House Style Guide

Authors: Please conform all references in your manuscript to the Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org). Below are specific, additional instructions for JCMS (formerly Cinema Journal).

Manuscript Preparation

Formatting

The entire manuscript should be double-spaced including notes and captions. Use size 12, Times New Roman font and avoid special formatting. All text should be flush left (like this page) and not “justified” to the right margin. Block quotations should be indented. As a general rule, only quotes of 100 words or more should be presented as block quotations. For an em dash—one that indicates a break in a sentence like this—use the em dash character, not hyphens (leave no space on either side of the dash). All notes should be formatted as endnotes.

Title and Author Info

For initial submissions, remove all biographical information from your document. For the final manuscript, at the top of the first page, include the article title, your byline (by Firstname Lastname), your biography (25–40 words), and an abstract (50–100 words), in that order, with line breaks between this information. Any author acknowledgments should be gathered at the end of the article, not included in your endnotes.

Length

Feature articles should be 8,000–10,000 words long, including endnotes and captions. This does not include the abstract, keywords, or author information (in the final manuscript).

To be considered for review, manuscripts should be at least 8,000 words long and no longer than 10,000 words. This word count includes end notes but does not include abstract.

Book Review essays are 1,500-2,000 words long. The Book Review editor will communicate with you to coordinate a specific word count.

For the length of In Focus essays, see below.

In Focus

The In Focus dossier as a whole, as well as individual essays within the dossier, should be titled. This includes the editors' introduction, which may be titled simply, "Introduction." In Focus essays are generally 2,000-2,500 words long, depending on the number of contributors to the dossier. Please check with your In Focus editor for your specific word limit. We usually do not include subheads in In Focus articles.

Subheadings

If you choose to use subheads, please format them using headline style capitalization, in bold, and on a separate line. That is, one paragraph will end, then you’ll return for an additional blank line, and then the bolded subheading, flush left, and an additional hard return to begin the next paragraph.

Subhead Goes Here
And the main paragraph starts here.

Subheads should not include subtitles (e.g., “Subheadings Are Themselves Clarificatory: Further Clarification Becomes Unwieldy.”) We usually do not include subheads in In Focus or Book Review articles.

Cinema and Media Titles

When discrete media texts are first mentioned, please provide the following information.:

• For films, provide the director’s first and last name, as well as the release year, in parentheses: e.g, 2 Fast 2 Furious (John Singleton, 2003). If the director is unknown, the studio or company name may be substituted.
• For television or radio series, please provide the original channel/network/streaming service and run dates: e.g, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox, 2008–2009).
• Podcasts should be cited with the original distributor and run dates: e.g., The Drop Out (ABC News, 2019).
• Ongoing comic book series should be cited with the publisher and inclusive run dates in-text like TV series: e.g., Sandman (Vertigo, 1989–1996).
• For video games, cite the company that created the game and the original release year: e.g, Animal Crossing (Nintendo, 2001).
• Album titles should be followed by the artist and release year: e.g, Reality (David Bowie, 2003).

Translations

For film, media, and text titles appearing in the body text of articles or non-citational footnote text, the original language of the title should always come first (transliterated if necessary), followed by the title translated into English in parenthesis. If the film has been released in English, the translated title should be italicized and in title case: e.g., Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows, Francois Truffaut, 1959). If the film has not been released in English, the translated title should not be italicized and it should be formatted in sentence case: e.g., Ithu Kathirvelan Kadhal (This is Kathirvelan’s love, S. R. Prabharkaran, 2014). Thereafter, refer to the film by its original title.

For translations of titles in citational footnotes, please use square brackets [ ] instead of parentheses for the first full citation in sequence. Subsequent references to that source in footnote citation only require the original title.

For other instances of translation within the body text of articles or non-citational footnote text, italics are used for isolated words and phrases from a non-English language, especially if they are not listed in a standard English-language dictionary such as Merriam-Webster or are likely to be unfamiliar to readers. Please italicize original language words that would not be familiar to the reader, and place the translation in parentheses: e.g., The word she wanted was pécher (to sin), not pêcher (to fish). Quotations or passages of non-English text do not require italics. The English translation should follow immediately in parentheses: e.g., A line from Goethe, “Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß” (Who never ate his bread with tears), comes to mind. For commonly used phrases, such as mise en scène, there is no need for italics. See Chicago Manual of Style, Chapter 11 for further guidance.

