How to Submit

SISP’s open access series — When ready for peer review, share your manuscript via Dropbox (or another file-transfer system) with scholarlypress @ si.edu. Scroll down to see “Required Materials.” For instructions on preparing your manuscript, refer to the SISP Manuscript Preparation Guide.

Manuscript Size
Effective October 1, 2023, for all new submissions:

• Maximum pages (2.0/double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12 pt Times New Roman [incl. regular text, captions, tables, notes, references, appendixes and other backmatter]) = 500

• Maximum figure/art/image files (refers to number of files; multi-component figures already composed in a single file will count as 1) = 150

Who Is Eligible

SISP is an internal publishing program with eligibility limited to research conducted by Smithsonian researchers and about Smithsonian collections. To be eligible for consideration, a manuscript must be based on research conducted at or with the Smithsonian Institution as part of employment or other affiliation as specified below.

• Current Smithsonian employees
• Former Smithsonian employees with official Emeritus designation
  • Designation letter must accompany submission.
• Fellows and Research Associates
  • Appointments must be registered/awarded through Office of Fellowships.
  • Letter of endorsement from supervisor of appointment/fellowship must accompany submission.
  • Fellow may submit a complete manuscript no more than 5 (five) years after end of fellowship, and manuscript must be a result of the research for which the applicable fellowship was awarded.
• Visiting Scholars/Scientists (current and former) may submit only as co-author with current SI-employed scholar(s).

Criteria for Submission

• Text and figure selection complete prior to peer review.
• Authored by at least one eligible scholar. (See “Who Is Eligible”)
• Scholarly content based on sound research.
• Directly related to Smithsonian research and/or collections.
  • Smithsonian Employee: research conducted by Smithsonian employee as part of official duties.
  • Smithsonian Emeritus: research conducted as part of official duties as Smithsonian employee and continued or finalized after retirement and Emeritus designation.
  • Smithsonian Fellow or Research Associate: preponderance of content must be from research conducted under academic appointment at Smithsonian.
• Research must be original (i.e., not previously published).
• For proceedings, symposium must be officially sponsored by Smithsonian and volume must include SI researchers as editors and contributors.

Required Materials for a Proposal (optional)

• SISP New Submission Form
• Table of contents (include major headings and estimated page counts for each section/chapter)
• Abstracts (if edited collection) or sample text (prefer preface/introduction + up to 20 pages of first chapter/paper)
• If applicable, letter of endorsement from appointment/fellowship supervisor. (See “Who is Eligible”)

Required Materials for a Manuscript

For Peer Review

• Completed SISP New Submission Form (if you submitted a proposal, send an updated form)
• One of the following:
  • Text and graphics combined – A single PDF (or MS Word document) that includes the complete text (double spaced) and all figures and tables, each inserted following an in-text callout.
  • Text and graphics separated – A single MS Word document that includes the complete text (double-spaced, 1-inch margins), including tables and in-text callouts **and** a single PDF of all figures in sequential order (recommend 4 per page; visual reference only, not for quality or sizing).
• If applicable, letter of endorsement from appointment/fellowship supervisor. (See “Who is Eligible” above.)

Post-Peer Review, Revised Manuscript

• Monograph = Text in a single MS Word document (includes frontmatter, main text, and backmatter).
• Edited collection = Each of the following in a separate MS Word document: frontmatter (title page, table of contents, preface, introduction, etc.); each paper (with references and figure captions at end).
• Tables, numbered and titled, in one or more separate MS Word file(s).
• Each figure in a separate TIF file at high resolution and size appropriate for print-reproduction. (See SISP’s Digital Art Preparation Guide)
• Permissions that properly license reproduction rights for figures/images/materials owned by third parties. (See Permissions)

For more information, email SISP.