Submission Guidelines | Wacana Seni Journal of Arts Discourse

Manuscript must be submitted through ScholarOne system.

Submitting manuscripts in the correct format will expedite the review process and prevent undue delay in publication. The Publisher reserves the right to return manuscripts that are not prepared in accordance with the specified submission guidelines. For further formatting and referencing aid, please consult The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers 15th Edition (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org).

Editorial Process

The author submits a manuscript via the journal’s online submission system.
The journal administrator will perform a screening check on the quality of the manuscript to ensure that the paper is formatted correctly.
Manuscripts that passed the screening check will be sent to the journal’s Editor-in-Chief. If the manuscript complies with the journal’s aims and scope, it will be sent out for review. If the decision is not to send the manuscript for review, the Editor-in-Chief contacts the author with the decision.
The Editor-in-Chief will select and assign peer reviewers. This can take some time depending on the responsiveness and availability of the reviewers selected. Read here for detailed information on peer review.
Once the review reports are received, the Editor-in-Chief will make a decision based on the comments.
The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision and notify the author.

Reviewing Process

Each manuscript undergoes a double-blind peer review process starting with initial review by the Editorial Board members. If found to be of a suitable quality and meets the aims and scope of the journal, it will then be sent to at usually two reviewers. The reviewing process takes up to 4 months from the date of receipt of the article. Where manuscript revision is required, authors are urged to ensure that the necessary corrections are made before the manuscript can be accepted for production.

Manuscript Submission

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all Authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Wacana Seni Journal of Arts Discourse does not encourage manuscripts written by more than three authors. If that happened, we request that you provide us details regarding the contribution of each and every author. This is to ensure academic integrity as each author should provide a significant contribution to the manuscript. If not, the name should only be included in the Acknowledgements.

Manuscripts Preparation

Format

Manuscripts about the creative arts and design must be original, typed using Microsoft Word (Times New Roman, 12 pt), double-spaced and should not be more than 7500 words in length (including endnotes and references).

Artists’ Statements regarding the approaches, materials, processes and methods used in creative works should not be more than 2500 words (including endnotes and references). Articles may include illustrations with captions and must contain credits to the artist or photographer.

Conversational Dialogues with prominent artists and Reviews of books, recordings, exhibitions or performances should not be more than 2500 words (including endnotes and references). Images must include captions and credits. The dialogues and reviews should pomote critical discourse.

Types of Manuscript

Full length research articles and review papers (original manuscript, review, music score and documentation of artwork) are accepted.

Title Page

The title page should be sent separate document from the main text in ScholarOne Manuscripts™. Title page should be in the following structure.

Title
Designated title for the manuscript up to 50 words
Author
Please provide full name of the Author(s). Please give full name (first, middle and last name) but omit titles. Authors attest that all persons designated as authors qualify for authorship and all those who qualify are listed. All appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors must be included on the paper, and all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication.
Affiliations
Give the affiliation of each author and complete mailing address of the institution where the work was conducted. Please denote the corresponding author with an asterisk (*) and provide the email address of the corresponding author.
Acknowledgement
If there is any other contributors to the work (but not authors) should be named in the acknowledgements. The acknowledgement gives an opportunity for the author to thank people with the study or preparation of the paper. This is also where the author should indicate that the results of this study were presented in another form such as a poster or abstract or at a symposium.

All the contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in acknowledgement. Examples are people who provided purely technical help or writing assistance. All research articles should have a funding acknowledgement in the form of a sentence as follows, with the funding agency written in full, followed by the grant number. Multiple grants funded should be separated by comma and space.

Example: This work was supported by World Health Organization, (p123/456)

Manuscript Structure

Submitted manuscript in Bahasa Malaysia should include a title, abstract and keywords in English.

Title
Designated title for the manuscript up to 50 words
Abstracts
The abstract should be no longer than 300 words. The abstract should be a clear, concise and factual description of the contents and conclusions as well as an indication of any new findings. Footnotes, references and subheadings must be avoided.
Keywords
Please provide between three to five keywords. Keywords are to facilitate the retrieval of articles by search engine, therefore do not use general terms. This will be useful for indexing purposes.
Listing
Lists may be either (run into) the text or set vertically (outline style). If the items are numbered, a period follows the numeral and each items begins with a capital letter.

Outline style
Compose three sentences:
1. To illustrate the use of commas in dates
2. To distinguish the use of semicolons from the use of periods
3. To illustrate the use of parentheses within dashes

Run in
You are advised to pack (1) clothes, (2) sneakers, and (3) camera.
Headings
- FIRST LEVEL HEADING (uppercase, bold, flush left)
- Second Level Heading (upper lowercase, bold, flush left)
- Third level heading (upper lowercase only for first word (the rest lowercase), italic, flush left)
Tables
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and assigned in Arabic numerals. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate described elsewhere in the article.

Authors need to ensure insertion of all tables in the article in the right order, together with the accompanying captions (not as separate attachments). Table should be labelled with Table 1 and place on above of the table.
Figures
Figures must be numbered sequentially and in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Figures and photos should be labelled with Figure 1 and assigned in Arabic numerals. Figure caption should place on bottom of the figure.

Authors need to ensure insertion of all figures in the article in the right order, together with the accompanying captions (not as separate attachments).
Endnotes
Endnotes should only be used if absolutely essential. If used, they should be indicated in the text by superscript numbers, and kept as short as possible.
References
Authors MUST pay attention to the accuracy and correct presentation of references. Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa).
- Reference in text
  Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with "Unpublished". Citation of a reference as "in press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
  
  Single author
  According to Malpezzi (2002)… OR
  ... (Malpezzi 2002).
  
