Author Guidelines
College & Research Libraries (C&RL) uses the OJS web-based submission system to track and review manuscripts. To submit, visit https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/login. For additional guidance, please refer to the College & Research Libraries Guide for Authors & Reviewers: https://acrl.libguides.com/CRLguide. If you experience any difficulties or have any questions about submitting your manuscript, please contact the editor Kristen Totleben (ktotleben@library.rochester.edu).
- Submit original, unpublished manuscripts only. They should not be previously published or considered by another publication until the review process is completed. Papers presented at a conference should be identified with the conference name and date in the cover letter.
- Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the statements and statistics included.
- Author's full name, affiliation, mailing address, e-mail and phone must accompany any manuscript submission. Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts through the online submission system. Microsoft Word is the preferred format for submission. If circumstances warrant, an author may submit a manuscript in printed form, in which three copies should be sent and these should be machine-printed and double-spaced. An electronic version will be required if the paper is accepted for publication.
- Authors' titles, names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses should appear on a cover page only in a separate file from the manuscript file which should be anonymized and not include any identifying information. Using key words from the title, insert a header or footer on each page and include the page number. A 75- to 100-word abstract should precede the body of the article. Although longer works may be considered, 3,000- to 6,000-word manuscripts are most suitable.
- Clear, simple prose enhances the presentation of ideas and opinions. The editor encourages writing in the active voice and adhering to APA's guide for Bias-Free Language.
- Local peer review increases a manuscript's quality. Distribute the paper to colleagues, discuss it, and make revisions based on their comments.
- Spelling will follow Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition.
- College & Research Libraries follows The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Pr., 2010) for capitalization, punctuation, quotations, tables, captions, and elements of bibliographic style. Starting February 1, 2023, all submissions must be styled in APA style, 7th edition. By January 2025, all articles will be published with APA style, 7th edition.
- The author is responsible for verifying all citations carefully. Bibliographic references should be consecutively numbered throughout the manuscript. Double-spaced endnotes should appear on separate pages at the end of the article. The endnotes should be numbered with superscripted numbers (1., 2., etc.).
- C&RL follows The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. for references with volume (date): pages. For example:
1. Larry R. Oberg, Mary Kay Schleiter, and Michael Van Houten, "Faculty Perceptions of Librarians at Albion College: Status, Role, Contribution, and Contacts," College & Research Libraries 50 (Mar. 1989): 215-30.
- First mention of an article should use the author's full name; subsequent mentions will be by last name only. Subsequent references should utilize surname, brief title, and page reference. If no other reference intervenes, "Ibid." will be used. Do not underline "Ibid." Op. cit. and loc. cit. are not used. For citations to book or journal page numbers, use 217-19 not p. 217-19. For example:
13. Oberg, Schleiter, and Van Houten, "Faculty Perceptions," 217-19.
Consult C&RL for further examples.
- Tables and illustrations should be placed in the text where the author intends for them to be (not at the end of the text). Each illustration or table should have a number and a brief title. Tables should be double-spaced, should follow examples in The Chicago Manual of Style, and should be included in electronic submissions.
- Submit original, camera-ready art for illustrations, figures, and graphs.
Subject Content/ Scope
College & Research Libraries includes articles in all fields of interest and concern to academic and research libraries. Well-written manuscripts on all aspects of academic and research librarianship will be considered. The focus of the journal is on reports of original research. Manuscripts may also include descriptive narratives of successful and unsuccessful ventures, thoughtful discussions of issues in librarianship, and other suitable subjects.
The editor and the Editorial Board invite submissions relevant to the goals stated in the ACRL Plan for Excellence, as well as the research areas identified in ACRL White Papers and Reports.
Review of Manuscripts
College & Research Libraries is a refereed journal using double-anonymous reviewing. The editor peruses manuscripts and may reject papers that are clearly outside of the scope of the journal. Manuscripts within the scope will be sent to at least two reviewers. For this process, the cover sheet with authors' names and other identifying materials is blocked out or deleted.
Reviewers address themselves to the content and style of the manuscript. Main areas of consideration are:
- Does the manuscript make a new contribution to the literature?
- Is the method used appropriate to the subject?
- Does the evidence presented support the hypothesis?
- Does the author communicate clearly with an educated, yet not necessarily specialized, audience?
- Does the literature review place the research or opinions in perspective?
This review process takes ten to twelve weeks. After the decision has been made, the editor writes to the author accepting the manuscript, accepting it contingent on revisions, or rejecting it. Authors may not submit the manuscript to other publications while a C&RL review is in progress.
Publication
Once accepted, formal online publication occurs within the next twelve months. The editor may offer recommendations for changes when the article is accepted. Further editing may occur to tailor the article to C&RL's style.
The agreement between ACRL and the author is license to publish. The author retains copyright and thus is free to post the article on an institutional or personal web page subsequent to publication in C&RL. All material in the journal may be photocopied for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement.
Electronic versions of the articles are also available to subscribers of Education Abstracts Full Text via WilsonWeb (from 1998 to present).
Letters
Readers who wish to comment on articles in the journal should address the letters to the editor. Letters should be succinct, no longer than 200 words. Letters will be published on a space-available basis.
Reviews
College & Research Libraries includes reviews of new publications pertinent to academic and research librarians. Publishers are invited to send review copies and announcements to the Book Review Editor, Emily Drabinski, Interim Chief Librarian, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, Mina Rees Library, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, (212) 817-7068 (office), e-mail:edrabinski@gc.cuny.edu. Prospective reviewers may write to the book review editor indicating their qualifications and special areas of interest.
Policies
C&RL does not assess either article processing charges (APCs) or article submission charges.
College & Research Libraries Authorial Name Change Policy (2022)
College & Research Libraries is committed to supporting requests for author name and/or pronoun changes. Name changes and pronoun changes are available upon request by contacting the editor directly at ktotleben@library.rochester.edu, and approved without documentation. All requests will be handled with confidentiality and as quickly as possible. C&RL based its best practices on the five guiding principles noted in “A Vision for a More Trans-Inclusive Publishing World” shared by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Authorial name changes to previously published articles may be requested by an author for any reason, including name changes due to marriage or divorce; non-Western naming structures; or gender identity. Trans and gender diverse authors who wish to request a change to a previous publication are particularly encouraged to contact the editors. Authors will not be asked to provide official or legal documentation of the name change, and all requests will be kept confidential by the editors.
Any request for a name change will result in removal of the earlier name from any and all publication repositories. This extends to both the metadata of the article, as well as the PDF of the article itself. If applicable, any pronoun changes (as in a biographical entry) may be requested at the same time. Although some publication flows may be out of the scope of C&RL, the editors will make every effort to ensure that name changes are reflected in reprints and downstream publications.
In order to maintain the author’s privacy, name changes will not be announced, nor will any notices be published that draw attention to the changes. Co-authors will not be notified of the change.
Once received, requests will be processed in an expedient manner and will not require deliberation by the editorial board.
The C&RL Editor will verify citations and bibliographies in future submissions to ensure that the earlier name is not included in any new articles published in C&RL.
