Because of its affiliation with the Association of American Geographers (AAG), The Southwestern Geographer uses the same style guidelines as the Annals of the Association of American Geographers.
Submission. All manuscripts should be submitted electronically to the editors. Submissions must include a cover letter containing a statement that the manuscript has not been submitted for publication elsewhere, and will not be submitted elsewhere until a decision has been rendered by the editors.
Review. After evaluation by the editors, manuscripts are sent to at least two outside reviewers. The review process normally takes four to six weeks and every effort is made to respond as quickly as possible.
Manuscripts. Prepare your manuscript using a word processing program and save it as a .docx or .rtf file. Do not put any identifying information in your manuscript or your file names to ensure a blind review. This includes names of the authors, their affiliations and bio sketches, or acknowledgements. Figure files can be embedded in the manuscript as .gif, .jpg, .eps and .tif; however, only .eps or .tif files can be used for publication purposes. Tables may be embedded in the manuscript file, but should be placed at the end of the file rather than worked into the text. Each table and figure should appear on a separate page. Text must be in a 12-point font with 2.54 cm (1 inch) margins. All parts of the manuscript (abstract, text, notes, references, tables, and figure captions) must be double-spaced and paginated. Format manuscript as follows, starting each section with a new page: (1) title page, (2) abstract, (3) text, (4) notes, (5) references, (6) appendix, (7) tables, (8) figure captions.
Title Page. The title serves as the author’s invitation to a diverse audience; it should be chosen with care. Do not include any identifying information on the title page, including the names of the authors, their affiliations or contact information, bio sketches, or acknowledgements.
Abstract/Key Words. Include an abstract of 250 words or less that summarizes the purpose, methods, and major findings of the paper. All authors should provide three to five key words or phrases by which an article can be indexed in periodical references. These should appear in italics at the end of the abstract.
Units of Measure. The Southwestern Geographer uses the International System of Units (metric); other units should be noted in parentheses.
Equations. Equations should appear in the text in an appropriate type style (Greek letters, bold type, etc.). Authors should carefully distinguish between capital and lower-case letters, Roman and Greek characters, and letters and numerals. Number equations sequentially, in parenthesis on the right edge of the text. All constituent terms should be defined when they initially appear.
Notes. Specific arguments or single points may be amplified by concise notes numbered sequentially in the text. The list of notes appears immediately after the text. Please do not use the automatic word processing endnote functions.
References. References should be cited parenthetically in the text in this order: author’s last name, year of publication, and page number (Smith 2005, 220). All sources in the text of a paper must be listed in the references section and vice versa. List all references alphabetically by the author’s last name and chronologically, and if possible, please include full names for all authors. Provide the full, unabbreviated title of books and periodicals. Personal communications can be cited either in endnotes or in the references section. All newspaper articles and articles from weekly magazines should be fully cited in the references section rather than worked into the text of the paper. For examples of the correct style for various forms of publication, see the Manual of Style, published by the University of Chicago Press.
Tables. All tables must be referenced in the text. Each table must be typed double-spaced on a separate page in the same 12-point font as the text, and numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals. Each table must have a descriptive title as well as informational column and row headings. Decimals appearing in tables should include leading zeros: 0.1273 rather than .1273.
Illustrations. Maps, graphs, and photos should convey ideas efficiently and tastefully. Graphics must be legible, concise, and referenced in the text. Illustrations must be designed to fit the page and column format of the Southwestern Geographer, 11.4 by 19.0 cm (4.5 by 7.5-inch page). For printing purposes, all graphics must be computer generated and will be accepted in the following formats only: EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) for most illustrations or TIFF (Tagged-Image File Format) for raster images. Type sizes below 6 point should be avoided.
Final Submission. The final (revised) version of each article must be submitted in digital form using any common word-processing software and formatted according to the Guidelines for Final Submission of Electronic Copy below. Figures should be submitted in accordance with the Guidelines for Preparing Graphics below. Copyediting will be undertaken once the manuscript has been accepted, using the final version of the paper submitted in digital form. The publisher will advise authors about outstanding questions concerning style or omissions at this time. Authors will be responsible for any additional costs incurred in making substantive changes to the manuscript at proof stage.