Grammar and Syntax

While your article will be professionally copyedited, please consider ways to make your prose as reader-friendly as possible. This includes avoiding passive construction unless necessary, ensuring that all pronouns have antecedents, and eliminating dangling modifiers, run-on sentences, and comma splices. Paragraphs should have smooth transitions that indicate where your argument is heading; as much as you’re able to do so, cut down on metadiscourse to this effect. As a general rule, avoid slang and informal language. For spelling, refer to Merriam-Webster.

Bias-Free Language

Biased language distracts many readers and makes the work less credible to them. Therefore we ask that submissions use gender-neutral language in reference to unspecified or generic persons. This often involves rewording your prose, such as substituting the plural they and their for the singular he or she.

JCMS asks authors to make every effort to avoid derogatory language. When writing about uses of derogatory language by others, please use dashes after the first letter of the offensive term (e.g., b---- in lieu of the derogatory word used to describe women), and include a footnote to indicate usage throughout the manuscript. In instances where a derogatory term has been reclaimed by a particular community but may still be offensive to some readers, please be aware that the editors may ask for evidence of widespread community use or may ask that a sigil still be used in place of the term itself.  

Images

We are able to run up to six images per feature article. In Focus dossiers may include up to six images in total, which roughly translates to one image per article included in the dossier. Please check with your In Focus editor for specific information about images. In order to make the process go smoothly, please ensure that you’ve formatted your files correctly.

• Images should be a minimum of 1500 pixels wide or tall (or at least 3–4 inches when saved at 300 dpi).
• Images should be placed only between paragraph breaks, not within a paragraph.
• Save images as TIFF files.
• Please communicate with editorial staff in advance if you have a chart, graph, or table.
• Name each image file with your last name and the figure number: Lastname_Figure01.
• For initial review, please embed the images in the Word Document for readers’ easy reference.
• For the final manuscript, remove all images from the Word Document and send separately, using a Drive, Box, or Dropbox link.

In the first sentence that analyzes or mentions the figure contents, be sure to include the figure number in parentheses at the end of the sentence: e.g., (see Figure 1). When removing embedded images from your submission draft for your final manuscript, include curly-bracketed all-caps callouts in between paragraphs in your manuscript to indicate where figures should be placed. Place a brief caption (less than 50 words) in the line below the callout. For example:

{PLACE FIGURE 1 ABOUT HERE} Figure 1. Miss World (Carole Laure) performs for the camera at a commercial shoot in Sweet Movie (Maran Films, 1974).

In addition to a descriptive caption, each image should be provided a credit line. Credit the copyright holder; if it is not clear who that is, credit the film or DVD/BluRay distributor from where the image was pulled. Thus, a title referenced in the text would appear as Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992) but an image would be credited as Reservoir Dogs (Miramax, 1992). Cite the company “closest” to the image (i.e., Miramax, not Disney). If you’re using an image that required permission, the credit line should follow instructions you received from the rights holder. For comic art, in addition to the publisher and year include the artist(s), series, issue number, and page number.

Authors must also include alternative text (alt-text) for every image, submitted as a separate Word document listing each figure number and description. Alt-text is used by screen readers and other assistive technologies to convey the content of an image to readers, which is important for supporting increased accessibility. It should do more than describe what is shown—briefly explain how the image supports or relates to your argument. For additional guidance, see Michigan's "Describing Visual Resources Toolkit" or Harvard’s "Write Helpful Alt Text to Describe Images" page for more examples.

Screen grabs are a popular choice for article figures, but resolution can be a concern. Your easiest, most basic choice for capturing a screen grab may not provide enough resolution. Using a Blu-ray disc will help (versus DVD), as will using a larger screen when capturing the image. If you have additional questions about how to capture high-resolution images, please email [email protected].

As a general policy, JCMS does not run figures that are composed of multiple images, such as two or more stills or screenshots placed side by side and submitted as one image. Some exceptions may be granted for images of interfaces with dimensions that do not match standard media figures, such screenshots of mobile phone content, or for original, creative, or transformative images. If you would like to the editors to consider an exception for multi-paneled images, please inquiry at [email protected].

Tables

Tables should be formatted as tables in Word. They should be saved as separate Word documents and submitted with the article. Tables have their own notes, which are never the same as the article's notes, and source line. Like images, tables require callouts and references in text. Please confer with editorial staff if you are planning on submitting a table.

