Information For Authors

Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you review the About the Journal page for the journal's section policies, as well as the Author Guidelines below. Authors need to register with the journal prior to submitting or, if already registered, can simply log in and begin the submission process.

Author Guidelines

Categories:   

Work may be submitted under two categories:

  • RESEARCH AND ANALYTICAL ARTICLES – effective presentation of research findings or effective interpretation and/or critique of a text or multimedia work
  • CREATIVE RESEARCH – effective presentation of findings in multimedia formats or including creative elements such as creative writing, video or audio sections, autoethnographic work, Indigenous methodologies, music, or visual arts. Projects that are primarily creative such as collage or visual art must include a short write-up (500-1000 words) that includes your choice of medium and how it helps express your intended messages, any research that went into the creation of the work, and how this affected your creative process, and the relationship of your work to other scholarly and creative work.

Indicate which category best suits the project you are submitting for publication during the submission process. 

Eligibility:      

Any student currently registered or recently graduated from a post-secondary institute in Canada may submit their work so long as they ensure it maintains a focus on Communication, Media and Film studies. Coursework from the current academic year, or the year prior is acceptable. Students are responsible for ensuring their own eligibility. The submission must be endorsed or nominated for publication by a faculty member who is familiar with the subject matter. The name and email contact of the faculty nominator must be included in the "Supporting Agencies" section of the submission process. The submission of the work to the journal is the responsibility of the student. If you are uncertain or have any other questions, please contact the Managing Editor at motley.journal@ucalgary.ca

Submission Guidelines:

  • The content of submissions must be stripped of personal data and anonymized. This includes removing the course title, instructor, author information, and any names in the acknowledgements of the work.
  • The file for your submission should be titled Last Name, First Name. Title of Work.
  • Work must be submitted using APA 7th ed. citation style
  • Limit of 20 pages or 3 gigabytes for submissions, submissions exceeding 1.5MB must be sent through email to motley.journal@ucalgary.ca. Please make the subject of the email “Multimedia submission”
  • Maximum 2 submissions per person per issue
  • Research submissions must be accompanied by any required research ethics and approval forms
  • Students are welcome to submit work from the current academic year or from the previous year. Graduated students are welcome to submit the previous year’s undergraduate work within a year of their graduation.
  • Non-course work completed during the current or previous academic year is also eligible for submission but must still be accompanied by faculty endorsement or nomination information
  • Submitted coursework must have received a final grade from the course instructor. 
  • All text submissions must include an abstract (250-300 words max.) on the first page and be a singular Microsoft Word document in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins, and 1.5 pt. line spacing.
  • Multimedia submissions can be uploaded as audio, video, PowerPoint, or text files.
  • Multimedia submissions must be accompanied by an abstract (250-500) words, and a reference list attached as a separate file.
  • If your multimedia submission exists on a third party website (Wix.com, Prezi.com, etc.,) please include a link to the website at the top of your abstract.
  • Projects that are primarily creative such as collage or visual art must include a short write-up (500-1000 words) that includes your choice of medium and how it helps express your intended messages, any research that went into the creation of the work, and how this affected your creative process, and the relationship of your work to other scholarly and creative work.

Procedures:

    1. Before submission, polish and edit your paper for clarity. Ensure that your findings are presented in a clear and complete manner and double-check that your citations are also complete and accurate. 
    2. Submit the anonymous copy of your work through this website. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis, and issues are published twice a year. Please remember to include the name and email of your Faculty Nominator under the "Supporting Agencies" section.

What happens after you submit:

Submission stage:

  • The Motley editorial board will do a preliminary review of your submission to ensure that the submission is complete, is an appropriate fit for the aims & scope of The Motley, and is of sufficient quality to proceed to peer review.

Review stage:

  • One faculty and one undergraduate peer reviewer will be assigned to your submission. Depending on the availability of reviewers, the peer review process may take (on average) about 5-7 weeks. Reviewers will provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your submission, and provide a recommendation to the editors about whether to accept, decline, or request revisions on your submission.
  • The managing editor will consolidate the information from all of the reviews, and take their feedback into account when making a final assessment of your submission. Based on the reviews, and in consultation with The Motley editorial board, the editor will then notify you of the editorial decision. There are typically four possible outcomes:
    • Accept - the editor will provide details about what minor revisions are necessary and provide a deadline for submitting your revisions (normally ~2 weeks).
    • Revisions Required - the editor will provide details about what revisions are necessary and provide a deadline for submitting your revisions (normally ~2 weeks). You will be asked to submit your revisions, along with an explanation of how you addressed any concerns from the reviewers. The editor will then record a final editorial decision.
    • Decline - the editor will provide feedback explaining why your submission was not accepted for publication at this time.
    • Revise & Resubmit - If there are major concerns with your submission that would require the submission to go through a new round of peer review, you may be asked to revise and resubmit for a future issue. Your submission would be treated as a “new” submission and would go through the peer review process again.

Copyediting stage: (Accepted submissions only)

  • Once you have submitted your revisions and they are accepted by the editor, your submission will be passed on to a copyeditor.
  • The copyeditor will review the submission for grammar, style, consistency, and formatting.
  • The copyeditor (or the managing editor) will notify you of any additional minor revisions that are necessary prior to publication, and will provide a deadline for submitting your copyedits (normally ~1 week).

Production stage: (Accepted submissions only)

  • Once you have provided a final, copyedited version of your submission, the editors will create a PDF proof of your submission, laid out in The Motley article format.
  • The PDF will be sent to you to proofread. This is the final opportunity for you to review and make corrections to your submission prior to publication. You will normally be asked to notify your editor of any required corrections within one week.

Publication -- congratulations!