Paper Submissions
Submissions Deadline
The deadline for paper submission is Monday, November 15, 2010, 11:59 p.m.
Note: If you are submitting a panel presentation, follow the guidelines and instructions under: Panel Submissions.
Guidelines for Paper Submissions
All currently-enrolled members of Sigma Tau Delta and Sigma Kappa Delta, and Alumni Epsilon Chapter members, are invited to submit original critical essays, creative nonfiction, poetry, fiction, drama/screenplays to be considered for presentation at the annual convention. Essays on any topic of interest in the discipline are welcome; essays on the works of our featured speakers are especially encouraged.
In place of or in addition to this "original" submission, all currently-enrolled members of Sigma Tau Delta and Sigma Kappa Delta, and Alumni Epsilon Chapter members, are invited to submit one work focusing on the Common Reader, Lorene Cary's Black Ice, to be considered for presentation at the annual convention.
Paper submissions must conform to the following guidelines:
- Each member in good standing may submit a maximum of two works for consideration. (Faculty members may not submit papers, but they are invited to moderate panels and sessions.)
- To be considered, the two works must represent separate genres/categories either from within the "original" topics or one from the "original" topics and one from the "common reader" topic. For example, a member might submit an original critical essay and an original creative nonfiction; or a member might submit an original poetry and a common reader critical essay.
- Two works from the same category will not be considered.
- A separate submission must be made for each of the two works.
- Submitters must include three keywords for each submission, including poetry. View keywords instruction.
- Acceptance is based on merit.
- Notification of acceptance will be sent on or before January 30, 2011, by email only to the address listed on the submission form.
- Authors must be present at the convention to read their own papers. Papers will not be read in the author’s absence.
- Works accepted for paper presentation and presented at the convention will automatically be considered for the convention awards available in each category. Authors must present their works at the convention to be eligible for awards.
* Sigma Tau Delta members no longer affiliated with a college or university chapter must be members of the Sigma Tau Delta Alumni Epsilon Chapter to present at the convention.
Paper Format
Contributors must not identify themselves in any way on any page of text submitted.
Prose (Critical Essays, Creative, Original Works)
- Times font, 12-point, double-spaced, and 1 inch margins on all sides, free of typographical and grammatical errors. Essays must follow the Modern Language Association style guidelines as defined in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (latest edition). Titles should be no more than four spaces down from the top and centered (avoid bold letters or underlining). Each work (maximum of two in separate genres/categories) must be submitted as a Word document file (doc or docx).
- Creative prose manuscripts should not exceed 2,000 words, including in-text citations, footnotes, and works cited entries. Critical prose manuscripts should not exceed 2,000 words, including both in-text citations and the references page.
- The
submitted body of work (including any introductory comments necessary to
contextualize the work) must be presentable within a 15-minute time slot.
Poetry
- Only one poetry submission is permitted. The submission may consist of one to eight individual poems. All poems must be contained in one Word document file (doc or docx).
- If you are submitting a collection of poems, provide the title of your collection, and use the title as your file name.
- Formatting for poetry submissions: Times font,12-point, free of typographical and grammatical errors. Create a new page for each poem. Titles for the individual poem(s) should be no more than four spaces down from the top and centered (avoid bold letters or underlining).
- The submitted body of work (including any introductory comments necessary to contextualize the work) must be presentable within a 15-minute time slot.
Instructions for Paper Submissions
Step 1: Sign In
- If you registered online for the international convention, provided a journal submission, or submitted a paper or panel proposal this past year, you already have an account. To access your account use the same email address and password you used previously.
- If you do not have an online account, you must first set up your account. Create a password containing at least five characters.
- All confirmations and follow-up communication will be sent to the email address associated with your account.
Step 2: Authors
- After you have successfully logged on, choose: Submitter Account | Add As Author/Co-Author. Note: Sigma Tau Delta only allows one author.
- Choose: Continue button.
Step 3: Add Submission
- Topic: Select your topic from pull-down menu.
Critical Essay
- Anglo-Saxon and Medieval British Literature
- 16th/17th Century British Literature
- Restoration and/or 18th Century British Literature
- Romanticism and/or Early 19th Century British Literature
- Victorian and/or Later 19th Century British Literature
- 20th/21st Century British Literature
- Colonial American Literature
- 19th Century American Literature
- 20th/21st Century American Literature
- World Literature
- Popular Culture
- Critical Theory
- Film and Media Study
- Teaching Literature; Practices and Pedagogy
- Young Adult Literature
Original Drama/Screenplay
Original Fiction
Original Poetry
Creative Nonfiction
Common Reader Black Ice
- Title: Type in the title of your paper as the full title or an abbreviated title of no more than 25 characters.
- Attach Document: Select your word document. FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY!
- Click the Browse button to select your first document (label your files the full title or an abbreviated title of no more than 25 characters).
- Click the Attach button.
- If your document is correctly attached, you will see your document file name listed below the document box.
- Insert Keywords (required): All submissions, including poetry, require three keywords. Keywords may be more than one word, but cannot include punctuation. Each keyword must be separated by a comma. Do not use your first or last name as a keyword. The total three keyword character count must not exceed 100 characters (including commas and spaces).
Examples:
author name, descripter1, descripter2
title of work, descripter1, descripter 2
Type your keywords in the box. Do not cut and paste from other sources (including Microsoft Word and web pages); doing so will create formatting problems and a larger character count, and may result in your submission being rejected.
- Presentation Type: Choose "Convention Paper"
-
Other Information (required):
- Membership Type
- Chapter State/Country
- Chapter School
- Academic Level
- Induction Semester
- Induction Year
- Sponsor Name
- Sponsor Email Address
- Verify the following statement:
"This is an original work authored by me."
- Answer the following questions:
"Would you like to be invited to serve as a session chair at the convention?" (If you reply Yes, you will receive an invitation email in February.)
Step 4: Review
- Click Continue and review the information for your submission. You may make edits at this time (choose the Edit button). To save edits, click the Accept button at the bottom of the page.
- Click Save Changes.
Additional Submissions
Repeat the submission process to add a second submission in a different category (presentation type). You can also exit and add a second submission at a later date.
- On the first screen next to Submission List select Add.
- Repeat Steps 2 through 4 above.
Questions
Questions regarding the online submission process should be addressed to sigmaoffice@niu.edu.
Submission Confirmations
Submitters will receive confirmations and acceptances through email using the email address associated with their account. Therefore it is vital that submitters keep their email addresses active through March 2011.
Please check your confirmation and retain it. The confirmation email will include a four digit number that may be used as a reference in future communications.
Acceptance and Denial Notifications
Acceptance and denial notifications will be emailed by January 30, 2011.