Research in African Literatures

Guidelines for Submissions

The editor invites submissions of original, previously unpublished article-length manuscripts (not exceeding 35 pages in length). Articles that have been published elsewhere in any form, version, or language cannot be considered for publication, including those that are available on the Internet, nor will we consider multiple submissions by the same author. Manuscripts may be submitted in English, French, or other languages, but they will generally be published in English. Authors of articles that have been accepted for publication will be required to sign a consent-to-publish form, which is an agreement vesting copyright in Indiana University Press. Submissions should be made to our online journal system: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/ral/about.

RAL follows the MLA Style Manual, 9th ed. (2021). Please note that articles that do not conform to our house style may be returned to the author before being considered for publication.

  1. Manuscripts should be submitted preferably as Word files (.doc or .docx), be double-spaced, use a 12-point standard font (e.g., Times New Roman), and have one inch margins.
  2. In addition, the article must include (1) a 150-word abstract and (2) a list of works cited, following the MLA Style Manual bibliography guidelines.
  3. Do not use word processor features that embed notes as footnotes or endnotes. Note numbers should be prepared as Arabic numerals in superscript and normally occur at the end of a sentence.
  4. All images must be submitted as TIFFs or JPGs. Large images should be uploaded as zip files. It will be the responsibility of the author to secure permission to reprint copyrighted images or texts and to provide high-res files prior to publication.
  5. Use American spellings and punctuation except when quoting from a source that has used British style. All punctuation except colons and semicolons is placed inside quotation marks. Single quotes are used only for quotes within quotes; otherwise, double quotation marks are to be used.
  6. Provide translations (your own or the standard, if there is a printed translation available) of all material in languages other than English. The translations should be incorporated into the text, following the foreign term or foreign selection.