MELA Notes Submission

This page is designed to help you ensure your submission is ready for and fits the scope of the journal.

Before submitting you should read over the guidelines here, then register an account (or login if you have an existing account)

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Guidelines for Contributors

Thank you for considering submitting your work to MELA Notes Journal. To maintain consistency and quality across publications, please adhere to the following guidelines:



1. Manuscript Length:

   - Articles submitted to MELA Notes Journal should have a length ranging between 5000 to 8000 words.

 

2. Structure:

   - Each article must include the following components:

     - Abstract: A concise summary of the article's main points and findings.

     - Keywords: Provide a list of up to 10 keywords that accurately reflect the content of the article.

     - Introduction: Set the context and outline the objectives of the article.

     - Body: Present the main arguments, analysis, and evidence in a clear and organized manner.

     - Conclusion: Summarize the key findings and implications of the article.

     - Author Biography: A brief (50 words maximum) biography of the author(s) should be included at the end of the manuscript.

 

3. Transliteration:

   - Authors should use the ALA-LC Romanization Tables for transliterations to ensure consistency and accuracy in rendering non-Latin scripts into the Latin alphabet.


4. References and Endnotes:

  - Citations and references should follow the guidelines outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition. Please ensure accuracy and consistency in formatting both in-text citations and the bibliography.

   - Endnotes should be used for additional explanations, comments, or citations that are not appropriate for inclusion within the main text.

 

5. Peer-review Process:

   - All submitted articles will undergo a rigorous double-blind peer-review process to ensure the quality and integrity of published content. Authors' identities will be anonymized during this process to maintain impartiality.

 

6. Author's Agreement: 

   - Authors are required to sign the Author's Agreement attached to these Guidelines for Contributors. By submitting their work to MELA Notes Journal, authors acknowledge their agreement to the terms and conditions outlined in the agreement.



Submission Process:

   - Manuscripts should be submitted electronically via the online submission system on the eScholarship website (Open Access Publications from the University of California).

   - Authors should ensure that their submissions comply with the formatting and style requirements outlined in these guidelines.

 

We appreciate your interest in contributing to MELA Notes Journal. Should you have any further inquiries or require assistance, please contact the editorial team at mailto:melanoteseditor@mela.us.

 

Instructions for Book Reviews:

Should you accept the offer of the MELA Notes Book Review Editor to review a book, please be mindful of the following:

    • Limit your review to fewer than 1000 words (about three pages of double-spaced, 12pt text).

    • Please submit your review to the Book Review Editor in a word document format.

    • Please include your name and institutional affiliation at the end of the text of the review.

    • If, for any reason, you are unable to complete the review, please return the volume to the Book Review Editor. The Editor will greatly appreciate your suggestion of someone else qualified to complete the review.

    • If you find that you cannot meet the deadline for submitting the review after having accepted the offer, please either consult with the Book Review Editor about extending the deadline or return the book to the Editor as soon as possible.

    • Publishers send books to MELA Notes with the expectation that reviews will appear in the journal within a reasonable time. The editors are determined to avoid the dubious notoriety of accumulating books, few of which are ever reviewed, and thus forfeiting future opportunities to receive books for review. 

Please send books for review directly to the MELA Notes Book Review Editor at mailto:melanoteseditor@mela.us.



Note: These guidelines are subject to periodic review and revision. Authors are advised to consult the most recent version of the guidelines before submitting their work.

About

MELA Notes serves as the official journal of the Middle East Librarians’ Association, encompassing a broad spectrum of contributions within the field of Middle Eastern Studies. The journal's scope extends beyond traditional boundaries, welcoming submissions in various forms, including articles, notices, review articles, and book reviews. While its primary focus is on Middle Eastern Studies, MELA Notes is not confined to library and information studies or bibliography, making it a versatile platform for scholars and professionals to engage with diverse topics within the broader context of the Middle East.