Attribution

At the time of publication, you must submit all necessary permission paperwork to the editorial team.

To determine whether or not a particular work is copyrighted, please search the database "Public Catalog" by the United States Copyright Office.

To analyze whether or not a use of a copyrighted work meets Fair Use, please see the web page "Fair Use" by Columbia University Libraries Copyright Advisory Services.

For information on film stills, please see the SCMS Report, "Fair Usage Publication of Film Stills" by Kristin Thompson.

For information on newspaper articles, please see the blog post, "Copyright & the newspaper article" by Judy G. Russell.

Should you have further questions, we advise you to consult the copyright specialist at your university library.  

Documentation

Films and media should be cited parenthetically in the text (see “Cinema and Media Titles” above). Cite all other secondary sources—epigraphs, journal issues, books, DVD commentaries and extras, etc.—in endnotes.

• Check all of your notes against Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition.
• Use Word’s endnote function, rather than manually entering them.
• Add endnotes at the end of the sentence in which the work is cited, never in the middle. If a sentence contains multiple references, combine them into a single endnote (or break up the sentence).
• In keeping with the new Chicago Manual of Style guidelines, use shortened citations instead of ibid. To avoid repetition, the title of a work just cited may be omitted.
• Minimize your notes so that they mostly provide documentation, not information and elaboration: heavy notes can be visually distracting for readers.
• If you are italicizing a portion of the quoted material, please include (emphasis mine) in a parenthetical at the end of the citation. See Chicago Manual of Style, 13.62, for additional information.
• Ensure that page number and date ranges are linked by en dashes (–), not hyphens.
• Do not include footnotes or a works cited list.
• We require using a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) when citing digital articles, if one is available. See Chicago Manual of Style, 14.8, for additional information.

Endnote citations

The following are examples of note citations. For instructions and context for shortened notes, please scroll to the bottom. See Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition, Chapter 14 for additional information.

Book

1. John David Rhodes, Spectacle of Property: The House in American Film (University of Minnesota Press, 2017).

Book Chapter

2. Wendy Haslem, "Hallucinatory Framing and Kaleidoscopic Vision," in From Méliès to New Media: Spectral Projections (Intellect, 2019).

Book with editor or translator

3. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, eds., Film Theory and Criticism, 8th ed. (Oxford University Press 2016).

E-book

4. Mattias Frey and Cecilia Sayad, eds. Film Criticism in the Digital Age. (Rutgers University Press, 2015), ProQuest Ebook Central.

Journal article

5. Dawn Dietrich, “'For America to Rise It’s a Matter of Black Lives / And We Gonna Free Them, So We Can Free Us': 13th and Social Justice Documentaries in the Age of 'Fake News',” Pacific Coast Philology 54, no. 2 (2019): 220-251, https://doi.org/10.5325/pacicoasphil.54.2.0220.

Newspaper or magazine article

6. Anne Bilson, "Fists of fear: severed hands in films – ranked!" Guardian, November 14, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/14/fists-of-fear-severed-hands-in-films-ranked.

Webpage

7. "Far-Flung Correspondents," Roger Ebert.com, accessed November 16, 2019, https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents.

Film

8. William Wyler, Roman Holiday (1953; Hollywood, CA: Paramount Home Entertainment, 2008), DVD.

Film review

9. A.O. Scott, "'It’s a Gas," review of Ford v Ferrari, directed by James Mangold, New York Times, November 14, 2019.

TV episode

10. The West Wing, season 1, episode 1, "Pilot", directed by Thomas Schlamme, written by Aaron Sorkin, aired September 22, 1999, on NBC.

Radio Broadcast

11. Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream” (speech), August 28, 1963, The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, DC, Pacifica Radio Archive, WBAI, radio broadcast, https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bb0640.

Pop song

In notes, the citation may begin with the song title. Include the date of recording and release if available and the streaming service or the file format of the song.

12. "25 Or 6 To 4," Chicago, recorded August 1969, track 8 on Chicago, Columbia KGP 24, 1970, 33⅓ rpm.

Video Games

Include the version number and information about the necessary device and operating system as relevant.

13. Super Mario Kart, SNES Ed., (Nintendo 1992).

Interview

14. Reese Witherspoon, "'From Book To Script To Screen,' Reese Witherspoon Is Making Roles For Women," interview by Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR, November 14, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/11/14/778863995/from-book-to-script-to-screen-reese-witherspoon-is-making-roles-for-women.

