Word is Out

word is out masthead

Word is Out publishes articles on political, social and economic issues affecting homosexuals, gay men, lesbians, transgenders, intersexuals, bisexuals and queers.

Articles and book reviews must be well written and soundly argued. Word is Out especially seeks contributions from political and social activists. It is not an academic/refereed journal.

Word is Out supports freedom of expression and is opposed to any censorship of the Internet. An article, book review or commentary will not be rejected because the editors or editorial reference group disagree with its politics, per se.

No contributor will be rejected on the basis of their sexuality or sexual orientation, sex or gender, or nationality. The journal is interested in articles from across Australasia and the planet.

Types of contributions sought

We publish 3 types of material: • articles of an analytical nature on contemporary issues;
• commentaries, which are responses to a published article discussing its substantive arguments; and, • reviews of books (both non-fiction and fiction) written or published from Australasia, Oceania, and east, southeast and south Asia.

We appreciate that 'contemporary' is a contingent concept: as a rough guide, we will not publish pieces where the substantive matter or predominant focus predates 1980.

We do not publish fiction, poetry, plays, film scripts, recipes, news items, events listings, or reviews of films, art exhibitions, plays or other performances, or any piece that includes photos or graphics (in part or in whole). We do not publish articles that are basically textual analysis of fiction, films, etc. This journal is not a variant of or an alternative to literary or history journals, whether offline or online, and we do not publish articles that are more appropriate for such journals.

We do not publish contributions that have been published in another journal or book, whether online or offline.

Legal issues

We will not publish anything that we regard as libellous or defamatory. We expect the writer to respect the copyright of any material you use. In preparing your article you should take all care not to breach copyright in material produced by others. Quoting song lyrics, for example, is not acceptable without written permission of the entity holding copyright; likewise with quoting poems. However, if you use quotes from fiction writers, playwrights or novelists, and correctly acknowledge the source, and the use of their text is for fair research or comment, then it is safe. If in doubt, seek written permission from the copyright owner, or do not use it at all.

Copyright with your contribution will rest with you. If you authorize reproduction of your piece after it is published in Word is Out, we ask that you do so on condition that reproduction includes a statement that the piece was first published in Word is Out (including issue number and date).

Opinions expressed in bylined articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editors or publishers.

Writing conventions

We ask contributors to write in a way that is accessible to an educated, non-academic, reader. We request adherence to plain English writing principles and practices.

We use the Australian government's Style manual for authors, editors and printers (6th edn, 2002) as our style guide. We also recommend Pam Peters' Cambridge Australian English style guide (1998).

We prefer Australian English, with the Macquarie dictionary as the authority. Setting the language of your wordprocessing program to 'English (Australian)' will help. Contributors from countries other than Australia may use the English of that country, or US English. We do not accept articles in languages other than English.

Acronyms should be avoided. If you use them, they must be preceded by the full title, with the abbreviated form appearing in parentheses, in the first instance.

Format

Please provide your article in Rich Text Format.Do not use the style templates of wordprocessing programs like MS Word; all text should be 'normal' style. The text should be left justified.

Sub-headings are useful in lead articles. But do not use more than two levels of sub-heading. Any sub-headings should be in bold.

Do not underline. If you want to emphasize a word, italicise it. Use italics for the titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, films, plays, operas, and works of art.

Do not use tabs. Do not use double spaces.

References

Use the author-date system of referencing as used in Australia.

Do not use footnotes. Keep endnotes to a minimum. If you do have endnotes, insert them manually, and list them after the main text (and before any list of references). Do not use Word's Insert Footnote feature to create them.

Word lengths

Articles of an analytical nature should be at least 3,000 words. There is no upper word limit, but we recommend no more than 6,000. Commentaries (that is, responses to a lead article published in Word is Out, addressing the substantive issues) should be at least 700 words. Book reviews should be at least 600 words. These word lengths include any subheadings, endnotes, and a list of references (if necessary).

Special note for book reviewers

We prefer you to not refer to other works, but if you decide to cite them, please limit references to 2 only. Include at the top of the review full details of the author/s (editor/s), title, publisher's details, ISBN, price (if available, noting type of dollar as appropriate, e.g. A$, NZ$ or US$), and the number of pages.

About you

Include, at the end of your contribution, a short, 2-sentence biography, including your name as you want to be listed and the city/locality where you live or are based. Include your email address, too, if you like.

No payment

No payment will be given to contributors for writing or for any research or other costs whatsoever. No employment relationship is established between a contributor and Word is Out by virtue of you agreeing to contribute and by virtue of you contributing an article to this journal, and it being accepted. We will give people we ask to review a book a complimentary, non-returnable, copy of that book.

Assistance

The editor expects completed articles to arrive in a form where copy-editing or sub-editing is not necessary. Members of the editorial reference group are available, in general, to give feedback on drafts of articles, on request.

Making a submission

Publication dates are March, June, September and December of each year. The deadline for proposals for lead articles and book reviews is 2 months before publication date. The deadline for completed contributions is 1 month before publication date. Articles not received by that deadline will be held over to the following issue.

Do not send unsolicited typescripts.

A commentary (a piece that is a response to a lead article, discussing its substantive argument) may be submitted at any time up to 12 months after the publication date of the article. The commentary will be published in the next issue where it is feasible to publish it. We do not need a proposal for a commentary.

The editor reserves the right to not accept or to not publish a contribution for any reason whatsoever, at any point, and accepts no liability for not accepting or publishing it. All submissions received will be treated as unconditionally assigned without compensation for publication purposes and are subject to the editor's right to edit, comment, and (re)title.

The editor will take the submission of a proposal for publication as an indication that the contributor has read these guidelines and has accepted (consented to) them.