Guidelines for Proposing a Special Theme for Diálogo

Most issues of Diálogo focus on a particular theme or topic relevant to Latinx and Latin American communities.  Guest Thematic Editors (GTEs) propose a theme, recruit interdisciplinary scholarship on the theme, and help curate the contributions ultimately included in the issue.  Recent themes include: Extractivism in the Americas, The Indigenous Presence in Contemporary Latin American Cinema, Violence in Contemporary Latin American Discourses, and Latinx Detective Fiction.

We invite scholars to propose special themes and serve as Guest Thematic Editors for upcoming issues. We prefer that each issue have two GTEs, located at different universities and potentially from different disciplinary backgrounds, who will collect articles in their respective areas of expertise.

To propose a theme, please send a 250-word description of the topic to the Editor at dialogo@depaul.edu. Your description should include some discussion of existing research on the topic and how your issue will make a contribution to this body of knowledge. 

In addition to this description, your proposal should include brief abstracts of at least three of the articles that you propose to include in the issue. (GTEs may include their own articles in an issue.  These articles will undergo double-blind peer review in the same way as the other articles chosen for inclusion.) Your description should also discuss how the various proposed articles relate to one another and the theme.

Finally, each potential GTE should submit a one-paragraph description of their expertise or previous research related to the proposed theme.

In general, GTEs are responsible only for curating the research articles related to the special theme.  However, issues of Diálogo may also contain artwork, interviews, creative writing, and book and media reviews. GTEs may suggest content related to the special theme for these other sections, but this is not required.

The Dialogo Editorial Board will meet to discuss and approve the special theme, after which we will assist the GTEs in preparing an official Call for Articles and help to disseminate the call to professional listservs.

Things to keep in mind:

Each issue of Diálogo includes 6-8 research articles on the special theme. GTEs may receive multiple queries and submissions but should bear in mind that ultimately only 6-8 articles can be included, depending on the length of individual contributions.

Articles should not exceed 8,000 words, including Endnotes and Works Cited.  Contributors generally use either MLA or APA style for citations.  Book and media reviews should not exceed 1,300 words. 

 

Peer Review Process:

After acceptance of the theme, GTEs will work to gather articles.  The Editor will forward to GTEs any additional articles that respond to the call.  Along with the Editor, GTEs will select articles to undergo peer review from all submissions received. GTEs will work with contributors, perform initial edits, and ensure all submissions follow Dialogo Submission Guidelines (see the Diálogo style guide at our website) prior to sending research articles to the Diálogo offices for the double-blind, peer review process.

GTEs should submit at least 2 suggested peer reviewers for each article submitted.  (For a full description of the peer review process, see our statement on our website: go.depaul.edu/clr.) At conclusion of the peer review process, the Diálogo Editor will share reports with GTEs and contributors for an opportunity to revise and resubmit. If major revisions are recommended, articles will be sent out to peer reviewers a second time. A final round of editing will be performed by the Editor before contributions are sent to the University of Texas Press for copyediting and publication.

 

Timeline:

Once articles are submitted for peer review, the production of each issue of Diálogo takes a full year, but unexpected delays do occur.

 

 

Guidelines for Submitting an Individual Article to Diálogo

Diálogo welcomes submissions of original research articles on topics relevant to Latinx/a/o, Latin American, Afro-Latinx/a/o, and Indigenous communities.

Manuscripts should be submitted in English or Spanish, in Word format, via email to dialogo@depaul.edu. We wish to affirm the linguistic diversity of our communities, so we will do our best to consider submissions in other languages, but an initial email should contain a short abstract of the article in English or Spanish.

Please double space the entire manuscript, including all notes and bibliographical references, and make sure all pages are numbered consecutively. Scholarly articles should not normally exceed 8,000 words in length.  Submissions may only use MLA or APA styles.

Manuscripts should not contain any author details to preserve anonymity during the peer review process. Authors should include a 100-word abstract and up to 5 keywords at the beginning of the manuscript.

