Author Guidelines

Manuscripts sent to the Editorial Review Board will undergo blind review. To facilitate this process, names of the authors should not appear in the body of the manuscript or in any headings or citations. The title page with author contact information should be emailed in a separate file from the body of the manuscript. If there is more than one author, the title page should indicate who the main contact person is.

The review process will take up to two months.

Abstract

Please provide an abstract in 3rd person of about 50 words. Your abstract will serve as a general introduction to the topic and as a brief summary of your vignette. Do not include references or abbreviations in your abstract.

Citations and References

Manuscripts should be in APA style. Please check your references to make sure they are formatted correctly.

When citing a source within a sentence use present tense. For example:

  • “Rosenblatt (1978) writes that transactional theory…”
  • “According to Short (1997), children’s literature is…”

Translations

While the language of WOW Stories: Connections from the Classroom is English, we encourage authors to include student voices in the language used during the learning engagement. However, please provide translations whenever possible.

In written dialogue the translation should go in brackets immediately after the home language.

  • Yo voy en el bús a que mi nana. [I take the bus to my grandmother’s.]
  • En mi casa todos ayudan, porque así es. Dice mi pa’ que todos tienen que hacer algo, no pueden hacer nada. [At my house everyone helps, because that’s how it is. My dad says that everyone has to do something, they can’t do nothing.]

Figures, Tables, Images, and other Media

If you are including student voices in a language other than English through a video, audio file or podcast, please provide subtitles or an English translation. If this is not possible, integrate an English-language summary into the manuscript so that the reader understands why the video or audio was included in the manuscript.

We encourage the use of figures, tables, images, and multimedia that enhance the content of the article and take advantage of the journal’s electronic format. While your manuscript is undergoing review, these should be integrated into the manuscript and may be lower quality for quick downloading by reviewers.

Note: WOW Stories formats captions by placing them below images, including tables.

If your manuscript is accepted for publication, you are responsible for getting it publication-ready:

  • Provide web-quality images and media. Images that are not web-quality will not be published.
  • Move each figure or table to a separate file. The text of the manuscript along with each figure, table, or other image should be emailed in separate files. Each file should be labeled by Author’s last name Figure/Table Number. For example:
    • Schall figure 1
    • Gonzalez table 3
  • All images should be titled and an indication must be made where to insert them into the manuscript to connect them to the text. This can be basic, or more detailed. For example:
    • [Insert Schall Figure 1: Sabrina’s Response Journal]
    • [Insert Schall Figure 1: Sabrina’s response journal indicates family reading time was more successful in helping her make connections]
  • Images should not be sent as Word documents. Graphics should be either in GIF or JPEG format. All tables should be formatted using the Table tool (versus using tabs).
  • If your image was generated in Word (such as a table or chart), it can be saved as a PDF by going to print it but using the PDF option instead. If it is an image placed in Word, then the image needs to be right clicked on and saved as a JPEG.

Photographs

We prefer first generation images. The image size needs to be at least 640px x 480px but 800px x 600px is preferred. Image resolution should be at least 300 dpi. We accept the following formats:

  • JPEG (use only the maximum quality compression setting)
  • TIFF
  • PNG
  • GIF

Video

A video file submitted for consideration for publication should be in complete and final format and at as high a resolution as possible. Any editing of the video will be the responsibility of the author. Video files should be submitted in one of the following formats:

  • MP4
  • QuickTime
  • WMV
  • MPEG
  • RealMedia

For video files over 8MB, authors may be asked to submit a CD or jump drive rather than sending it electronically.

Audio

An audio file submitted for consideration for publication should be in complete and final format. Any editing of the audio file will be the responsibility of the author.

We accept files in MP3 or iTunes format.

Consent Forms

We require consent-to-publish forms from each author.

Additionally, if you are quoting student work or student talk in your manuscript, YOU MUST HAVE INFORMED CONSENT from the student and/or parents. We will not publish a manuscript unless we have proof of consent. To show informed consent you may either:

  • Use the WOW Stories form and have each student and/or parent complete and sign the forms.
  • Copy the informed consent forms that you used when you did the research or classroom engagement and send those forms to the editor. If you choose this option, be aware that your students will no longer be anonymous since the editor will have access to their real names.
  • Write a blanket letter of consent stating that you have those forms in hand but are not sharing them to maintain the privacy of the students. If this is the case, you need to provide a blank copy of your permission form with your letter. This must be the sole purpose of your letter—don’t include other issues regarding your article in the content of the letter. Mail the blanket letter of consent and the blank copy of your permission form to the editor.

