Author Guidelines

Quill & Quire welcomes submissions of high scholarly quality in all areas relevant to our journal’s scope. The following guidelines are intended to ensure clarity, uniformity, and academic rigor in all contributions. Authors are urged to review these instructions thoroughly prior to submission. 

Submission Process

All submissions must be made electronically via the Quill & Quire online submission system.

Paper submissions are not accepted.

Authors can track submissions and communicate with editors through the online system.

Manuscript Structure 

Title Page

Manuscripts should be anonymized for peer review. Do not include author names or affiliations in the manuscript file.

Author names, institutional and department affiliations, contact details, and optional biographies must be entered into the online submission form.

Authors’ full forenames and surnames are required.

Abstract and Keywords

Research articles must include an abstract of no more than 250 words, summarizing the main arguments and conclusions.

The abstract should be labeled ‘Abstract.”

Up to six keywords may be included below the abstract.

Both abstract and keywords must also be entered into the online submission metadata.

Main Text

Organize the manuscript logically, beginning with an introduction accessible to non-specialists.

Subsequent sections may include methods, results, discussion, and conclusion, as appropriate.

Use up to three heading levels, clearly distinguished by font style or size (e.g. Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 in MS Word styles).

Maintain double spacing throughout, including captions.

Use Times New Roman and 12-point font.

Data Accessibility

If data, methods, or code are openly available, include a “Data Accessibility” statement detailing how to access them (e.g. repository name and DOI).

If data is/are unavailable, state this explicitly, with justification.

Acknowledgments

Place acknowledgements after the main text and before references. Heading: “Acknowledgments.”

Funding Information

Clearly identify any funding sources and grant numbers under a heading “Funding Information.”

Competing Interests

Authors must declare any competing interests.

If none exist, include: “The author(s) has/have no competing interests to declare.”

Authors’ Contributions

Briefly describe the specific contributions of each author under a heading titled “Authors’ Contributions.” For more information on types of contributions, please visit https://credit.niso.org/.

Manuscript Preparation

Language and Style

Manuscripts must be in English. Either American or British spelling may be used but must be consistent throughout.

For titles and first-level headings, capitalize all major words (headline-style). Lower-level headings should capitalize only the first word and proper nouns.

Avoid underlining; use italics or bold sparingly for emphasis.

Quotations

Use single quotation marks for quotations; double marks for quotes within quotes.

Quotations exceeding three lines should be formatted as block quotes, indented by one inch from the main text on both sides, in single space format, and without quotations.

Always indicate sources of quotations.

Lists

Use bullet points for unordered lists and numbers for ordered sequences.

Lists should be used judiciously to maintain readability.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Spell out acronyms on first use, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, use only the acronym (e.g. Quill & Quire (Q&Q)).

Common Latin abbreviations (e.g., i.e., etc.) should remain in lowercase.

Numbers

Spell out numbers zero through nine; use numerals for 10 and above.

Numerals must be used with symbols, measurements, and statistical data.

Do not begin sentences with numerals; rephrase or spell them out.

Symbols, Dashes, and Hyphens

Use em dashes (—) sparingly for emphasis or interruptions.

En dashes (-) may indicate numerical ranges (e.g. 10-25 years).

Hyphenation is acceptable for compound words but should be used consistently.

Units of Measurement 

Use SI units where applicable, per the Bureau International des Poids et Measures (BIPM) SI Brochure.

Figures, Tables, and Multimedia

Figures and Illustrations

Embed low-resolution figures in the manuscript for peer-review. Upon acceptance, submit high-resolution figures separately.

Color images: minimum 300 dpi. Black-and-white line art: minimum 1200 dpi.

Accepted file formats: JPG, TIFF, GIF, PNG, EPS.

Each figure must: 

Be numbered sequentially (e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2). 

Include a clear, concise title and optional legend.

Acknowledge the source and copyright status where applicable.

Provide alternative (alt) text descriptions for all images for accessibility.

Tables

Create tables using the table function of your word processor; do not use tabbed text.

Number tables consecutively (e.g. Table 1, Table 2).

Include a title above each table and an optional legend.

Avoid vertical or diagonal lines, color-coding, or complex multi-part tables unless essential.

Multimedia (Audio or Video) 

Multimedia files may accompany manuscripts or be submitted as standalone works.

