GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

• The aim of this reference work online is to provide in-depth articles on topics broadly relevant to semiotic research for the benefit of students and scholars from a great variety of disciplines. Therefore, all the articles published in this encyclopedia should be written in a style accessible to a wide constituency of researchers. For instance, allusions to controversies and personalities which are particular to a school or a discipline should be avoided. Instead, the nature of the theoretical or methodological problems should be clearly stated in terms that are understandable across disciplinary boundaries.

• While special terminology is often a necessary component of new theoretical models, authors of encyclopedic articles should refrain from using jargons which are impenetrable to those who do not belong to the restricted groups of scholars fostering such new perspectives. The meaning of neologisms should not be taken for granted even if they have been used by a particular school for some time. Instead, their philological construction and epistemological motivation should be fully explained. Special attention should be given to ambiguous terms, such as "information" or "symbol", whose semantic value is not constant across disciplines and which also belong to everyday language. The first occurrence of such polysemous words in an article should be followed by a semantic specification. The same requirement applies to acronyms (e.g., LAP for Language-Action Perspective, SAT for Speech Act Theory) which are rarely universally transparent.

• In-text references and quotations should be very selective and limited to important works relevant to the subject matter of the article. While notes should not be used in encyclopedia articles, sub-entries may occasionally be added to an article if this is deemed necessary to its clarity and completeness. According to usual academic standards, in-text references should appear between parentheses with the name of the author(s) followed by the date of publication of the work mentioned: (Schacter and Scarry 2000). In case of quotations, the date should be followed by the page(s) number. Examples: (McNeill 1992: 51), (Enquist and Arak 1998: 48-49).

• The list of references should be standardized as follows: NAME, FIRST NAME and/or INITIALS, (YEAR OF PUBLICATION), TITLE (in italics for books, between quotation marks for articles), PLACE OF PUBLICATION: PUBLISHER For example:

  Enquist, Magnus and Anthony Arak (1998). "Neural Representation and the Evolution of Signal Form". In Dukas, Reuven, ed., Cognitive Ecology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.(21-87)

  McNeill, David (1992). Hand and Mind: What Gestures Reveal about Thought. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.

  Schacter, Daniel L. And Elaine Scarry, eds. (2000). Memory, Brain and Belief. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

• All entries should be submitted in two parts: ( i ) a short entry of approximately 300-500 words which provides a basic definition and a concise summary of the main points concerning the topic addressed; (ii) a long entry of indefinite length in which all relevant aspects of the topic are treated in some detail. However, this long entry should remain functional and user-friendly, and authors should be careful to avoid long-winded and repetitive or digressive texts. The style should be gender-neutral (e.g., his/her) and avoid first-person constructions, slang, abbreviations, passive voice and long and complex sentences.

• Authors should provide a bibliography at the end of the long entry, in which the most important publications relevant to the topic of the article will be listed. This bibliography will not be restricted to the works which are the object of in-text references, but all the works to which a reference is made in the text should appear in their alphabetical place in this bibliography. In addition, information about the author and his/her own published works will appear in the final section of the entry under the heading AUTHOR.

• Articles should be sent by e-mail to the editor, as attachments, in whatever format is convenient to their authors. However, RTF files are preferred. All articles will be peer-reviewed before they are put online. Authors should be prepared to receive critical feedback concerning the style and contents of the first version of their entries, and they will be expected to take these constructive remarks into consideration while completing the final version of their articles.

• In compliance with the open-source concept, it is understood that the contributors to the Digital Semiotics Encyclopedia agree that their articles be made available free of charge to all interested readers who are in a position to access the web site. However, the authors of articles will retain their copyrights and will have the possibility of withdrawing their contributions at any time, if they so wish, for whatever reasons they may have. It is also understood that authors will have the opportunity to revise, expand and update their articles whenever they deem it necessary in view of changes that may occur in their field of specialization.

All correspondence should be sent to paul.bouissac@utoronto.ca