In a separate cover letter or page, authors should include the title of the manuscript, author's institutional affiliation, e-mail address, preferred mailing address, telephone numbers, and a short biography of 100 words or less.

Please note that Diálogo will only accept submissions of unpublished manuscripts that are not being considered for publication elsewhere.

DIÁLOGO Style Guide (Published 2020)

Authors, please submit your essays in the following format:

All essays should be in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font.  The entire document should be double-spaced – including notes.  Please do not use footnotes.  Endnotes only; all notes should appear at the end of the document.

Please do not use any headers, footers, or page numbers in the final document.

Please do not include images in the Word document.  If you wish to include images in your essay, number each of the images (i.e., “Figure 1,” “Figure 2,” etc.) and send them in a separate email.  Images must have 300 dpi resolution or greater in order to be published.  In the Word document, type “INSERT FIGURE 1 HERE” in the approximate location where you wish the figure to appear in the essay. (For images drawn from copyrighted materials – books, films, videos, etc. – you will also have to submit permissions to reprint them.)

Submissions may only use MLA or APA styles.

Format your essay as follows:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(For first page)

Title: Subtitle (boldface)

Author’s Name

Institution

 

Abstract: 100 words or less.

Keywords:  Up to 5.

 

            The beginning of each paragraph should be indented ½ inch.  Please do NOT use other tabs or preset paragraph indentations, since they can be difficult to remove.  If you have a long block quote, the entire quote should be double-spaced and indented ½ inch as well:

For example, if this were a longer quotation, I would be able to use a block quote here.  But this is just an example for you to use.  You don’t have to keep reading this nonsense.  It’s just an example.   (Ríos 54)

If you want to create a subsection in your essay, please put the heading in bold and use all capital letters.

 

THIS IS A SUBSECTION HEADING

            Your essay should be followed by a short bio of 100 words or less, your Works Cited list (which should include only works directly cited in the text), and finally your Notes.

Biography: 100 words or less.

 

WORKS CITED

Anderson, Maggie.  Science Fiction and You. Oxford UP, 2000.

Harris, Rob, and Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.” The New York Times, 17 May 2007, www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/1194817109438/clinton-on-climate-change.html. Accessed 29 July 2016.

An Inconvenient Truth. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, Paramount, 2006.

Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming." American Economic Review, vol. 96, no. 2, 2006, pp. 31-34.

 

NOTES

1.  Please remember to double-space all notes. 

2.  Please use MLA style, 8^th edition for any articles in Humanities disciplines.  In-text citations include only author’s last name and page number: (Jemisin 99).  Multiple citations from different sources by the same author include author’s name, short title, and page number: (Jemisin, Fifth Season 5). 

3.  If you include images in your article, you may add a numbered list of captions at the end of the article, after your Notes. (But please remember to submit images in a separate email.)

 

Other Style Notes:

1.  Please capitalize the words Indigenous, Native American, Black, African American, and Latino/a/x.

2. Italicize any words not in English:  “Rigoberta Menchú is writing in the testimonio tradition.”

 

General submissions of scholarly articles to Diálogo are initially reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief, who determines whether the manuscript will be sent to outside reviewers.

In the case of scholarly articles submitted for inclusion in a themed issue, the article will be initially reviewed by the Special Guest Editor(s) for the issue and the Editor-in-Chief.

Proposals for themed issues will be initially reviewed by the Diálogo Editorial Board.

If chosen for review, manuscripts are then evaluated in a double-blind process by at least two outside reviewers who are experts in relevant fields as selected by the Editorial Board. This peer review process is designed to ensure that Diálogo publishes only original, accurate, and timely articles that contribute new knowledge, insights, or valuable perspectives to our discipline.

The Editor-in-Chief (and Special Guest Editors, in the case of themed issues) will communicate the results of the peer review process to individual contributors.  Articles for which major revisions are recommended will be considered a second time by peer reviewers (and the Special Guest Editors, for themed issues) upon being resubmitted.

