Policies
Information for Authors
Other Policies
Peer Review Process
Scholarly manuscripts are reviewed by at least two reviewers who will provide recommendations to the journal editor for publication. Reviewers' comments are made available to authors. If revisions are recommended, authors are strongly encouraged to revise the paper accordingly and note in detail how each suggestion was addressed in a separate attachment.
General Submission Rules
Submitted articles cannot have been previously published, nor be forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic). Please note: "publication" in a working-paper series does not constitute prior publication. In addition, by submitting material to Transactions of the Burgon Society, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that he or she will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at Transactions of the Burgon Society. If you have concerns about the submission terms for Transactions of the Burgon Society, please contact the editors.
Information for Authors
The Burgon Society welcomes submissions to its annual journal, Transactions of the Burgon Society, particularly in one of the three fields that reflect our main areas of interest: the history, design and practice of academic dress. These areas are deliberately wide and are not mutually exclusive. A good topic will encompass more than one of them. Recent authors have expanded our original scope by sharing their expertise in textile conservation and by examining academic dress from a sociological perspective. In short, the editorial board is open to ideas that demonstrate how academic dress fits into society.
The editors will consider topics with some of these concepts in mind:
- History covers the development of academic dress, either generally or with reference to a specific institution or institutions. Topics under this heading would include: the history and development of robes in a particular institution; the historical development of a particular article of dress (e.g. the square cap); or the development of dress in a particular region.
- Design covers the way the shape of academic dress has changed; or how and why different schemes have been drawn up.
- Practice covers such things as an examination of how and why the practice of an institution (or region) has changed; or the comparative analysis of the practices of different institutions.
- Other proposals will be reviewed as long as the main topic is academic dress. Should you have further questions about publication, please contact the editor, Stephen Wolgast, at: slw53@columbia.edu.
If you are interested in submitting an article for examination for Fellowship in the Society, please should contact the Dean of Studies in the first instance to discuss your proposal. The Dean can usually assist those who have no readily identifiable topic of their own. The proposal will then be formally registered. For information on Fellowship, please contact Dr Jonathan C. Cooper, FBS, Dean of Studies, at: dean@burgon.org.uk.
The Transactions journal is published annually in the autumn. Most of the articles are selected by the end of winter, but occasionally one is accepted as late as the end of spring.
If you have illustrations to accompany your article, whether they be photographs, paintings, charts or drawings, you must receive permission to publish them unless they are your own. Neither the Burgon Society nor the editorial board performs this task for you. Please be aware that many institutions take several months to reply to a permissions request, particularly universities. Start the process early.
Primary purposes of the Transactions are to share original research in the study of academic dress in all its aspects, including design, history and practice; and to preserve details of the past and present practices of institutions regarding academic dress.
Questions about the editing process appear below; please contact the editor if your question is not answered.
WHAT ROLE DO EDITORS PLAY IN THE PUBLICATION DECISION?
The editorial board is responsible for determining if a manuscript will be of importance to the Transactions’ readers. The editors determine if a paper will be published. They are asked to pay close attention to the following criteria:
- The general grammar use and writing skill of the author(s)
- The development of a clear purpose
- The appropriateness of literature reviewed
- The methodology used
- The validity and relevance of findings
WHAT ROLE DOES THE JOURNAL EDITOR PLAY IN THE PUBLICATION PROCESS?
The editor’s role is to facilitate a dialog between and among associate editors and authors and to monitor the timeliness of the review and editing process. The editor is available to counsel authors on the process of manuscript submission, review, and publication.
WHO WILL EDIT THE MANUSCRIPT FOR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS?
Basic editing for grammar, readability, and style are the responsibility of the author(s). However, the editorial board will generally make grammatical corrections and suggest improvements to enhance clarity. Citations are the sole responsibility of the author. Submission with improper or incomplete usage of style in citations will be accepted when the citations have been revised follow our style. Please note that a submission with inadequate editing will take longer to review and edit.
ARE INVITED ARTICLES USED?
Occasionally, yes; however, all articles, papers, and manuscripts are welcome.
ARE THERE PAGE RESTRICTIONS OR OTHER LIMITATIONS?
No; it should be noted, however, that reviewers and readers prefer shorter well written manuscripts to those that are overly wordy.
DOES THE JOURNAL HAVE AUTHOR OR SUBMISSION CHARGES?
No, there are no author or submission charges for the Transactions. However, if you are seeking Fellowship, an application fee applies for the review process; there is never a charge to publish your work in the Transactions.
HOW OFTEN IS THE JOURNAL PUBLISHED?
The Transactions journal is published annually in the autumn. Most of the articles are selected by the end of winter, but occasionally one is accepted as late as the end of spring. It is printed in England and distributed by post to those who cannot attend Congregation in October. Authors receive one copy of the journal at no charge; if an author is a member of the Society, she or he receives an additional copy as a benefit of membership.
After two years, the journal is published online both here and at www.burgon.org.uk/society/library/trans/index.php
WHAT IS THE JOURNAL’S ISSN?
The Transactions’ International Standard Serial Number is: ISSN xxxx-xxxx.
Formatting Guidelines
When we publish the Transactions we want to inform our readers and offer them new ideas. Clear writing that follows our house style helps us do so. As in any specialised field, ours has many terms that are esoteric or arcane (or both) even as the field grows with changes to academic dress. The editors try to ensure we use words consistently so that our readers can concentrate on your ideas instead of being distracted by imprecise usage.
The most helpful preparation authors can provide before submission is following our citation style. Starting with Volume 13, the editorial board adopted two citation styles, giving each author the choice of the one that she or he is most comfortable with. They are:
SOCIAL SCIENCES
Short citation in footnote in all references; full citation in list at the end.
HUMANITIES
Full citation in footnote on first reference, short citation in footnotes in later references; no list at end.
A few more adjustments to your text will let the editors spend more time on your content and less time on style adjustments. For a full list, please refer to the link in the following paragraph on the Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines.
Transactions of the Burgon Society has no general rules about the formatting of articles upon initial submission. There are, however, rules governing the formatting of the final submission. See Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines for details.
NOTE: Where available, DOIs (digital object identifiers) for the references must be provided and hotlinked in the Word document. As a member of CrossRef, our publisher, New Prairie Press, is required to include DOIs. Use the free DOI lookup on CrossRef's website to check your citations.
Copyright Notice
Transactions of the Burgon Society requires authors to agree to Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC. Authors who publish with the Transactions of the Burgon Society Transactions of the Burgon Society agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
Open Access Policy
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Archival Policy
Contents of the Journal are archived for perpetual access through New Prairie Press' participation in CLOCKSS (Controlled Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) and Portico and managed through the Digital Commons Publishing platform. New Prairie Press also participates in LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe). Once published, the contents are never changed.
General Terms and Conditions of Use
Users of the New Prairie Press website and/or software agree not to misuse the New Prairie Press service or software in any way.
The failure of New Prairie Press to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between New Prairie Press and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.