  Multiple authors
  As described by Luddin and Midler (1998)… OR
  ...(Luddin and Midler 1998).
  
  More than 3 authors
  Referring to Tornikoski et al. (2001)... OR
  ...(Tornikoski et al. 2001).
- List of References
  A reference list should appear at the end of the manuscript headed 'References' and should include only those references cited in the text. References should be double spaced, arranged alphabetically by author, and chronologically for each author. Where more than one publication by the author in one year is referred, the year should be followed by a suffix a, b or c, etc. The same suffix should be quoted in the reference list. References on this list should appear in the following style:
  - Book
    Luddin, R. A. and C. Midler. 1998. Projects as arenas for renewal and learning processes. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  - Chapter in book
    Malpezzi, S. 2002. Hedonic pricing models: A selective and applied review. In Housing economics and public policy essays in honour of Duncan Maclennan, eds. T. O’Sullivan and K. Gibb, 67– 85, London: Blackwell.
  - Editor/Translator
    Menchú, R. 1999. Crossing borders. Trans. and ed. A. Wright. New York: Verso.
  - Organization
    British Standards Institute. 1985. Specification for abbreviation of title words and titles of publications. Linford Woods, Milton Keynes, UK: British Standards Institute.
  - Edition
    Weber, M., H. M. de Burlet and O. Abel. 1982. Die Säugetiere. 2nd ed. 2 vols. Jena: Gustav Fischer.
  - Article in Journal
    Mead, S. P. 1997. Project-specific intranets for construction teams. Project Management Journal 28(3): 44–51.
  - Forthcoming
    Schaller, M. Forthcoming. Securing the great crescent: Occupied Japan and the origins of containment in Southeast Asia. Journal of American History 24.
  - Special issue
    Karr, A. F., S. Kinney and J. F. Gonzalez. eds. 2009. Special issue, Journal of Privacy and Confidentially 1(2).
  - Special issue with theme
    Heriot, M. 1996. Fetal rights versus the female body: Contested domains. Theme issue, The social production of authoritative knowledge in pregnancy and childbirth, Medical Anthropology Quarterly 10(2):176–194.
  - Report
    Federation of Malaya. 1956. Final report of the rice committee. Kuala Lumpur: Government Printing Office.
  - Magazines
    Ezzell, C. 2000. Care for a dying continent. Scientific American, May.
  - Newspaper
    New York Times. 2002. In Texas, Ad heats up race for governor. 30 July.
    Morgenson, G. 2000. Market watch. New York Times, 23 April.
  - Theses and dissertations
    Schwarz, G. J. 2000. Multiwavelength analyses of classical carbon-oxygen novae (outbursts, binary stars). PhD diss., Arizona State University.
  - Conference/Proceedings/Workshop/Lectures, papers presented at meeting and the like
    Efimova, L. M. 2008. New Russian evidence on the Calcutta Youth Conference (February 1948) and Soviet policy toward Indonesia. Paper presented at the Roundtable on the sixtieth anniversary of 1948. Reassessing the Origins of the Cold War in Southeast at the Asian Research Institute, National University of Singapore. 10–11 July.
  - Working papers and the other unpublished works
    Ferber, R. 1971. Family decision-making and economic behavior. Faculty Working Paper 35, College of Commerce and Business Administration, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
  - Online/electronic resources
    As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given.
  - Other electronic format
    Hicks, R. J. 1996. Nuclear medicine, from the center of our universe. Victoria, Austl.: ICE Multimedia. CD-ROM.
  - Movie
    Yasmin Ahmad. 2003. Sepet. Film. Directed by Yasmin Ahmad. Kuala Lumpur: MHZ Film Sdn. Bhd.
  - Television programme
    Big Fish, Little Fish. 2006. Four Corners. Television programme. Sydney: ABC Television, 27 March.
  - DVD
    Bowling for Columbine. 2003. DVD. Written and directed by M. Moore. Melbourne: AV Channel.
  - Video recording
    Attenborough, D. 1990. Life on Earth: A Natural History. Video recording. Produced by R. Brock and J. Sparks. US: Warner Home Video.
  - Radio programme
    Browning, D. 2006. Black Soccer Heroes. Message Stick. Radio program. Guest speaker Dr. John Maynard. Sydney: ABC Radio, 9 June.
  - Musical scores
    Mozart, W. A. 1960. Sonatas and Fantasies for the Piano. Prepared from the autographs and earliest printed sources by Nathan Broder. Rev. Ed. Bryn Mawr, PA: Theodore Presser.
    
    Schubert, F. 1985. Das Wandern (Wandering), Die schone Mullerin (The Maid of the Mill). In First Vocal Album (for high voice). New York: G. Schirmer.
  - Slides, filmstrips and videos
    The Greek and Roman World. 1977. Filmstrip. Chicago: Society for Visual Education.

Contact

Intending contributors who have inquiries/questions are welcomed to contact:

Editorial

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Safrizal Shahir
Editor-in-Chief
Wacana Seni Journal of Arts Discourse
School of the Arts
Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 USM, Pulau Pinang
Malaysia
Email: safrizal@usm.my

Publisher

Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 USM, Pulau Pinang
Malaysia
E-mail: penerbit@usm.my