Reviewers play a vital role in ensuring the quality of papers published in the journal.

Questions addressed by reviewers include:

1.     What is the stated purpose of this manuscript?  Is it achieved?

2.     Does the argument demonstrate an originality of approach, argument, or choice of subject matter? 

3.     Please comment on the soundness of the scholarship in the article.  Do the conclusions drawn by the author follow logically from the evidence provided?  Is there sufficient evidence to support the conclusions?

4.     Does the article demonstrate a familiarity with the relevant scholarship and theoretical frameworks of the field?  Are the references current?

5.     Please comment on the article’s style, organization, and clarity of expression.

Reviewers make one of four recommendations: accept, accept with minor revisions, accept with major revisions, and reject. Reviewers are asked to include comments explaining the recommendation to provide authors with suitable feedback to improve the article. Our aim is to create a constructive process that benefits the journal and the authors while respecting the time and efforts of all volunteer reviewers.

Should revisions be required of an author, authors must resubmit their revised articles with a detailed document summarizing the nature of the revisions that have been made and responding to questions and comments made by peer reviewers.

We understand that the timeliness of decisions and publication is a major concern of authors. The typical scholarly manuscript is reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief (and, in the case of submissions for themed issues, the Special Guest Editor(s)) and sent out to two external reviewers within a couple of weeks after submission. Reviewers are expected to prepare their reviews within 30 days.

However, the realities of the peer-review process sometimes extend our timeline. You will receive a response as expeditiously as possible.

After receiving reviewers’ comments, authors are often asked to revise the manuscript in line with the reviewers’ and/or editors’ suggestions.  We expect authors to resubmit their revised article within 30 days.  Revisions should be accompanied by a detailed document responding to the questions and comments made by peer reviewers, as stated above.  Final versions of articles should also incorporate any copyediting changes requested by the Diálogo editor.

For general submissions, if the revised article is accepted for publication, the editor then determines the journal issue in which it will appear.

 

If you are seeking publication for a tenure packet, please bear in mind that publication is a lengthy process which involves many phases during which unexpected delays may occur.  If rapid publication is an issue for you, please let us know as soon as possible.

Authors can help speed the process by ensuring they follow the submission requirements and, if accepted, addressing the reviewers’ comments and any copyediting requirements in a timely fashion.

Statement of Publication Ethics

Diálogo: An Interdisciplinary Journal

 

The editor(s) and editorial board of Diálogo are committed to the following:

· We will make our best efforts to ensure that our peer-review processes and editorial decisions are fair and unbiased, and that manuscripts are judged solely on their merits by individuals with appropriate levels of expertise in the subject area.

o We have the right to reject a manuscript at any point in the process if, after an unbiased evaluation, it is the opinion of the editor(s) it does not align with the journal’s mission or editorial policies, is outside the scope of the interdisciplinary fields we cover, or would be in conflict with the journal’s legal requirements.

· We will treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents and will not discuss them or share information about them with anyone outside the editorial staff, editorial board, potential reviewers, or the publisher.

· We expect transparency on the part of editors and reviewers regarding potential conflicts of interest and will assign manuscripts to individuals who are not expected to have such conflicts.

· We expect authors to help us uphold our ethical standards by

o   submitting only original works;

o   respecting the intellectual property rights of others;

o   adhering to the journal’s policies regarding simultaneous submissions;

o   acknowledging sources;

o   appropriately crediting all authors, other research participants, and funding sources;

o   disclosing any potential conflicts of interest; and

o   notifying the editors and/or publisher of any significant errors discovered after submission or publication.

· We will promptly investigate any credible allegation of unethical or illegal practices related to an article we have published. When warranted, we will issue corrections, retractions, and/or apologies, working with the author(s) as appropriate to find the best resolution.

· Concerns may be reported directly to the editor(s) or publisher by email at dialogo@depaul.edu