Information For Authors

Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you review the About the Journal page for the journal's aims and scope, as well as the author guidelines below. Submissions can be uploaded to our journal site for review, but please note that this journal is primarily a venue for work produced by Cal State LA sponsored international first-gen writing communities, and we only accept other kinds of submissions during calls for special issues. If you have questions about submitting work to the journal, please email the Managing Editor, Dr. Danelle Dyckhoff Stelzriede, at ddstelz@calstatela.edu.

Text & Type Author Guidelines

Formatting Guidelines (Written Works)

  • Set the page layout to portrait and the page size to 8.5 x 11-inches (21.59 x 27.94 cm).
  • Set all margins (left, right, top, and bottom) to 1 inch (2.54 cm).
  • Use a single column layout with both left and right margins justified (i.e.: distribute your text evenly between the margins).
  • Single space the text and make sure the spacing is set to 0-point before and 0-point after. Click the “don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style” box.
  • Unless there are compelling stylistic reasons connected to the meaning of your piece for using a different kind of font, please use 12-point, Times New Roman, black font as the default. If you include footnotes or endnotes, set those to 10-point, Times New Roman font.
  • Begin the document with your title bolded in 14-point font. From there on out, everything should be in 12-point font. After the title, add a space. Then type your full name. Both the title and name should be centered.
  • Insert page numbers centered at the bottom of the page.
  • Indent all paragraphs. Indents should be 0.5 inch (1.27 cm), which is the typical space of a tab.
  • For essays with references, set quotation marks around any language that is not your own (with the exception of block quotes, which do not need to be enclosed in quotation marks). Include the author and page number (where appropriate) in a parenthetical citation at the end of the quoted line, and include a Works Cited page at the end of the document. See MLA 9 or APA 7 for in-text and Works Cited citation guidelines.
  • “Block” long quotes that are more than 4 lines by including one line of space between the text and the quotation and indenting all lines in the quotation by 0.5 inch (1.27 cm).
  • Center any images, figures, tables, etc. and make sure all images are sized equally. Balance the images with the text so that there is no more than a few lines of empty space on each page.

Submission Guidelines (All Works):

  • For written works, submit your manuscript (including any images, figures, tables, etc.) as a single WORD document. Please do not submit PDFs or Google docs.
  • For visual works (e.g.: photography, collage, art, etc.), you may submit all images in a single Word document OR as separate jpeg files. Please adhere to the above guideline for formatting images if you choose to submit all images in a single Word document.
  • For audio and/or video works, submit your file as an MP3, MP4, or YouTube link.
  • For all works, label your file with your last name and the title of your work (e.g.: Dyckhoff First-Gen Pride).
  • In addition to your main work(s), please submit an abstract in a separate document of no more than 250 words.
    • In the abstract document, include the title of your work and your first and last name.
    • Label the abstract file with your last name, the title of the work, and the word “Abstract” (e.g.: Dyckhoff First-Gen Pride Abstract).
  • Please note that if your submission is accepted for publication in Text & Type, you will be asked to submit a signed publication agreement based on the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Agreement.