2004 and later printings) is our preferred edition. Cite your quotations including the book and chapter number so we can easily change them to this edition if you use a different one. For example, LotR VI.5.937 refers to Book 6, Chapter 5 “The Steward and The King,” page 937 in the edition cited.

Tolkien’s Letters: Because the print and electronic editions have different methods for indicating what letter is being cited, our preference for in-text citations is: Cite by page AND letter number (i.e., Letters 51, #43). List in bibliography under Tolkien, not Carpenter.

For important standard fantasy texts like the Narnia books, The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland, the Harry Potter books, Lewis’s Space Trilogy, and so on that are available in multiple editions with different pagination, please include the chapter number for the page you cite. It is especially crucial to do this if you are citing from a Kindle or other electronic edition. For example, Hobbit XIII.150, Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" 5.55.

Similarly, in in-text citations, cite a scene number from a movie or TV show wherever possible. Generally a time stamp is NOT required, but may be added if appropriate, for example, in close analysis of a single scene.

Proofreading tips before final submission:

You will be expected to correct these yourself if your submission is accepted in spite of not adhering to our style.

If you own or consult multiple editions of a text, settle on one for your citations and make sure your bibliography cites that edition only and your page citations match.

Pay particular attention to the rules above for book-chapter-page citation requirements.

Make sure your submission is in MLA format and your footnotes are NOT just the citations for your quotations.

Make sure any sources cited in your footnotes appear in your bibliography.