Getting PUBLISHED in the Journal: AUTHOR GUIDELINES.

AT THE CORE

THESE GUIDELINES

* Outline the procedures for submitting an article to The Information Management Journal

* Provide examples of the proper style for references

* Review the manuscript evaluation process

The Information Management Journal is the professional journal of ARMA International, the association of information management professionals. ARMA International serves more than 10,000 members in the United States, Canada, and 30 other nations. These members include records managers, archivists, corporate librarians, imaging specialists, legal professionals, knowledge managers, consultants, and educators. According to a recent survey, members ranked the Journal as the most valued benefit of membership in ARMA International.

Scope of the Journal

The Journal's scope is the management of records, information, and knowledge as corporate assets and as contributors to organizational success. Increasingly, this scope is best expressed by the term information management. Information management is an interdisciplinary field focusing on the application of management principles and appropriate technologies to the production, coordination, acquisition, organization, representation, control, dissemination, use, and ultimate disposition of information, whatever the format, of internal or external origins, leading to the more effective functioning of organizations of all kinds.

As a resource management discipline, information management also addresses the value, quality, and security of information in the context of organizational performance. Information management disciplines include, but are not limited to, records management, archives management, corporate librarianship, knowledge management, information systems, document management, and electronic records/imaging systems.

Increasingly, information management issues (e.g., standards, telecommunication, electronic data interchange) have an international significance. High-quality manuscripts from beyond North America are welcomed. Contributors to the Journal need not be members of ARMA International.

Types of Manuscripts

Many categories of submission are appropriate. These include, but are not limited to, research studies and case studies whose findings or methodologies are generalizable to other environments. Also welcome are informed opinion and analyses of professional issues (e.g., ethics, certification, status of the field).

Articles in the Journal offer fresh perspectives on long-term concerns as well as critical examinations of existing assumptions and emerging trends. Topics may be treated in a field-wide perspective or may focus on a vertical sector (e.g., financial services, legal services, government, manufacturing).

The Journal welcomes submissions from practitioners, academics, doctoral students, and others with an interest in the field.

Manuscript Style

Language of publication for the Journal is Standard English. Manuscripts should be 3,000 to 4,000 words in length, including endnotes (if applicable) and references. Briefer manuscripts are also welcome.

The Journal uses the Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. (1993) as the basis of its style guide. Although the Journal is not a scholarly publication, Kate Turabian's A Manual of Style for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is recommended as a widely available, abbreviated version of the Chicago manual. Examples of citation and reference styles are provided in these guidelines.

Manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced with 1" margins using 11 point New Times Roman or a comparable serif font. Use of special formatting, such as tabs and full justification, should be avoided.

Publishing Criteria

Manuscripts should not be submitted to the Journal if under consideration elsewhere. Manuscripts should contain principally original material. Revised or rewritten material - or material published or presented elsewhere - should be clearly indicated to the editor by the author(s) in a letter of transmittal.

Manuscripts should be sent to:

   J. Michael Pemberton, Ph.D.,
      CRM, FAI
   Executive Editor
   The Information Management Journal
   The School of Information Sciences
   The University of Tennessee,
      Knoxville
   804 Volunteer Blvd.
   Knoxville, TN 37996-4330

Manuscripts are selected for publication in the Journal based primarily on the following:

* suitability of subject to audience

* originality

* intellectual merit

* effective coverage of the subject

* positive evaluations of two peer reviewers as to quality and value

The Journal's executive editor is available to discuss with authors their publication projects, whether near completion or at a developmental stage. J. Michael Pemberton, Ph.D., CRM, FAI, is the current executive editor; he may be reached at [phone], (423) 6938907 (nights and weekends), or at [e-mail].

Elements of a Submission

Three identical copies of the submission must be sent to the editor. Each manuscript copy should include the following:

* A separate title sheet containing the title of the manuscript and each author's name, work address, work telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address

* Below the title on the first manuscript page should be three or four bulleted items identifying the manuscript's main points

* The first page (not the title page) of each copy of the manuscript must have the work's title at the top of the page but no further identification, such as running headers or footers listing any author information.