Submission. All manuscripts should be submitted electronically to the editors. Submissions must include a cover letter containing a statement that the manuscript has not been submitted for publication elsewhere, and will not be submitted elsewhere until a decision has been rendered by the editors.
Review. After evaluation by the editors, manuscripts are sent to at least two outside reviewers. The review process normally takes four to six weeks and every effort is made to respond as quickly as possible.
Manuscripts. Prepare your manuscript using a word processing program and save it as a .docx or .rtf file. Do not put any identifying information in your manuscript or your file names to ensure a blind review. This includes names of the authors, their affiliations and bio sketches, or acknowledgements. Figure files can be embedded in the manuscript as .gif, .jpg, .eps and .tif; however, only .eps or .tif files can be used for publication purposes. Tables may be embedded in the manuscript file, but should be placed at the end of the file rather than worked into the text. Each table and figure should appear on a separate page. Text must be in a 12-point font with 2.54 cm (1 inch) margins. All parts of the manuscript (abstract, text, notes, references, tables, and figure captions) must be double-spaced and paginated. Format manuscript as follows, starting each section with a new page: (1) title page, (2) abstract, (3) text, (4) notes, (5) references, (6) appendix, (7) tables, (8) figure captions.
Title Page. The title serves as the author’s invitation to a diverse audience; it should be chosen with care. Do not include any identifying information on the title page, including the names of the authors, their affiliations or contact information, bio sketches, or acknowledgements.
Abstract/Key Words. Include an abstract of 250 words or less that summarizes the purpose, methods, and major findings of the paper. All authors should provide three to five key words or phrases by which an article can be indexed in periodical references. These should appear in italics at the end of the abstract.
Units of Measure. The Southwestern Geographer uses the International System of Units (metric); other units should be noted in parentheses.
Equations. Equations should appear in the text in an appropriate type style (Greek letters, bold type, etc.). Authors should carefully distinguish between capital and lower-case letters, Roman and Greek characters, and letters and numerals. Number equations sequentially, in parenthesis on the right edge of the text. All constituent terms should be defined when they initially appear.
Notes. Specific arguments or single points may be amplified by concise notes numbered sequentially in the text. The list of notes appears immediately after the text. Please do not use the automatic word processing endnote functions.
References. References should be cited parenthetically in the text in this order: author’s last name, year of publication, and page number (Smith 2005, 220). All sources in the text of a paper must be listed in the references section and vice versa. List all references alphabetically by the author’s last name and chronologically, and if possible, please include full names for all authors. Provide the full, unabbreviated title of books and periodicals. Personal communications can be cited either in endnotes or in the references section. All newspaper articles and articles from weekly magazines should be fully cited in the references section rather than worked into the text of the paper. For examples of the correct style for various forms of publication, see the Manual of Style, published by the University of Chicago Press.
Tables. All tables must be referenced in the text. Each table must be typed double-spaced on a separate page in the same 12-point font as the text, and numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals. Each table must have a descriptive title as well as informational column and row headings. Decimals appearing in tables should include leading zeros: 0.1273 rather than .1273.
Illustrations. Maps, graphs, and photos should convey ideas efficiently and tastefully. Graphics must be legible, concise, and referenced in the text. Illustrations must be designed to fit the page and column format of the Southwestern Geographer, 11.4 by 19.0 cm (4.5 by 7.5-inch page). For printing purposes, all graphics must be computer generated and will be accepted in the following formats only: EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) for most illustrations or TIFF (Tagged-Image File Format) for raster images. Type sizes below 6 point should be avoided.
Final Submission. The final (revised) version of each article must be submitted in digital form using any common word-processing software and formatted according to the Guidelines for Final Submission of Electronic Copy below. Figures should be submitted in accordance with the Guidelines for Preparing Graphics below. Copyediting will be undertaken once the manuscript has been accepted, using the final version of the paper submitted in digital form. The publisher will advise authors about outstanding questions concerning style or omissions at this time. Authors will be responsible for any additional costs incurred in making substantive changes to the manuscript at proof stage.
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