About Mississippi Libraries

Mississippi Libraries (ISSN 0194-388X) is a quarterly, open access publication of the Mississippi Library Association and is indexed in Library Literature and Information Science (H.W. Wilson) and Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (EBSCO). The articles, reports, and features represent the viewpoints of their respective authors and are not necessarily the official opinions of the Association.

Editorial Staff 2022

Editor: Hali Black   Hali.Black@usm.edu

Assistant Editor: Audrey Beach

Copy Editor: Blair Booker

News Reporter: Brenda Comfort

Book Review Editor: Tori L. Hopper

MLA Reporter: Janessa Ullendorf

Indexer: Brooke Gross

Submission Guidelines

Scholarly articles should be a minimum of 2000 words, which is about 5 single-spaced pages using 12 pt. Times New Roman. Any mainstream citation style may be used, as long as one style is used consistently throughout the document. General interest articles about the Mississippi library community should be a minimum of 1000 words, which is about 2.5 single-spaced pages using 12 pt. Times New Roman.

All articles are subject to revisions, deletions and additions, which, in the opinion of the journal staff, support the author's intent. Photographs, screenshots, tables, figures, and all other graphics should be sent separately and need to include a caption. Photographs also need to include the photographer's name. Articles and images must be submitted as e-mail attachments. Articles should be in Microsoft Word, Open Office, Pages, or a compatible file format and images in .jpg or .png.

Authors with accepted articles will be asked to print out and sign an author statement, then photograph or scan the signed statement and email it to the editor.

	Spring	Summer	Fall - Peer-Review	Winter
Call for articles sent to MLA listserv	January	April	April, June	October
Submission deadline for articles	February 5	May 5	July 5	November 5
Submission deadline for news, book reviews	February 15	May 15	August 15	November 15
Submission deadline for cover art	February 28	May 31	August 31	November 30
Publication	March	June	September	December

Peer-Review

While all journal content undergoes an editorial process by the Mississippi Libraries staff to ensure a quality publication, starting in 2016 only the Fall issue has peer-reviewed content.

Scholarly articles submitted for peer-review must present primary research on current library practice or historical analysis of library trends that is of interest to Mississippi librarians. Each article should include a literature review and bibliographical references. The article will be submitted to two external readers for blind review. This may result in a request for revision, recommendation for inclusion in a non peer-reviewed issue of Mississippi Libraries, or recommendation that the article not be accepted. Final decisions regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection are made by the Mississippi Libraries staff. If none of the submissions pass review, the Fall issue will be published as a non peer-reviewed issue.

The author's name and place of employment should only be mentioned on the title page; no other identification should be found elsewhere in the article. Article submissions should include a brief abstract of no more than 200 words.

Reviewers must provide the following information to volunteer:

• Proof of at least 2 years professional library experience, current or past.
• Citations of two peer-reviewed articles you authored or co-authored.
• A paragraph or short list describing your areas of expertise.

Reviewers who are members of MLA and/or Mississippi librarians are preferred but not required. The volunteer reviewers will be asked to review articles both within and without their area of expertise. However, articles will be matched with areas of expertise whenever possible. Reviewers will not be sent articles written at their institution. We are seeking reviewers from all types of libraries and responsibilities to create a diverse jury.

Reviewers will be asked to fill out this form: PR-form.pdf.

Peer-Review Timeline: Calls for articles are sent in April and June to the MLA listserv; the articles are due July 5. The articles are sent to the reviewers before July 10, and are due back to editor by July 31. The reviewers' comments and corrections are sent to authors by August 5, with accepted and revised articles due back to editor by August 25. The peer-reviewed issue is published in September.

Peer-Review Acceptance Rate: As of August 2021, Mississippi Libraries has accepted 69% of all peer-review submissions.

News Submission Guidelines

A call for the news columns People in the News and News Briefs is sent at the beginning of the submission months, but news can be submitted to the News Reporter at any time. All submissions will be posted to the MLA website's news section. Submissions should be under 500 words, which is about 1 single-spaced page using 12 pt. Times New Roman.

Common topics for People in the News include but are not limited to: new hires, retirements, awards, major promotions, and regional/national appointments. News about a librarian authoring a book should be sent to the Book Review Editor; however, if that book wins an award it should be sent to the News Reporter. Other news items will be published in the News Briefs column.

Book Review Submission Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in preparing book reviews for Mississippi Libraries! Nonfiction books reviewed in ML should relate to Mississippi or the South, and fiction books should be written by Mississippians or by individuals with ties to the state. Reviews should be no more than 500 words and should open with the complete citation, price and number of pages. Close the review by listing your name, job title, and employer. Reviews should be informative as to content. Analysis and critique with respect to similar publications and to previous offerings by the same author(s) are key elements. Other factors to consider are the author's purpose in writing the book and any unique contributions which the work makes to the body of literature. The reviewer should offer criticisms or commendations on the basis of the text with examples from the text. Indicate the type(s) of library and readership for which the title is recommended. Physical attributes, binding, plates, or illustrations may be notable. Please submit reviews in electronic format via email to the current Book Review Editor. Due to great interest in contributing reviews, please contact the Book Review Editor to be placed on the list of potential reviewers.

Authors and Publishers: If you would like your book to be considered for review, please contact the Book Review Editor via email at thopper@lowndes.lib.ms.us or at the following address.

Tori L. Hopper

Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System

314 7th Street North

Columbus, MS 39701

Cover Art Submission Guidelines

We welcome submissions of original artwork to use for the cover of Mississippi Libraries. Submissions should be large, high resolution images (at least 8.5 by 11 inches) in .jpg or .png format. Images with a vertical (portrait) orientation are preferred. We reserve the right to make minor modifications to the artwork, such as cropping or resizing, to best fit it to the cover. A thumbnail of the current cover also appears on the MLA website homepage.

Artists with accepted images will be asked to print out and sign an artist statement, then photograph or scan the signed statement and email it to the editor.