General Guidelines
The submission process is two-fold:
First, submit papers via email to philologia@vt.edu using the File Naming
Convention outlined below.

The email should include:
o Submitter’s name
o All undergraduate student authors’ full names (as they will appear in
print). Faculty or graduate students who contributed to the project will be
mentioned by the undergraduate authors in the “acknowledgement”
section.
o Submitter’s Contact Information

Email Address

Phone Number(s)

Physical Mailing Address- include both school and summer
addresses
o An abstract of the work (200 words or less) outlining the aims, scope,
and conclusions of the paper.
o Attach the paper and all supporting files- including abstract, body,
author bio, faculty mentor (if applicable) and keywords in separate
files using the File Naming Convention outlined below. Please attach 2
copies of the paper – one with your name, and one that is anonymous.
In addition, submit 1 paper copy of your manuscript, abstract (200 words or less),
cover page, and a signed copy of the Permission to Publish form to the following
address postmarked by the submission deadline:
Philologia Undergraduate Research Journal
295 West Campus Drive
Virginia Tech (0426)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Please keep the following in mind:

It is recommended that the length of the work be less than 5,000 words
(approximately 20 typed pages).

Please make sure pages are numbered.

Please make sure your name ONLY appears on the cover page. This will aid in
the blind selection process.

The manuscript should be submitted in Times New Roman 12pt font and
double-spaced.
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
Print copies may be printed on both sides of a page to conserve paper.

Please use footnotes instead of endnotes. However, there should not be
excessive use of footnotes (i.e. half the page is footnotes).

Manuscripts will only be accepted in Microsoft Word file format.

Figures must adhere to the guidelines outlined below.

Please follow the citation style appropriate to your discipline. Visit
http://www.lib.vt.edu/find/citation/ for information on the varying
submissions styles and their corresponding disciplines.

Acceptable submissions do not necessarily have to be summaries of ongoing
or past research projects. We also accept research-oriented papers from
Virginia Tech classes. However, these papers must adhere to the Criteria for
Submitted Research outlined below.
Eligibility for Submissions
Eligibility for submission is any work conducted by a student while an
undergraduate student. Students who have graduated may submit work completed
while an undergraduate after they have graduated but may not submit any work
done after graduation as to constitute undergraduate research. All undergraduates
and graduating seniors are eligible to submit work up to the submission year after
he or she graduates.
Foreign-language Research
Currently we have reviewers for the following languages: English, French, German,
Spanish, and Italian; however, should you have a project in another language we will
do our best to secure reviewers for this work. We will consider projects in other
languages on a case-by-case basis. Submissions may be in any of these languages,
although an additional English-language abstract is required. The journal staff
collaborates with foreign-language faculty within the College of Liberal Arts and
Human Sciences in evaluating foreign-language research.
Criteria for Submitted Research

Composition - The paper should be well written, both in terms of
organization of ideas and in sentence construction and diction.

Originality - The paper should not be a book review or a recitation of
another authors’ opinion. Rather, the paper should present original ideas.
This could involve insight obtained by conducting original research or could
involve synthesizing sources in a new and unique way. Papers from each
discipline will fulfill these requirements in different ways, though. The
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author must offer some perspective or interpretation that is unique and that
represents an original contribution to academic research.

Importance - Well-written papers should connect the issue being discussed
to some larger issue. Papers that do not offer insight into the relevance of the
issue or connect the issue to something broader are not as effective as papers
that do. Also, articles that relate to issues that appeal to a wide audience are
scored higher.

Audience - Articles are expected to be comprehensible to all undergraduates
in all disciplines and should be written with a well-read and generally
educated audience in mind.
File Naming Convention

In the subject line type: “<year submitted> Philologia submission from
<your full name><email sequence number>”

Please name the figure files with the format: “LastName_fig1.jpg” (Each
figure shall be submitted as a separate file).

Name the text document files sent using the format:
“FirstInitialLastName_PhilologiaSubmission_SubmissionDate” (ex.
JDoe_PhilologiaSubmission_08August2008.doc)
Figure and Table Requirements

High-resolution (300-600 dpi) images

JPG

GIF

PostScript (PS, EPS, or PRN)

PDF

TIF

Adobe Photoshop
Note #1: Resolution Requirements – In order to confirm an image is 300-600 dpi,
open the image in an image editing program such as Adobe Photoshop (most
university computer labs have these programs available for student use). Next, go
to Image (in Adobe Photoshop) or whichever menu has the image properties, and
choose Image Size (in Adobe Photoshop) or the equivalent. The dpi level should be
listed.
Note #2: Picture File Formats – Most professional image editing (i.e. not M.S. Paint
or M.S. Word) can save an image in one of the accepted formats. Choose File, Save
As or File, Save For Web depending on the program.
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 DO NOT use embedded images in a MS Word document, attach all
files as separate image files in an accepted format.
Note #3: Embedded Images – Copying and pasting an image into M.S. Word is an
embedded image. This format does not produce an image that is of high enough
resolution for print, and this is why we require images to be sent individually. If you
need to draw identifying lines, etc. on an image, use a professional image-editing
program for the best results.

All color images must be in CMYK mode (not RGB).
Note #4: CMYK vs. RGB Color – CMYK and RGB refer to the primary colors used to
define the colors shown on a computer image. CMYK is used in print for accurate
color, and it uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black to form the colors you see – the
same as many personal printers. Computer monitors use RGB format, and this is the
format that should be used for web-based images. In order to confirm an image is
CMYK, as opposed to RGB, look in the menu with image properties in the respective
image editing program of your choice. In Adobe Photoshop, go to Image, Mode,
CMYK Color.
For figures that contain more than one part, label each “a”, “b”, “c”, etc. with
lowercase letters, and name the files in the format “LastName_fig1a.jpg”. Also,
include a PDF document with the preferred layout for these figure parts. Philologia
reserves the right to alter this layout at the editor’s discretion.
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*Special thanks to the University of Texas at Austin Undergraduate Research
Journal and the Journal of Materials Research for giving us permission to use their
“Criteria for Submitted Research, File Naming Convention, and Figure and Table
Requirements.”
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