* An author biography template for each author (may be found on the ARMA International web site at www.arma.org/publications/ journal/about_journal.htm)

* An additional bibliography -- annotated or not -- may be supplied if it provides useful references beyond those already cited. These bibliographic references should follow the citation style (Chicago Manual of Style) exemplified in these guidelines.

A formal letter of transmittal should accompany the manuscripts only when authors need to call the editor's attention to something not self-evident in the manuscript.

Source Attribution and Citation

The use of unattributed sources is a serious matter. Authors must acknowledge and document all borrowed ideas, illustrations, or text. Publication of a manuscript may be delayed pending completion of this important step.

The editor also has the right to correct or require correction of errors, undocumented facts, unsupported statistics, or misleading statements. If there are multiple authors, the primary author (first author listed) will be provided with a copy of the proposed substantive changes prior to publication.

Authors are strongly urged to review other writings on the topic being treated in the submitted manuscript. The findings should be incorporated into or accounted for in the present work. Indexes and abstracting services -- paper-based and/or on CD-ROM -- provide effective access to the information management literature generally -- and the Journal specifically -- and are available in libraries and research centers.

The indexing/abstracting service providing the best coverage of both information management and the Journal is ABI-INFORM (American Business Information, an online database also accessible in CD-ROM format at many larger libraries). Other services indexing the Journal and the information management literature include LISA: Library and Information Science Abstracts (online, Bowker-Saur), Urban Affairs Abstracts, Business Abstracts (online and CD-ROM, H.W. Wilson Co.)

Complete and accurate documentation of research is critical. The Journal uses the author-date style of documentation. Formatting examples are provided herein.

Authors should use in-text references followed by the author-year citation, with a complete humanities-style reference list, arranged alphabetically by author's last name, at the end of the manuscript. Endnotes should be used sparingly and precede the reference list.

Sample Article Citations

The basic form of the author-date method in running text or at the end of a block quotation consists of the author's last (or family) name and the year of publication of the cited work:

(Olsen 1999)

(Robek, Brown, and Stephens 1995)

If citing a specific page, section, figure, or other division or element of the cited work, that information follows the date and is preceded by a comma, as below:

(Olsen 1999, 247)

(Klein 1987, sec. 13.5)

(Watkins, Brice, and Tissont 1967, fig. 5)

Sample References Journal or Magazine Article Reference:

Olsen, Florence. "AUSCS Juggles Data Requests." Government Computer News, 8 February 1999: 233-271.

Baron, Jason R. "Recordkeeping in the 21st Century." The Information Management Journal 33, no. 4 (July 1999): 8-16.

Book Reference:

Duffy, Jan. Harvesting Experience: Reaping the Benefits of Knowledge. Prairie Village, KS: ARMA International, 1999.

Robek, Mary F., Gerald E Brown, and David O. Stephens. Information and Records Management: Document-Based Information Systems. 4th ed. New York: Glencoe/McGraw Hill, 1995.

Internet Reference:

Gates, Bill and Collins Hemingway. Business @ the Speed of Thought. New York: Time-Warner Books, 1999. Available at: http://www.speed-of-thought.com (accessed 21 December 1999).

Questions about formatting may be directed to the executive editor, J. Michael Pemberton, at [phone] or [e-mail]. utk.edu; or to the managing editor, Cynthia Launchbaugh, director of communications, [phone] or [e-mail]. Authors are responsible for attribution of all sources and the accuracy of citations.

Permissions

Authors must obtain written permission from the original publisher when using illustrations, tables, charts, etc. from another source. No manuscript containing this material will be published until all necessary signed releases are submitted by the author to the executive editor.

Evaluation of Manuscripts

Submitted manuscripts will be reviewed by two outside evaluators (or referees) who are knowledgeable on the topic. Evaluation is double-blind, which means that the two evaluators receive a copy of the manuscript without the name of the author. Authors are supplied with the evaluators' comments (also blinded). A blank copy of "The Information Management Journal: Manuscript Evaluation and Recommendation" is available from the executive editor.

