ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLES

PEER-REVIEWED

7000 words and images encouraged, must include an anchor image

The journal is designed so that each original research article opens with a single, full-color figure (anchor image) that relates to the article's main argument, content, and/or discussion and provides a visual point of entry to the article.

VAR publishes both color and black and white images at the discretion of the editors. All color images will appear in color in the online version.

We encourage authors to include and integrate multiple figures—whether photographs, drawings, film stills, or screen grabs—in their submissions. All figures should advance the article’s argument and be directly discussed in the text. We also encourage authors to submit experimental work that pushes the boundaries of the field and advances the leading edge of visual anthropology specifically and visual studies more broadly.

For ancillary images and multimedia files, we encourage authors to develop an online supplement for their article.

Submission Portal
Please submit all materials through ScholarOne. It is important to note that all revisions, re-submissions, and communication with authors about their manuscript are facilitated through ScholarOne. Authors are encouraged to check spam/junk folders for filtered emails from Wiley, ScholarOne, and the editors.

Required Components for Initial Submissions
All original research article submissions must include:

• Title Page. This document is not for peer-review and should include the following:

Author Information Include your name, affiliation, and email. In the case of multiple authors, be sure to identify who the corresponding author will be by using an asterisk (*).
Article Title We encourage authors to include important keywords (ideally within the first 65 characters) and to keep titles short to enhance their discoverability. For tips, consult Wiley Author Services.
Short Title (4–5 words) This will be used as the running header.
Abstract (<100 words) Describe essential findings and keywords in the first two sentences. Avoid parenthetical citations in your abstract. 
Keywords (5) Each article should have 5 keywords. These are critical terms that summarize highlights, themes, and content from your article. We encourage authors to repeat important keywords in the title, abstract, and article headings.
Author Bio (<50 words) If including current institutional affiliation, education, positions held, and/or relevant publication, please describe in narrative form rather than parenthetically.

• Manuscript anonymized for review. (7000 words, including notes and bibliography, follow VAR Style Guide) Upload this as the “Main Document” in ScholarOne. Remove all references to yourself (and any co-authors) in your manuscript. You may list self-citations as Author (YEAR) in text and Author, YEAR in the references, but do not include any identifying bibliographic details in your references. Double-check that you have turned off track-changes and removed any other identifying information from your document’s metadata. All figures must be referenced in your text [e.g. (Figure 1)], but they should not be embedded within it. You should indicate each figure’s approximate placement by writing [Figure X about here] at relevant places in the text. Do not include captions in your manuscript file, as these do not count against your word limit.

• Image Files anonymized for review. Upload each image as separate “Figure” files in ScholarOne. Label each with the the figure number that corresponds to the text (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2). These images must be at least 300 dpi and in .jpg or .tiff format. It is not necessary to enter the caption text with the file upload. Please append a caption list instead.

• Caption List & Alt Text anonymized for review. Upload a complete caption list as an “Additional File for Review but NOT Publication” in ScholarOne. Ensure that the captions match each figure exactly. Include image credits in your captions (however, if they are created by the submitting author(s) please anonymize). Indicate which figure should be the anchor image by marking it with three asterisks (***). In addition to captions, authors are responsible for providing alt text (alternative text) for all figures. Alt text describes the content of the image in less than 125 characters for individuals unable to view the image. In some cases, the alt text may be very similar to the caption. Please see best practices for writing alt text in the VAR Style Guide. Captions and alt text should follow this format:

  1. FIGURE #. Name of Maker, Title, Location, YEAR. Photo by First NAME Last NAME. [ALT TEXT: 125 character description] Example: Figure 7. Kabusha Radio Remix installation, Paris, 2016. Photo by Kwame Phillips. [person sitting at desk wearing glasses looking at archival letters with stereo and headphones on desk]