Editorian Board

Editor-in-chief: Farshad Sonboldel, Ph.D., University of California San Diego Library 

Book Review: Mahdi Ganjavi, Ph.D., University of Toronto


Editorial Assistant: Azada Rahi, University of Toronto            

Editorial Assistant: Rory Lowdermilk, University of California Santa Barbara

 

Focus and Scope

This should be updated to reflect your journals focus.

Copyright Notice

The following is an agreement between MELA Notes (the Journal) and the submitter (the Author), governing the work currently being submitted, including the primary contribution as well as any supporting materials such as an abstract, data sets, media files, figures, or tables created by the Author and any co-authors (the Submission). 
 
The Journal is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to readers or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. 
 
1. As consideration for publication in the Journal, the Author grants the Journal the following rights: 
1.1. A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free right to publish, reproduce, publicly display, publicly perform and distribute the Work in perpetuity throughout the world in all means of expression by any method or media now known or hereafter developed; and 
1.2. A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free right to license others, including databases or printing vendors, to do any or all of the above on a non-exclusive basis. 
 
2. The Author warrants that: 
2.1. The Author is the author of the Submission, or is authorized to act on behalf of the author(s) and copyright holder (if different from the author(s)), and has the power to convey the rights granted in this agreement. 
2.2. If the Submission has multiple authors, the other authors are identified in the Submission, and the Author will inform the other authors of the terms of this agreement. 
2.3. Any textual, graphic or multimedia material included in the Submission that is the intellectual property or work of another is identified and cited in the Submission.  
2.4. If the Submission reproduces any material that is the intellectual property of another, the Author has received permission to publish that material in the Submission, or the material is being incorporated based on an informed, reasonable, and good faith application of fair use. 
2.5. The Submission is the original work of the Author(s). To the best of the Author’s knowledge, it does not contain matter that is obscene, libelous, or defamatory; it does not knowingly violate another’s right of privacy, right of publicity, or other legal right; does not contain false or misleading statements; and is otherwise not unlawful. 
2.6. The Submission has not been previously published, and is not pending review elsewhere. If this is not the case, the Author will provide the Journal with information about the other locations where the Submission appears or is pending review. Prior distribution of a Submission, including on a preprint server or in a repository, does not disqualify a Submission from potential publication; the Journal is primarily concerned with other appearances in similar publications. 
2.7. If the Author is a student, the Author agrees to share their work and waive any privacy rights granted by FERPA or any other law, policy or regulation, with respect to the Submission, for the purpose of publication. If the Author has any student co-authors, the Author will obtain a signed copy of this agreement from those co-authors.  
 
3. Indemnification 
The Author will indemnify and hold the Journal harmless against loss, damages, expenses, awards, and judgments arising from breach of any of the above warranties. 
 
4. Author’s Rights and Obligations 
4.1. Nothing in this agreement constitutes a transfer of the copyright by the Author. As such, the Author retains all rights not expressly granted herein, including but not limited to, the right: 
4.1.1. To reproduce and distribute the Submission, and to authorize others to reproduce and distribute the Submission, in any format; 
4.1.2. To post the Submission in an institutional repository or the Author’s personal or departmental web page. 
4.1.3. To include the Submission, in whole or in part, in another work. 
4.2. If the Author distributes the Submission on another website or in another publication (as described above), the Journal will be cited as the source of first publication. 
 
5. Rights for Readers 
The Journal and the Author agree that the Submission will be distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), or other later version of the same license, that allows others to copy, distribute, translate, adapt, and build upon the Submission, even commercially, as long as they provide appropriate credit to the author(s). Anyone who uses or redistributes the Submission under this license must indicate any changes that were made, must link to the license, and cannot imply that the author(s) endorse them or their use. More information about this license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.  
 
6. Termination 
The Author agrees to the terms of this agreement for the Submission being considered for publication. If the Submission is declined, this agreement is terminated.

Peer Review

This journal operates a double anonymous peer review policy.

Licences

The following licences are allowed:

  • CC BY 4.0
    Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Publication Cycle

This journal published continuously all year round/publishes in issues every x months.

Sections

Section or article type

Public Submissions

Peer Reviewed

Indexed

Article

Book Review

Reports