The Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought

Please adhere to style guidelines before submitting to MQ If your article is accepted, use guidelines for Print Preparation (highlighting for italics, accent marks, and bolding in text) The comprehensive style guide document is available to download: click here.

NOTE: Not all formatting is available on this page. For information regarding quotations and similar items, please refer to the downloadable document, also available from the Midwest Quarterly webpage.

General Guidelines

Indenting, Line Spacing, and Justification

Indent all paragraphs except those following a section heading. An indent should be 1/2 inch.

Do not insert extra space between paragraphs of text with the exception of long quotations, theorems, propositions, special remarks, etc. These should be set off from the surrounding text by additional space above and below.

Don't "widow" or "orphan" text (i.e., ending a page with the first line of a paragraph or beginning a page with the last line of a paragraph).

All text should be left-justified (i.e., flush with the left margin—except where indented). Where possible, it should also be right-justified (i.e., flush with the right margin). "Where possible" refers to the quality of the justification. For example, LaTeX and TeX do an excellent job of justifying text. Word does a reasonable job. But some word processors do a lousy job (e.g., they achieve right justification by inserting too much white space within and between words). We prefer flush right margins. However, it is better to have jagged right margins than to have flush right margins with awkward intra- and inter-word spacing. Make your decision on whichever looksbest.

Language & Grammar

Use American spellings unless in direct quotation (harbor, neighbor, lionize, analyze, theater, traveler)

Foreign words: Generally, in American usage if a word has an entry in the Merriam Webster English dictionary, it does not need to be italicized. Check: www.merriam-webster.com. However, if a word is expected to be highly unfamiliar to the target audience, do italicize it irrespective of dictionary entry.

• Italicized words should be highlighted in green for the printers. Please note, this is not green font.
• Do italicize words (not names) when foreign accents are used (exposé, doppelgänger) but not Émile Zola, the Palais de Versailles. Words with accent marks, like crème de la crème or façade, should be highlighted in turquoise blue for the printer (and also italicized if they are not a name or place).
• *If in doubt, italicize it, highlight it either with green (for italics only) or turquoise (to denote foreign accent mark) and we’ll make the call.

Punctuation

Ellipsis requires spaced dots, not bunched dots, as . . . and not … within a text and a period plus the three spaced dots at the end. . . . The default ellipsis (and imposed by autocorrect) for some word processors is bunched dots; you will need to change that. Be clear: if the ellipsis is yours, put it in square brackets [ . . . ].

Use consistent notation for dashes.

• Either: We see in these results—some of them surprising—that development is still continuing.
• Or: We see in these results--some of them surprising--that development is still continuing.

Article Length

We publish no manuscript longer than eighteen pages

Font size

The main body of text should be set in 12pt, double spaced.

Headings

Section headings (use sparingly if at all) should be centered, in boldface, and brief. Mark anything bold with red highlight for the printer, as follows: The Centenary Legacy. Please note, this is not red font. Please insert a single line space ABOVE the subhead but not below it. The new paragraph beneath should begin indented, but with no extra line space after the subhead.

Main text

The font for the main body of text must be black and, if at all possible, in Times or closest comparable font available.

Titles

Whenever possible, titles of books, movies, etc., should be set in italics rather than underlined.

Bibliography & Footnotes

If citing sources, include a bibliography at the end of your article, without foot- or end-notes.

Capitalize and center the title WORKS CITED. No need to bold.

We accept MLA and APA.

Double-check the alphabetizing in your works cited list.

Use margin settings, NOT TABS, for indenting second and subsequent (hanging) lines in the bibliography! The printer will have different width settings for the article, and tabs create holes in the text that are a nuisance to eliminate.

Images

We don’t often publish images and then only when they are essential to the article. Authors are responsible for any costs in obtaining permissions from the copyright holders of such images, and a signed permission from the copyright holder must be furnished for every image specifying our use before we can publish. An article that includes images may be accepted before such permissions are furnished but images will not be printed without them; failure to secure permissions for images that are essential to an article may also result in the article not seeing publication. Other images (such as film stills, or images in public domain) will follow fair use guidelines. It is up to the author to demonstrate and attest that such guidelines have been followed. Provide black and white images unless color is essential, and both if possible. We must balance printing costs in our decision to publish images.

Tables and Figures

To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text. Large tables or figures should be put on pages by themselves. Avoid the use of overly small type in tables. In no case should tables or figures be in a separate document or file. All tables and figures must fit within 1.5" margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) in both portrait and landscape view.

Mathematics

Roman letters used in mathematical expressions as variables should be italicized. Roman letters used as part of multi-letter function names should not be italicized. Whenever possible, subscripts and superscripts should be a smaller font size than the main text.

Short mathematical expressions should be typed inline. Longer expressions should appear as display math. Also expressions using many different levels (e.g., such as the fractions) should be set as display math. Important definitions or concepts can also be set off as display math.

Equations should be numbered sequentially. Whether equation numbers are on the right or left is the choice of the author(s). However, you are expected to be consistent in this.