GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

 

The Pennsylvania Geographer publishes articles on a wide variety of geographic themes and invites authors to submit manuscripts. Issues are commonly organized around preannounced themes, but manuscripts dealing with any geographic topics are always considered for publication. Articles should be sent to Ola Johansson (johans@pitt.edu), Editor, The Pennsylvania Geographer, Geography Department, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Johnstown, PA 15904. Book reviews and software reviews should be sent to Donald Buckwalter, Department of Geography and Regional Planning, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA 15705.

Articles submitted for publication in The Pennsylvania Geographer will be evaluated for appropriateness and scholarship through a peer review process. To be considered for publication, manuscripts must conform to the following requirements, adopted by the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Geographical Society:

1. Deadlines for submitting materials are March 15 for the spring/summer issue and September 15 for the fall/winter issue.

2. Articles of any length will be considered. Book and software reviews should be approximately 2-3 pages in length. Manuscripts should use double line spacing with adequate margins. Please only use a single space between sentences. To aid in the revision process, please insert page numbers on all of the pages.

3. The manuscript text should be submitted as a Word (.doc or .docx) file. Please do not insert figures, tables or diagrams directly into the manuscript (see below).

4. For each manuscript, provide a title page including the title of the work, the name and affiliation of the author(s), and the name and address to whom correspondence should be directed.  Articles should be accompanied by an abstract of not more than 150 words. No keywords are needed.

5. Citation of references must conform to the style found in current issues of the AAGs Professional Geographer. Use parenthetical notation of author and date in the text, and provide complete citation of sources at the conclusion of the article, titled: Literature Cited. Do not use footnotes. If you choose to include endnotes, use the superscript function in Word, not the endnote function.

6. Figures and photos can be in color or black and white. Images should be a minimum of 300 dpi resolution. Graphs and tables may also be submitted as an Excel (.xls or .xlsx) file. Ideally, figures and tables should be submitted in format such that they fit within a single column (2½“ wide) or a double column (5” wide) without having to reduce them from their native size. Be sure all text is black in color. Make sure graphs and tables use large fonts. All tables should use Arial fonts. The editors reserve the right to modify the images and tables as needed to conform to the journal’s formatting standards.

Each figure, diagram and/or table should be submitted as a separate file. Each file should be named with the lead author’s name followed by the figure or table number.

For example: “Zaprowski_Fig-1.jpg”  or  “Zaprowski_Table-1.xls”rs.

7.  Figure and Table captions should be submitted as a separate Word file using the lead author’s name (e.g., Zaprowski_Figure_captions.doc)

8. Include a short biographical sketch of the author(s) at the end of the manuscript.

9. You have two choices on how to submit your work. A. Mail us the manuscript and all associated files on a CD or Flash drive, plus three paper copies of the manuscript; or B. Submit your manuscript and all associated files via email.

10. Copies of all manuscripts, maps, photos, etc. should be kept by the author before mailing. Manuscripts, maps, charts, photos, and other illustrations will not be returned.  PGS assumes no responsibility for loss or damage of materials sent to the editors.

11. Every manuscript must be accompanied by a cover letter in which the author affirms that the paper will not be submitted elsewhere until an editorial decision has been received from The Pennsylvania Geographer, and that a similar version of the manuscript has not been published or accepted for publication elsewhere.

12. The Editors and the PGS assume no responsibility for opinions and statements expressed by contributors.

 

Revised in 2017