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St Anne’s Academic Review

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Our scope

STAAR welcomes articles from all disciplines written by St Anne’s members (JCR, MCR, SCR). Its goals are to facilitate the dissemination of scholarly knowledge between St Anne’s students and to the wider public. Pieces are judged on academic quality and not on subject area.

We will consider the following article types:

  • Research article – a piece containing original results or findings from your research (e.g. Lopes da Silveira 2018)
  • Subject Review article – an unbiased piece reviewing your subject area (e.g. Meachon 2017)
  • Opinion piece – an article presenting your personal reflections on a particular issue or item of news (e.g. Hicks 2015)
  • Creative writing and Translation – a poem, short story, or short dramatic piece of your own original making, or in your original translation. (e.g. Ren 2018)
  • SPARK Reviews – creative reviews of any critical texts, fiction, poetry, plays or films which you consider to be of artistic merit and want to share with the student community. We welcome the writing of St. Annes students from all disciplines and degrees. These reviews are not expected to be extensively researched essays, but personal responses to media which you consider to be thought-provoking and critically engaging (e.g. Suleman 2019). You may compare texts and structure your review in the style and direction which suits you best. Once edited, Spark Reviews will be published on the STAAR website on a rolling basis. You may submit a Spark Review anytime throughout the year and may submit more than one review. Deadlines for drafting Spark Reviews do not run concurrently with the other sections of the magazine, and are normally set a month after the Spark Review editor has confirmed the topic.

Do let us know if you have another article type you wish to be considered for publication.

Publication Process

If you have an idea for an article, we ask you to submit an abstract first. The Call for Abstracts is typically circulated by the Editorial Board at the end of Michaelmas Term. Please make sure to send the abstract and the other required information by the deadline; late submissions will not be accepted. Abstracts are collectively assessed by the Editorial Board and selected for inclusion in the current academic year’s issue.

If your piece is selected, you will be asked to submit the full draft. Your appointed editor will then contact you for corrections and suggestions. You should expect at least two rounds of editorial review, then we will confirm that you are happy with the text’s final shape.

Edited articles will be subject to open review, the details of which will be discussed with you by the editor of your piece. During the month of August you will have time to make alterations and the final editorial decisions will be made. Your work will appear online and in print at the start of October, in Freshers’ Week.

We do not levy charges for submission, processing, page number, colour or any other element in the publication process.

Criteria for publication

  • The work is the author’s own.
  • The article has not been published elsewhere. Occasional exceptions can be made for opinion pieces, upon permission from the copyright holder and with due acknowledgement of the original publisher.
  • All research has been conducted to a high standard.
  • The article is written in standard English and is easily readable to those outside of the field of study.

Guidelines for authors

Submission Format

Articles should be submitted electronically as Word documents (MS Office or open source equivalent).
Word count (including footnotes, excluding bibliography):

5,000 words for research articles, subject reviews, opinion pieces and creative writing;

1,000 words max for book/film/event reviews;

2,000 words max for Spark Reviews.

Font: Palatino, 12 pt.
Paragraphs: single spaced and justified, first-line indentation of 1 inch / 1,27 cm; one line spacing between paragraphs.
Title: 16pt bold.
Headings and subheadings: 12 pt bold, separated by a line spacing from the following paragraph.

Figures

Figures are highly encouraged. Ensure:

– all text in the figure is readable;
– a figure caption is placed under the figure in the main body of text (not within a text box);
– captions are in 10pt;
– all images used comply to the CC BY licence.

Referencing and style guide

Humanities – MLA (Author-Date)
Sciences – APA
Social Sciences- APA

General deadlines

Abstract submission – by the end of week 3TT.
First draft submission – 12th of July 2024.
Deadlines thereafter are to be set by the editor of your piece.

Exact submission dates may vary slightly from year to year. Please refer to the deadlines specified in the Call for Papers and subsequent Editor’s communications.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to Contact Us.