(Rev. February 2013)

Speculum, published quarterly since 1926, was the first scholarly journal in North America devoted exclusively to the Middle Ages. It is open tocontributions in all fields studying the Western Middle Ages, a period ranging from approximately 500 to 1500. European, Arabic, Byzantine, Hebrew, and Slavic studies are included. The language of publication is English.

ARTICLES

Articles may be submitted on any medieval topic. All disciplines, methodologies, and approaches are welcome. In keeping with the Academy's goal of representing all fields of medieval studies, individual issues usually include articles on a variety of subjects, in a variety of disciplines.

Articles on interdisciplinary topics or articles that tackle large interpretative questions, undertake the synthetic analysis of major methodologies, or consider newer theoretical approaches to medieval studies are encouraged. Highly focused studies are welcome, but preference will be given to articles of interest to readers in more than one discipline and beyond the specialty in question. Authors should consider the multidisciplinary audience of Speculum, should craft their material to appeal to a large audience of medievalists, and should provide sufficient context for readers who are not already experts in the subject matter of their articles.

Translations and editions of medieval texts will be considered for publication when they are an essential part of a larger study; in such cases, the edition or translation may be included as an appendix.

Articles should present original scholarship of the highest quality. Preliminary notes on research still in progress are not acceptable, since Speculum articles should be mature pieces of work, likely to be of long-term value. Work that will soon be published in essentially the same form as part of a book or that is already available on the Internet should not be submitted. Articles are considered for publication on the assumption that they are not being considered for publication by another journal.

The current average decision time for article submissions is 120 days.

PEER-REVIEW POLICIES

Following the Editor's initial determination of the appropriateness of a submission for publication in this journal, Speculum follows a policy of double-blind peer review of all submissions. The author's identity is not known to the reader evaluating the submission, and the author does not know the identity of the reader. The article should include only its title, not the name of its author. An author should avoid self-identification in the argument or documentation of the article. The author's name should not appear as an element in running heads of the typescript.

For some practical advice on peer-reviewing and a general description of the process, please see the following article from The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 13, 2012).

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Authors should submit their articles online at www.editorialmanager.com/speculum. If an accepted article includes illustrations, the author will be responsible for supplying high-quality TIFF files and permissions to reproduce them in print and online. Specifications are: 300 ppi color or greyscale TIFFS for images, 600 ppi for line art (drawings, graphs, maps, etc.). Please supply TIFF images, not JPGs or any other format. Please do not send images embedded into PDF, MSWord, or any other files. Images should be submitted at the largest dimensions available for the ppi specified. Please supply multiple images on (non-returnable) disk or via other memory media (including USB sticks). Please do not use "zip" or other compression tools. Color images will be converted here into greyscale for print but processed in color for online publication.

BOOK REVIEWS

Speculum provides representative review coverage of the work published in all fields, methodologies, periods, and geographical regions of medieval studies. An attempt is made to allow ample space for thorough treatment of substantial books by individual scholars. Since much cutting-edge scholarship - most especially in emerging fields and new methodologies - is now being published in collections of essays, space is also allotted for reviews of collective volumes. Digital work also qualifies for review under these criteria.

Reviewers are chosen by the board of Book Review Editors for their expertise in the subject matter. The ideal reviewer is sympathetic but critical, without overweening prejudice for or against the author, the subject, or the methodology. Personal conflicts of interest are especially to be avoided. The length of the review is determined by the appropriate Book Review Editor. Deadlines are normally four months from the date of assignment.

The Editor and Book Review Editors do their best to ensure that reviews are fair to the author and to the work. Although reviewers speak for themselves, and their judgments should not be understood to be sanctioned by the editors, the Editor of Speculum reserves the right to reject reviews that do not meet the expected criteria and standards of competence and fairness.

The first criterion by which a review is judged is that it provides a clear description of the content of the book and of the author's method and purpose. Thereafter the Editor looks for honest and fair critical judgment, applied to an assessment of the book's strengths and weaknesses, and for an indication of the importance of the book in the context of other scholarship.

Elaborate scholarly apparatus (footnotes, charts, illustrations) is normally to be avoided. Long lists of errata are rarely permitted--a summary statement and a few examples are usually adequate.

Reviews are assigned by the Book Review Editors, and unsolicited reviews will not be considered. Scholars who wish to review for Speculum should contact the Editor at rgmusto@themedievalacademy.org.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Manuscripts should be submitted in digital format to the Editorial Manager system. They should be set in a commonly used, cross-platform typeface, preferably Georgia or Cambria. For non-Roman faces, such as Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and other faces, please use one of the fonts commonly accepted in your field. Please make sure that these faces appear correctly in your test printout before submitting the digital version to us via Editorial Manager. Authors should use a 12-point type with double spacing throughout, including notes. Italics should be employed as needed, but boldface and underlining should be avoided. Ample margins (at least one inch on all sides) should be provided; use ragged right rather than justified margins. Additional space should not be inserted routinely between paragraphs or between notes; use subheads when necessary to signal a division between sections of the text. The manuscript should be paginated consecutively from start to finish. Notes should be submitted as footnotes. Captions and illustrations should be placed at the very end.

Please create a printout and proofread it before submission. Special characters, accents and other diacriticals must print clearly and unambiguously.

Most of the prescriptions that follow are concerned with citation style. For matters not discussed here, authors should refer to recent issues of the journal. For usage issues not found in Speculum, please consult the 16th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT

All accepted submissions to Speculum must be accompanied by a completed transfer of copyright form, downloadable here.