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SUBMISSION GUID

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SYNOPTIQUE is looking for papers between 5,500-7,500 words. We also welcome festival, exhibit and conference reports, as well as book reviews, usually around 2,000 words.

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Authors are notified of acceptance, rejection, or the need for revision as soon as possible after the submission deadline. Texts are judged on the basis of relevance to the aims and directives of the journal, originality, conceptual rigor and the quality of prose. Texts should be condensed as much as possible and written in a clear and straightforward manner. After a manuscript is accepted, it is copy-edited and returned to the author for approval prior to publication.

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Please note that Synoptique is not currently accepting manuscripts outside of the special topic issues organized by guest editors. If you are interested in submitting work to Synoptique, please consult our current Call for Papers!

General Guidelines

Book Review Guidelines

Reference Guidelines

Guest Editing Guidelines

Festival and Event Review Guidelines

Video Essay Guidelines

GENERAL
GENERAL GUIDELINES

  • Submit files in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or WordPerfect document file format.
     

  • Double-spaced.
     

  • 12 point Times New Roman font.
     

  • 1 inch margins.
     

  • Paragraphs are indented.
     

  • Submissions are accepted in French and English.
     

  • Quotations longer than three lines should be separated from the text and marked as block quotations.
     

  • Serial commas (e.g. one, two, and three).
     

  • Films and artworks titles should be italicized and in the original language (English translation in parentheses, along with year of production).
     

  • All images must be accompanied by photo credits and captions. Illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
     

  • For peer-reviewed articles, make sure no identifying personal information appears in your submission.
     

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
     

  • Include a separate .doc manuscript that contains a brief author’s bio and disclosure statement which outlines any related funding details.

REFERENCE
REFERENCE GUIDELINES

  • Only endnotes are allowed.

  • Use double quotation marks (“ ”) and inside that quotation grouping, use singles (‘ ’) when needed.

  • Section headings are in bold, aligned to the right.

  • Articles must conform to the Chicago author-date style (17th ed.).

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You can refer to the online Chicago Manual of Style for more details. 

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BOOK:

 

Reference list entries (in alphabetical order):

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Author. Date. Title. Place of publication: publisher.

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Example: Grieveson, Lee, and Haidee Wasson. 2008. Inventing Film Studies. Durham: Duke University Press.
 

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In-text citations:

 

Author. Date. Title. Place of publication: publisher.

 

Example: Grieveson, Lee, and Haidee Wasson. 2008. Inventing Film Studies. Durham: Duke University Press.
 

CHAPTER IN AN EDITED BOOK:


Reference list entries:

 

Author. Date. “Title of chapter.” In Title, editor, page range. Place of publication: publisher.

 

Example: Polan, Dana. 2008. “Young Art, Old Colleges: Early Episodes in the American Study of Film.” In Inventing Film Studies, edited by Lee Grieveson and Haidee Wasson, 93-120. Durham: Duke University Press.
 

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In-text citations:

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Author. Date. Title. Place of publication: publisher.

 

Example: Grieveson, Lee, and Haidee Wasson. 2008. Inventing Film Studies. Durham: Duke University Press.
 

JOURNAL ARTICLE:

 

In the reference list, include the page range for the whole article. In the text, cite specific page numbers. If there are four or more authors, list up to ten in the reference list; in the text, list only the first, followed by et al.


Reference list entries:

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Author. Date. “Article title.” Journal, no. (Month): page range.

 

Example: Gauthier, Philippe. 2014. “What will Film Studies Be? Film Caught between the Television Revolution and the Digital Revolution.” New Review of Film and Television Studies 12, no. 3: 229-233.
 


In-text citations:

 

(Author date, page number)

 

Example: (Gauthier 2014, 230).
 

GUEST EDITING AN ISSUE OF SYNOPTIQUE

Synoptique encourages prospective guest editors within and outside Concordia University to propose themed issues on current research trends in Film and Media Studies. We intend to showcase the research taking place at Concordia University, in Montréal, and in the broader international scholarly community.

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We welcome proposals for upcoming issues from teams of two or three people who will work in collaboration to curate an issue on a special topic. Guest editors will have the opportunity to shape the overall theme and content of the issue and oversee the publication process alongside Synoptique‘s Editorial Collective. In line with the journal’s collaborative ethos, and in the name of strengthening the ties between Concordia University and other Film and Media departments in Canada and abroad, we strongly encourage collaboration between guest editors from different institutions.

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Broad areas of inquiry include, but are not limited to:

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  • Distribution/Circulation/(In)Formal Economies of Media 

  • Emergent Media

  • Digital Media

  • Decolonial Media Practices

  • Critical Race Studies

  • Labour and Media Industries

  • Histories and Theories of Political Cinema

  • Indigenous Media

  • Activist Media

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  • Anthropological and Ethnographic Approaches to Film and Media

  • Infrastructure and Logistics of Media

  • Political Geographies

  • Media Industries

  • Queer and Feminist Approaches to Digital Culture

  • Non-Institutional Cinemas

  • Technologies

  • Global Television

  • Archival Practices

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The guest-editing process entails the following phases:

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  • Contact and meet with Synoptique‘s Editorial Collective to pitch a themed issue.

  • Write the Call for Papers and contact potential authors.

  • Assemble a list of prospective books to be reviewed.