Evaluations focus on the following criteria:

* Readership Appeal: Will the subject of the manuscript appeal to the interests of the Journals readership?

* Organization: Is the manuscript clearly organized and developed, having a definite direction?

* Originality: Does the manuscript provide new facts, insights, knowledge, or perspectives to add to the body of professional literature?

* Value: Is the contribution of the manuscript to the field worthwhile? Does it provide a valuable return on the time invested in reading it?

* Methodology: Are the methods used sound and appropriate to the subject?

* Credibility: Is the information presented credible, valid, and accurate?

* Length: Is the manuscript's length appropriate to the task it undertakes?

* Technical Material: If the content focuses on technical issues, is it sufficiently clear and accessible for a general practitioner in the information management field?

* Compelling Style: Is the writing suitable for its purpose, clear, informative, thoughtful, persuasive, and stimulating?

* Research: Has the material been compared to and weighed against the work of others (as appropriate)?

* Additional Features: Does the manuscript include -- as needed or appropriate -- features beyond the basic text, such as graphics, tables, charts, bibliography, a list of relevant URLs, access information about groups and associations?

* Title and Core Objectives: Are the manuscript's title and core objectives clear, specific, and descriptive? Core objectives are bullet points -- limited to a maximum of three -- are author-supplied and indicate succinctly the main points, issues, findings, benefits of the manuscript.

Authors are typically notified as to the outcome of the evaluation process within eight weeks of initial receipt. The executive editor takes final responsibility for the publication decision.

Style

Style and readability can be greatly improved by following these suggestions:

* Avoid passive voice (e.g., use "the archivist fired the student worker" rather than "the student worker was fired by the archivist")

* Avoid use of the first person narrative (unless necessary for a particular type of manuscript).

* Avoid shifts in person, from "I" to "you" to "they" - third person is generally preferred.

* Avoid affectations, suggestions of hidden meaning, exaggerated prose, sexist language, and jargon.

* Generally, keep sentences short; as needed, break up long sentences containing several independent clauses.

* Keep paragraphs short and focused on one topic.

* Avoid jumping back and forth from one idea to another.

* Break up text at appropriate points with subheads positioned flush left.

* Keep track of all research sources so that full and correct in-text references and reference-list entries can be made easily.

Electronic Submission upon Acceptance

After the author has reviewed the evaluators' suggestions and has made the necessary changes in the manuscript, a final and corrected manuscript must be submitted to the executive editor both electronically and in hard copy. The file should be submitted on a 3.5 inch diskette using WordPerfect 5.1 or higher or MS Word 6.0 or higher. If neither of these formats is available, digitized text should be in plain ASCII. The files must be clearly identified on the disk's label. Specialized coding (e.g., HTML, SGML) should not be used.

Tables, charts, and illustrations must also be submitted in hard copy as well as on the diskette.

Illustrations, charts, and reproductions should be supplied as camera-ready copy from the best original possible. Inked drawings reproduce best. Captions should clearly identify all subject matter and each table, figure, or illustration should be numbered in sequence, using Arabic numerals in the order of mention in the text. Indicate in text where each item should be placed (e.g., "insert figure 2 about here"). All tables, etc. should be gathered in sequence at the end of the manuscript. The graphics should be slightly larger than that expected for reproduction since it is easier to reduce than to enlarge graphics.

Compensation

Authors whose manuscripts are chosen for publication receive an honorarium after the article is printed. Additionally, authors receive two complimentary copies of the Journal issue in which their article appears. Each article published automatically becomes a candidate for the Britt Literary Award, an annual award given by ARMA International for the best article appearing in the Journal for the preceding year. Winners are chosen by ARMA International's Awards Committee.

Additional Information

The Journal's liaison at ARMA International's headquarters is Cynthia Launchbaugh, Director of Communications, [phone] or [e-mail]