Policies
Contents
- Philosophy of The Omnipedia Review
- Who Can Submit?
- Submission Rules
- Formatting Requirements
- Rights for Authors and Digital Commons @ Longwood University
Philosophy of The Omnipedia Review
For more information, please see The Omnipedia Review Aims and Scope page.
Who Can Submit?
Undergraduate and graduate students may submit to The Omnipedia Review. They may submit an original article to be considered for publication in The Omnipedia Review provided he or she owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).
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 The Omnipedia Review, 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 The Omnipedia Review. If you have concerns about the submission terms for The Omnipedia Review, please contact the editors.
How to Submit. Student should send their submission and The Omnipedia Review Submission Cover Sheet to Office of Student Research (osr@longwood.edu). Submissions must be submitted in a Word document in 12-point Times New Roman font. PDFs are not acceptable. Citations should follow the MLA Handbook, 8th edition. Where appropriate, authors should use in-text citations. The submission guidelines below can also be downloaded using this link.
Review Essay. A review essay is a comparison of 2-4 scholarly books on the same topic of approximately 2,500 words. For guidelines on writing a review essay, see “How To Write a Comparative Analysis,” Harvard College Writing Center. For an example of a review essay, see Karim Ismaili’s book review essay.
The review essay should include the following:
Title. The title of the essay should be a creative take on the topic of the books under review.
Citation. Cite each book by including the following information:
- Author’s last name, first name and initial
- The title of the book
- Publication place
- Publisher
- Publication date
- Total pages
- Introduction. State the main idea of each book. Briefly explain whether or not the books do a good job of covering the subject.
- Summary. Summarize the content of each book.
- Discussion. Compare the books using the block method or the point-by-point method (See USC Library Research Guides: Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Multiple Book Review Essay. Authors may also use any method that results in an organized discussion of the books. Quote sparingly, using in-text citations. (See The MLA Handbook, 8th edition.).
- Conclusion. Would you recommend these books to other readers? Why or why not?
- Title. The title of the review article should be a creative take on the topic.
- Abstract. Summarizes the major ideas of the review article.
- Keywords. Five keywords that relate to the topic of the review article.
- Submission Author information. Name, department and institution.
- Content of Review Article. The body of the essay should include:
- Introduction. Summarize the major themes of the review of the literature.
- Literature review. Explain the major themes of the review and identify gaps within the scholarly literature.
- Conclusion. Summarize the review article.
- Citations. Cite the scholarly sources referred to in the literature review.
Annotated Bibliography. The annotated bibliography is a bibliography that provides a brief description of each source. It is at least 2,500 words. For guidelines on writing an annotated bibliography, see "Writing an Annotated Bibliography," Skidmore College. The author may choose the organizational structure of the bibliography (i.e. chronological, alphabetical, by sub-topic, by format).
The annotated bibliography should include the following:
Title. The title should be a creative take that will draw the reader’s attention and state the topic covered by the bibliography.
Introduction. The introduction (at least 500 words) should provide an overview of the topic as covered in the bibliography or discuss the patterns or trends in the research covered by the bibliography.
Entries. Each bibliographic entry should be at least 150 words, cite the source, and include an annotation. For primary sources, the annotation should 1) describe the source and 2) explain its relationship to other primary sources (i.e. other items in a series, other works by the same creator, other works that inform the source). For secondary sources, the annotation should 1) summarize the source, including the thesis/main purpose/main idea and 2) explains how the source confirms, refutes or extends what others have said on the topic.
Formatting Requirements
Submissions must be submitted in a Word document using 12-point Times New Roman font to osr@longwood.edu. PDFs are not acceptable. Citations should follow the MLA Handbook, 8th edition. Where appropriate, authors should use in-text citations.
Rights for Authors and Digital Commons @ Longwood University
As further described in our submission agreement (the Submission Agreement), in consideration for publication of the article, the authors assign to Digital Commons @ Longwood University all copyright in the article, subject to the expansive personal--use exceptions described below.
Attribution and Usage Policies
Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the article or any material therein, in any medium as permitted by a personal-use exemption or by written agreement of Digital Commons @ Longwood University, requires credit to Digital Commons @ Longwood University as copyright holder (e.g., Digital Commons @ Longwood University © 2023).
Personal-use Exceptions
The following uses are always permitted to the author(s) and do not require further permission from Digital Commons @ Longwood University provided the author does not alter the format or content of the articles, including the copyright notification:
- Storage and back-up of the article on the author's computer(s) and digital media (e.g., diskettes, back-up servers, Zip disks, etc.), provided that the article stored on these computers and media is not readily accessible by persons other than the author(s);
- Posting of the article on the author(s) personal website, provided that the website is non-commercial;
- Posting of the article on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment (e.g., a Phrenology professor at the University of Southern North Dakota can have her article appear in the University of Southern North Dakota's Department of Phrenology online publication series); and
- Posting of the article on a non-commercial course website for a course being taught by the author at the university or college employing the author.
People seeking an exception, or who have questions about use, should contact the editors.
General Terms and Conditions of Use
Users of the Digital Commons @ Longwood University website and/or software agree not to misuse the Digital Commons @ Longwood University service or software in any way.
The failure of Digital Commons @ Longwood University 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 Digital Commons @ Longwood University and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.
Ex. Duffett, Mark. Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013. 342 pp.
Content of Review Essay. The body of the essay should include the following:
Review Article. A review article is a summary and analysis of selected scholarly material that reflects the current state of a topic of approximately 5,000 words. For guidelines on how to write review article, see Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students. For an example of a review article, see Ronald Schettkat and Lara Yocarini’s “The Shift to Services Employment: A Review of the Literature”.
The review article should include the following: