When the time comes to submit your manuscript for peer review, please send your editor your complete manuscript in Word format (either as a single document or as separate documents for each chapter) as well as a PDF. Reviewers appreciate when authors observe a few basic style rules at the assessment stage. A manuscript submitted for peer review should include the following:
- A title page with your name and affiliation noted;
- A paginated table of contents;
- Double-spaced text;
- Consecutive pagination;
- Endnotes in Arabic numerals, beginning at 1 in each chapter;
- If applicable, images (photos, tables, figures, maps) numbered, captioned, and submitted in a single separate Word or PDF file. The manuscript should include callouts to indicate approximate placement, for example: [FIGURE 1.1 HERE].
For complete guidelines on the formatting of manuscripts according to MQUP style, please see our style guide.
You may also submit a list of five to eight potential peer reviewers who you think would be well-qualified to assess your work. If there is anybody who should not read it for particular reasons, including conflict of interest, you should let us know. Your editor will consider your suggestions carefully but is under no obligation to secure readers from your list. MQUP requires the right of first refusal when we invite a manuscript for review.
Peer Review
As a university press, MQUP is committed to the highest standards of scholarship. Our Publications Review Committee (PRC) approves manuscripts for publication on the basis of external peer review and the author’s formal response to the readers’ reports.
Your editor will secure reports from at least two experts in your field(s). We employ single-anonymized peer review, where assessors remain anonymous, but authors are known. We strive to provide you with thoughtful feedback within a reasonable amount of time and to keep you informed throughout.
Once the reports arrive, your editor will ask you to engage with them and provide a written response. If there is a need for substantial revision, you may be invited to revise your work for a final round of review.
With two strong reports recommending its publication, a manuscript will be sent to our PRC, composed of senior faculty members from our parent institutions, McGill and Queen’s Universities. They review the dossier and decide whether to recommend publication. We then conduct a budgetary and marketing review, after which you will be invited to submit a final version of the manuscript for copyediting and production.
Contracts
MQUP’s standard practice is to sign a contract following PRC approval. Advance contracts, sometimes issued at an earlier stage, are contingent on successful peer review and approval by our PRC. We consider advance contracts on an individual basis and based on a book proposal. Contracting can be discussed with your editor.
Funding
We base our decisions to publish outstanding books primarily on editorial grounds, but our goal is also to balance the budget of each. To maintain our publishing standards and to market and promote your work internationally, MQUP seeks external sources of funding. For Canadian authors of academic manuscripts, our principal source of funding is the Scholarly Book Awards, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We apply to the Scholarly Book Award (also known as the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program or ASPP) on your behalf after peer review is complete; you can discuss the process further with your editor. If alternative sources of funding are required, your editor will work with you to identify and apply for them. These alternative sources can include your department or home institution, government agencies, and publication subventions from scholarly associations or private foundations.
Next steps: From Manuscript to Book