Selection of Material

We are pleased that you have considered submitting the results of your research to us for possible publication. As a learned-society journal with nearly a century of leadership in the field, the NGS Quarterly welcomes submissions that

• treat any ethnic or religious group settling within the present boundaries of the United States;
• cover any period of American history; and
• have not appeared in print elsewhere and have not been submitted to another journal for consideration.

Emphasis is placed upon the following materials:
(Primarily)

• essays of an exemplary caliber, thoroughly documented and carefully argued—including:— methodological case studies — discussions of major resources — compiled genealogies — guides to research in specific states

(Secondarily)

• abstracts of unusual records that cover a broad geographical area.
• reviews of recent books, educational videos, or CD-ROMs that treat the subject of family history.

Essays accepted for publication by the NGS Quarterly are expected to

• be based heavily upon research in original records;
• have an inherent teaching value that transcends any particular family; and
• be thoroughly documented, with a specific citation to a reliable source for each statement that is not public knowledge.

Suggestion: An examination of several recent issues of NGS Quarterly will give you a clearer idea of the type of material sought and the best manner in which to develop your paper.

Preparation of Manuscript

To ensure a prompt review of your manuscript and thorough editing, please observe the following guidelines:

• Length:  1,500 to 5,000 words, including reference notes, is the customary length.

• Submissions:  An electronic version of the manuscript (preferably in Microsoft Word) should be sent by e-mail (or if that is impossible, by diskette.)

• Author’s identity:  Name, address, and telephone number should appear on a cover sheet. Text pages should be headed only by the title of the manuscript (without the author's name).

• Citation style:  All references and explanatory footnotes should follow Mills, Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian, or current issues of the NGS Quarterly.

• Topical headings:  Each major subject area or subsection should carry an appropriate heading, bearing in mind the typographer's maxim that at least five typeset lines (ca. 60 words) must separate each subheading.

• Paragraph formatting:  The appropriate paragraph length for NGS Quarterly columns is 60–150 words. Major points may be bulleted for emphasis.

• Numbering system:  All compiled genealogies should follow NGS Quarterly system (See Curran, Crane, and Wray, Numbering Your Genealogy, cited below).

• Enhancements:   Charts, tables, figures, and maps should be sent in separate files.

Other Considerations

Peer Review — All manuscripts that demonstrate potential undergo critical review by specialists in the appropriate fields. A double-blind process is used, whereby neither the author nor the reviewers know the identity of the other. Authors are supplied copies of the reviews. Writers whose works are accepted may be asked to make revisions based upon the analyses of the manuscript readers and editors.

Handling of Quoted Matter — The NGS Quarterly follows a “rule of three.” If more than three words in a string are borrowed from another source (published or unpublished), they are enclosed in quotation marks and their source is cited. If three or more paragraphs are copied from a published source, the author must also obtain permission from the writer and publisher of the quoted material.

Authors' Rights — Authors retain the copyright to their creative properties. NGS Quarterly asks only for the right of first publication, exclusivity during one year after the material's appearance on its pages, and rights to distribute copies of the article in the Quarterly, separate reprints, and/or future collections of Quarterly articles.

Editorial Rights — The NGS Quarterly reserves the right to edit all submissions in conformity to house style and needs.

Galleys — All NGS Quarterly authors receive galleys of the edited manuscript for review and/or correction.

Lead Time — It is necessary for all healthy journals to maintain a stock of manuscripts in advance of immediate need. Doing so insures readers of more-balanced content in each issue and allows the production staff ample time for fact-checking and editing.The actual time that elapses between acceptance and publication of your manuscript will depend upon such factors as subject matter and length. Nine to twelve months is the common range.

Helpful Reading

Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Curran, Joan F., Madilyn Coen Crane, and John H. Wray. Numbering Your Genealogy: Basic Systems, Complex Families, and International Kin. Arlington: National Genealogical Society, 1999.

Jones, Thomas W. “Guide for Book and Media Reviews,” NGS Quarterly 86 (June 1998): 138–139.

Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997.

Mills, Elizabeth Shown, ed. Professional Genealogy:A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers and Librarians. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001.

Ross-Larson, Bruce. Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works with Words. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1982.

Sturdevant, Katherine Scott. “Writing Analytical Book Reviews,” Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly 4 (Fall 1989), 59–60.

Venolia, Jan. Write Right! A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style. Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press, 1988.

Editorial Offices

Journal Editors:

Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, FASG
Gallaudet Research Institute, HMB S-439
Gallaudet University
800 Florida Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002-3695
ngsq@ngsgenealogy.org

Book and Media Review Editor:

Christopher A. Nordmann, Ph.D., CG
2767 A Mary Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63144-2725