  2. FIGURE #. Name of Maker, Title, Location, YEAR (optional if not included in descriptive title). Image courtesy of [Source/Name]. Example: Figure 4. Zanele Muholi, Sebenzile, Parktown, 2016. Image courtesy of Stevenson Gallery. [the artist Zanele Muholi’s upper body and head are draped in tubes from a washing machine and the tubes circle above their head forming a contemporary halo]

  3. FIGURE #. Descriptive Summary of the Image. Photo by First NAME Last NAME, YEAR. Example: Figure 9. Screenshot from Sent Away Boys. Harjant Gill, 2016. [individual sitting on a cot in a courtyard]

  4. FIGURE #. Description of the scene in the screen capture. Screenshot from Name of Film. Image Courtesy of [Source/Name]. Example: Figure 7. Unidentified woman of the Musk-Ox, her facial expression demonstrating recognition of the camera, Malerisiorfik. Frame grab from Med Hundeslæde gennem Alaska, 1927. [unidentified person of the Musk-Ox, their facial expression demonstrating recognition of the camera]

  If you have videos or links to media you can include it in this document. If the links lead to password-protected sites, please ensure the password is current and included in this document. Also remove any identifying information about the author from these sites.

Review Process & Decision Timeline
Each submission will be reviewed first by the journal editors, and if appropriate for the journal’s aims and scope, sent to at least two peer reviewers. Authors are encouraged to suggest potential reviewers in their submission, but invitations are at the editors’ discretion. Our aim is to complete this process and render an editorial decision (Accept, Minor Revisions, Major Revisions, Reject) within 8–10 weeks of the initial submission. However, due to increased workloads of peer reviewers, this timeline is not guaranteed.

Revised Submissions
Authors who receive Major Revisions or Minor Revisions decisions are encouraged to resubmit their manuscripts within three months for full consideration. While we endeavor to secure the same peer reviewers for revised manuscripts, this is not always possible. When submitting a revised manuscript, authors should include: (1) a detailed Revision Memo in the Cover Letter or Author Response field of ScholarOne, (2) a clean, revised .doc or .docx version of their manuscript in the Main Document field, and (3) an anonymized Track-Changes version of their manuscript to indicate where they made edits as an “Additional File NOT for Review and NOT for Publication.”

Accepted Manuscripts
Once a manuscript is accepted, authors will work with the co-editors on initial copyediting, including editing for length, via First Look in ScholarOne. Final revisions must conform to the VAR Style Guide or they will be returned. The co-editors may enlist an external copyeditor for an additional level of review. Authors will receive e-proofs from the publisher along with queries and corrections approximately six weeks before the issue is published. They should take this opportunity to carefully proof their article as this will be their last chance to make any changes, although no major rewriting will be allowed at this point. Both copyediting and proofreading must be completed in a timely manner to meet publication deadlines. Prior to publication, the author must complete the Author Agreement Form, which will be sent to the author directly via email from the publisher (Wiley-Blackwell).

Preparing Figures for Publication
Figures that are copyrighted must be accompanied by written permission for the journal to reprint them, granted directly by the copyright holder. VAR recommends that if such permission is required, authors begin the process as early as possible (ideally with the initial submission of the article to the journal). To that end, authors will be asked to complete a Visual Permissions Form. Please note, VAR does not have a standing budget for image licensing. Authors are responsible for any fees and securing any licenses.

Images for publication must be at least 300 dpi and uploaded in either .tiff or .jpg formats. Please do not compress images for publication! A typical image with the required specifications has a size of about 1.2 megabytes. Images that are not sufficient for publication will be returned to the author with a request to resize or replace. Name digital image files “Figure 1.” “Figure 2.” etc. Do not include lengthy descriptions in the figure name as this may cause confusion in the layout stage. All figures must also include alt text that describes the content of the image in less than 125 characters for individuals unable to view the image.

Supplements Once your manuscript is in production, you will be invited to provide additional materials (images, videos, links to relevant news articles, etc.) for an online supplement to your work. This is a space in which we feature dynamic, multimedia, and pedagogical content that extends the impact of your work. Authors will work directly with the VAR editorial assistant on these. See recent examples here.