Use the WOW Stories consent form and have each student and/or parent complete and sign the forms.

Publication Considerations

If your manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors must submit consent-to-publish forms, professional affiliation forms, and student consent forms along with the manuscript and related files in the electronic format as required. If paperwork or electronic files are not completed the manuscript will not be published.

ORCID iDs

If you have an ORCID iD, please provide it during the submission process.

WOW Stories AI Statement

Author/s take full responsibility for literature reviews and data, analyses of collected information, and interpretations in this submission, regardless of the tools used. Author/s confirm that AI tools did not replace their judgement in findings. Author/s affirm that the work meets WOW Stories’ standards for research and practice integrity.

WOW Stories Plagiarism Statement

For all online content, and specifically our online journals, Worlds of Words defines plagiarism as “Submitting an item of research, written or otherwise produced work that has previously been submitted or simultaneously submitted without fair citation of the original work or authorization by the faculty member supervising the work.” This includes all previously-submitted work regardless of copyright law; this includes self-plagiarism and plagiarism of works in the public domain. At Worlds of Words, we uphold published works to a high standard of integrity.

Crediting Intellectual Property

For our journals, Worlds of Words also follows the guidelines outlined by the American Psychological Association:

Cite the work of those individuals whose ideas, theories, or research have directly impacted your work… In addition to crediting the ideas of others that you have used to build your thesis, provide documentation of all facts and figures that are not common knowledge. (American Psychological Association, 2009, p. 170)

All Journal manuscripts must adhere to these standards. All quotations and paraphrased ideas from other works must be properly cited in APA format, including quotations from the book being reviewed. In addition to blatant plagiarism, self-plagiarism (when an author uses his/her previous work without proper citation) will not be tolerated in our journals. Worlds of Words also prohibits duplicate publication in our journals; no content in WOW’s journals may have previously been published by a different institution.

Plagiarism is not tolerated because it is dishonest, demonstrates a lack of integrity, and goes against Worlds of Words’ mission: to promote cultural understanding and academic dialogue among educators. Authors who plagiarize are guilty of denying the original authors their chance to participate and be heard.

Plagiarism Checking Before Publication

All our journals are peer-reviewed prior to their publication by experts in the field’s sub-specialty who have advanced understandings of seminal and ongoing research in their area who are the first line of plagiarism detection. WOW’s journal editors are additionally tasked with studying submissions for plagiarism. If any text is found to be plagiarized and is not a quotation, an obvious coincidence, or lacks proper citation, the manuscript will be rejected.

Worlds of Words is currently researching electronic plagiarism-detection software to make our screening process more efficient and thorough, however it is on the author/submitter to do their due diligence.

When Plagiarism is Found on the Site After Publication

If plagiarism is found in a WOW journal following publication, our team will take immediate action. We will notify the editors of the journal, pull the plagiarized piece from the website, and publish an erratum explaining what has transpired. Legal action may be taken if necessary.

WOW Accountability Statement

Worlds of Words values integrity, transparency, and honesty in our publications. We are committed to taking every possible step to prevent plagiarism.

If you see a manuscript in WOW Stories that you suspect to be an infringement of copyright (suspected plagiarism, your own uncredited work, etc.), do not hesitate to contact us at wow@arizona.edu. We will investigate any claim of copyright infringement as quickly as possible. Any material found to be a violation of copyright law or publication integrity will be immediately pulled from the website, and we will publish an erratum describing the circumstance and what steps were taken to correct it.

Our plagiarism policy above outlines WOW’s zero-tolerance attitude toward plagiarized work as well as our steps for ensuring that plagiarism does not occur in our publications. However, we acknowledge that there is always a risk of plagiarism slipping through our screening process. If this circumstance were ever to arise, we appreciate your cooperation in helping us resolve it.