Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • Article is prepared according to the MSU Press style guide.
  • The submission is a Microsoft Word file or similar, double-spaced document. Character and space count is listed near the top.
  • Endnotes are numbered consecutively; these numbers must correspond to those in the text. Please use your word processor's automatic linking system. Endnote style for all manuscripts accepted for publication follows The Chicago Manual of Style.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, no identifying information is included in my manuscript.
  • Call-outs appear in the text where the image should appear. Caption information should appear below the call-out. Example: [Insert Fig. 1 here] [Fig 1 caption: Sample caption]. While images can be embedded in the text as a placeholder, please also upload separate image files during the upload process. Images should be at least 300 dpi.
  • Images & Derivative Materials: It is the author/researcher’s obligation and responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright and/or other use restrictions prior to submitting materials to MSU Press for publication. Citations, permissions, and captions are required upon submission for all images. Use the R&PA Permission Request Letter to obtain permission from the rightsholder—we cannot publish such materials until written clearance is obtained.

Author Guidelines

Rhetoric & Public Affairs is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the history, theory, and criticism of public discourse. Arenas of rhetorical investigation might include but are by no means limited to campaigns for social, political, environmental or economic justice; modes of resistance to those campaigns; situated instances of executive leadership; legislative and judicial deliberations; comparative rhetorics; transnational diplomacy; digital circulation and mediation of public discourse; and/or constitution of political and social identities. Critical, analytical, or interpretive essays examining symbolic influences in any historical period (including the contemporary) anywhere in the world are welcome. Of special interest are manuscripts that interrogate dynamics of power and privilege, voice and voicelessness, oppression and resistance as well as axes of identity such as race, gender, sexuality, ability, citizenship, and class, as these take form in concrete rhetorical situations. Moreover, we welcome essays that explore the nexus of rhetoric, politics, and ethics—the worlds of power, persuasion, and social values as they meet in the crucible of public deliberation, debate, and protest.

All manuscripts submitted for publication consideration must be original work that has not been published previously and is not currently under review by any other publication outlet.

Uploading Instructions

To begin a submission to R&PA, users must be registered as an "author" and logged in to this website. Once registered and logged in, you can begin a submission to a particular section from this submissions page, or via the "submission" button on the dashboard.

You will be directed through the submission wizard and asked to complete the following steps:

  1. Start: You will be asked to select the journal section to which you are submitting, click through the author checklist, and consent to the terms of the MSU Press author publishing agreement and privacy policy.
  2. Upload submission: Here you will be asked to upload your submission materials, including the main article text as well as any additional materials such as images and tables.
  3. Enter metadata: At this step you will be asked for title, abstract, keywords, and author biography. If your piece has multiple authors, you should enter coauthor information here by clicking the "Add Contributor" button.
  4. Confirmation: This step gives you a final chance to go back and update any files or metadata before submission. Click the "Finish Submission" button to complete the submission. 
  5. Next steps: You will receive a confirmation message that your piece has been received by the editors, who will contact you with next steps. If you do not receive a confirmation message via, check your spam folder and make sure to set your email client to allow emails from ojs@msupress.org, as all future communications from the system will be sent from that address.

Articles

  • Word limit: 12,000 words
  • Use Chicago Manual of Style endnote citations

Invited: Special Issue

Authors should only upload to this section if you have been invited to contribute to an upcoming special issue by the editor or a guest editor. Unsolicited submissions should be submitted to other journal sections as appropriate.

Forum

Submit forum proposals to editor.

Book Reviews

Format reviewed book information like so:

Title in Italics. By Person F. Author. City: Bookworm Press, 2013; pp. xxv + 200, $19.95 cloth; $20.00 paper; $12.00 ebook.

Books for Review

An up-to-date list of books for review is available here. 

The newly published works listed on the list represent the exemplary and groundbreaking research being done in rhetoric and public address. Authoring a book review essay is a significant service to the discipline. If you are interested in reviewing a book (the titles listed or others), email R&PA book review editor Dr. E. Johanna Hartelius at jhartelius@gmail.com to request a review copy.

Copyright Notice

Authors accepted for publication must agree to the terms of the Author Publishing Agreement before the piece can be published.

It is the author/researcher’s obligation and responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright and/or other use restrictions prior to submitting materials to MSU Press for publication. Citations, permissions, and captions are required upon submission for all images. Use the RPA Permission Request Letter to obtain permission from an image’s rightsholder—we cannot publish such materials until written clearance is obtained.  All images must be minimum 300 dpi at planned publication size.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.