Social media content

15. Marie Cronqvist (@atommarie), "This is so great. 400 Danish silent films 1897-1928 are being restored, digitized and made available on this website. #filmheritage #filmstudies #mediahistory," Twitter, November 13, 2019, 2:50 p.m., https://twitter.com/atommarie/status/1194704102191747077.

Conference presentation or speech

The title is followed by the sponsorship, location, and date of the meeting at which a speech, paper, or presentation was given.

16. Dennis Lo, “Beyond the Tourist Gaze: Film Authorship and Rural Location Shooting in the New Chinese Cinemas” (presentation, SCMS Conference 2018, Toronto, ON, March 14, 2018).

Source from a special collection or archive

17. Margaret Mead's calendar for May 1976, Margaret Mead Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, 309, Washington, DC.

Short citations

Short citations are used on subsequent citations of sources already provided in full. Shortened citations replace ibid. See The Chicago Manual of Style 14.33 for more information on formatting.

Here is an example with an initial citation (with DOI-based URL) and a subsequent short citation:

1. Charlotte E. Howell, “Symbolic Capital and the Production Discourse of The American Music Show: A Microhistory of Atlanta Cable Access,” Cinema Journal 57, no. 1 (2017): 1–24, https://doi.org/10.1353.cj.2017.0053.
2. Howell, Symbolic Capital, 17.

Frequent Note Questions

Endnotes with multiple citations and commentary should include the commentary before the source the commentary is related to:

1. For example, journalist Rosie DiManno described the attacks as “pointless, fanatical, and cowardly” and as the consequence of “the whims of madmen.” Quoted in Elaine Tyler May, “Echoes of the Cold War: The Aftermath of September 11 at Home,” in September 11 in History: A Watershed Moment? ed. Mary L. Dudziak (Duke University Press, 2003), 36–37.

Multiple citations in a note should not be lumped together at the end (as this makes it difficult to determine what the commentary is referring to):

2. For example, Will Brooker argues that in his promotion of Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan brought Joel Schumacher’s two films into view in order to disavow them. See Brooker, Hunting the Dark Knight (I. B. Tauris, 2012), 92. For further discussion of Joel Schumacher’s Batman films, see Brooker, Batman Unmasked (Continuum, 2000), 171. 

If two or more contributions to the same multiauthor book (chapters of an edited collection) are cited, details of the book may be given the first time it is mentioned, with subsequent references in shortened form:

3. Kristen J. Warner, "ABC's Scandal and Black Women's Fandom," in Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn: Feminized Popular Culture in the Early Twenty-First Century, ed. Elana Levine (University of Illinois Press, 2015), 35–40.

4. Jillian Báez, "Television for All Women? Watching Lifetime's Devious Maids," in Levine, Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn, 51–53.

Checklist for Initial Submissions

• Any identifying information has been redacted from your submission, including a byline, biography, acknowledgments, and file names.

• You have followed Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.

• All notes are formatted as endnotes.

• Images are embedded in the Word Document.

Checklist for Final Manuscripts

• Everything is double-spaced, size 12, Times New Roman, and left aligned. Block quotations are indented. Subheadings are in bold. (See “Manuscript Preparation,” especially “Formatting.”)

• The title and byline appear exactly as you’d like to see them in print. Your bio is about 40 words and your abstract is about 100. (See “Title and author info.”)

• Images are pulled out of the word document and saved as separate high-resolution TIFF files as “Lastname Figure #.” Permissions, if needed, are in hand. (See “Illustrations” and “Images.”)

• All images have a callout and caption in the manuscript. Curly brackets are used for the callout. There is a line break above and below the caption and callout. (See “Illustrations” and “Images.”)

• All necessary permissions are attached with the manuscript and image files.

• All notes are formatted as endnotes, note numbers come at the end of the sentence, and citations follow Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition. (See “Documentation.”)

• If you use a citation management add-in for Word, such as Zotero, make sure to clear field codes in your manuscript's endnotes by selecting-all and hitting ctrl + shift + F9 (command + shift + fn + F9 on Mac).

• The first mention of a primary source includes bibliographic information as appropriate for the medium. (See “Cinema and Media Titles.”)

• You have carefully proofread the article and incorporated all revisions, as requested by peer reviewers.