Accepted formats: 

Audio: WAV, AIFF, MP3

Video: AVI, MP4, MOV

Provide signed releases for any individual depicted who are not authors.

Contact editors before submitting materials in non-standard formats.

Supplementary Files 

Supplementary data, code, or materials should be submitted during the initial submission process.

Such files will be assigned a DOI and linked from the article.

Citations and References

Quill & Quire uses the Chicago Author-Date system (17th ed.), notes and bibliography format for all citations.

Footnotes

Cite all sources using footnotes, not in-text parenthetical citations.

Footnote numbers should follow punctuation in the text (e.g., “the argument concluded.”1).

Use the word processor’s automatic footnote function to ensure proper numbering and formatting.

Keep footnotes concise. Provide full publication details in the first citation of a source; for subsequent citations of the same work use a shortened form.

If an author is cited two or more times in a row, use Ibid, page number.

For works with four or more authors, list all authors in the first citation; shortened citations may use the first author’s surname followed by “et al.”

Examples of Footnotes: 

Book (first citation): Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (New York: Penguin, 2006), 99-101.

Book (shortened): Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma, 105.

Journal article (first citation): Gueogi Kossinets and Duncan J. Watts, “Origins of Homophily in an Evolving Social Network,” American Journal of Sociology 115, no. 2 (2009): 405-50.

Journal article (shortened): Kossinets and Watts, “Origins of Homophily,” 415.

Newspaper article (first citation): Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Robert Pear, “Wary Centrists Posing Challenge in Health Care Vote,” New York Times, February 27, 2010, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/politics/28health.html.

Newspaper article (shortened): Stolberg and Pear, “Wary Centrists.”

Reference List (Bibliography)

Include a full bibliography at the end of the manuscript.

Arrange entries alphabetically by authors’ surnames.

Use a hanging indent for each entry.

Include DOIs or stable URLs for electronic resources wherever possible.

Use an em-dash (—) for repetition of an author's name.

If beneficial to the reader, the bibliography may be organized by primary and secondary sources. 

Examples of bibliography entries: 

Ahmed, Sara. The Cultural Politics of Emotion. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Alaimo, Stacy. “Trans-Corporeal Feminisms and the Ethical Space of Nature.” In Material 

Feminisms, edited by Stacy Alimo and Susan Hekman, 237-264. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2008.

Bacon, Roger. Opus Majus. Vol. 5, Perspective. Edited by John Henry Bridges. London: Longman & Co., 1900.

Baxandall, Michael. “The Period Eye.” In Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy: A Primer in the Social History of Pictorial Style. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.

Binski, P. “The English Parish Church and its Art in the Later Middle Ages.” Studies in Iconography 20, no. 1 (1999).

—, Medieval Death: Ritual and Representation. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996.

Bledsoe, Jenny C. “The Cult of St. Margaret of Antioch at Tarrant Crawford: The Saint’s 

Didactic Body and Its Resonance for Religious Women.” Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures 39, no. 2 (2013).

Bynum, Caroline Walker. Christian Materiality: An Essay on Religion in Late Medieval Europe. New York: Zone Books, 2011.

—, Fragmentation and RedemptionL Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval 

Religion. New York: Zone Books, 1992.

Clayton, Mary and Hugh Magennis. The Old English Lives of St. Margaret. Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 9. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

De Voragine, Jacobus. The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints. Translated by William Caxton, edited by F. S. Ellis. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1900.

—, Legenda aurea. Edited by Th. Graesse. Leipzig: Librariae Arnoldianae, 1846.

Dinshaw, Carolyn. Getting Medieval: Sexualities and Communities, Pre- and Postmodern. Series Q. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999.

Doomsday Book: A Complete Translation. Edited by Ann Williams and G. H. Martin. London: Penguin Classics, 2002.

Douglas, David C. William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964.

Drewer, Lois. “Margaret of Antioch the Demon-Slayer, East and West: The Iconography of the Predella of the Boston Mystic Marriage of St Catherine.” Gesta 32, no. 1 (1993).

For further details, consult The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.

Permissions

Authors are responsible for securing permissions for all third-party content, including images, tables, figures, and substantial text quotations.

License details for software, tools, or proprietary methods must be disclosed in the manuscript.

Correspondence 

All queries and correspondence regarding submission should be directed to the Editors via the journal’s online platform.