  • Vet the selection of all submissions received.

  • Suggest peer-reviewers to the Editorial Collective, who will oversee the external review process.

  • Author the introduction to the issue.

  • Collaborate with an artist to design the issue’s cover art.

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If you would like to submit a proposal, please send us a short document outlining your intent (1-2 pages, 750 words max.).

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We ask that you include the following in your submission:

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  • A short description of your guest editorship team (two or three people).

  • An overview of your chosen topic, its topicality and relevance to the field of film and media studies, and a select bibliography of relevant works.

  • A proposed name for the issue.

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Please submit any inquiries and proposals to the attention of the Co-Editors-in-Chief at editor@synoptique.ca.

GUEST EDITING
BOOK REVIEW GUIDELINES

Book reviews do not have a set page limit, but we typically expect authors to aim for 6-8 pages (around 2 000 words). Reviews must include the full citation for the book being reviewed, along with list of works cited if any additional sources are referenced in the review. Please include a works cited in Chicago style.

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Reviews should include a symmetry of the main arguments of the book, the author(s)’ methodology, whether the author(s) makes any useful/ground-breaking contributions to the field, and the reviewer’s own critical analysis of the book. For edited collections with chapters from more than one author, reviewers also consider how the editors have framed the collection, and how all the individual articles fit together. The most important aspect of a book review is to provide an overview of the book while also providing a framing argument or angle. It is not enough to offer merely a synopsis of the book. It is also necessary to offer a critical reading or argument about it.

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Finally, book reviews are not subject to peer-review. They will be read by members of the editorial board, however, who will then communicate whether the review has been accepted, declined, or requires revisions.

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Please note that Synoptique is not currently accepting manuscripts outside of the special topic issues organized by guest editors. If you are interested in submitting work to Synoptique, check out our current Call for Papers!

BOOK REVIEW
VIDEO ESSAY GUIDELINES
FESTIVAL OR EVENT REVIEW GUIDELINES

Synoptique reviewers are asked to analyze a film festival or related event (screening series, exhibition, artist talk, conference, etc.) in a style which maintains some critical distance, reflecting on how it connects to the contemporary landscape of film and media studies. Synoptique will not accept individual film reviews or a mere synopsis of the festival, but these can be implemented in the text in order to support your main argument and/or critical reading. We are primarily interested in events happening in Montréal and elsewhere in Québec that reflect both local academic/practitioner communities and global cultural and political trends.

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Festival/Event reviews are not subject to peer review. They will be read by members of the Editorial Collective, who will decide whether or not to accept the pieces, and what revisions may be required.

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Festival and event reviews should:

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  • Be 2,000 – 3,000 words

  • Focus mainly on a single festival/event

  • Include a short introduction to the festival/event discussed

  • Focus their attention on one or more specific issues/themes

  • Include the list of works cited (if any) in Chicago author-date style

  • Include the author’s name, affiliation, and a short bio at the end of the review

  • Provide URLs of the mentioned festivals

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Submission Process:

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The Journal’s general submission guidelines are available earlier on this page. Please note that Synoptique is not currently accepting manuscripts outside of the special topic issues organized by guest editors. If you are interested in submitting work to Synoptique, check out our current Call for Papers!

 

If there are any upcoming festivals or events which you would like to cover, please send a short proposal for your review to the email mentioned above. If accepted, we will try to obtain press passes to the event. 

FESTIVAL REVIEW
VIDEO ESSAY GUIDELINES

Synoptique invites video essay submissions for each special issue. We welcome both peer-reviewed video essays as well as creative works that, for instance, might challenge, provoke, reflect upon, and invite conversations about our special issue topic.

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You may submit your video essay as a stable streamed link (e.g., videos hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) or as a downloadable link in .avi or .mp4 formats. It will be your responsibility to ensure that the link and/or video can be viewed by Synoptique’s Editorial Board, Guest Editors, and external peer reviewers as necessary. Please keep file sizes within reason.

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You will be responsible for the long-term digital hosting of your video project. We will provide links and embeds for your video project as part of our issue launch and archives, and we may request your participation in long-term maintenance to ensure your video remains accessible to future audiences.

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As part of your submission, we ask that you append a written statement to your video project (recommended length 500-1000 words). Any sources, academic or creative, should be cited within a bibliography using our reference guidelines (Chicago author-date style, 17th ed.).

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Video Essay Peer-Review Process:

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We also accept video essay submissions to undergo academic peer review. As part of our commitment to opening up the bounds of academic knowledge production, Synoptique welcomes non-traditional works including academic videographic criticism.

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The peer-review process for video essays involves a dialogue between authors and reviewers in a partial double-blind review system. Reviewers may request either changes to the written statement or the video itself, and accordingly, authors should be aware that the peer-review process may involve video editing and re-recording.

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The final publication of each peer-reviewed video essay will include written statements by each peer reviewer (300-800 words) as a record of the dialogue undertaken throughout the review process. These review statements may be revised at the discretion of Synoptique’s editorial board. Reviewers will have the opportunity to revise their initial assessments upon reviewing revised video essays and written statements.

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In order to submit your video essay for academic peer review, we ask that you, in addition to the above guidelines:

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  • To the best of your ability, anonymize your work by removing identifying names and faces

  • Provide a written transcript of your essay (recommended length 5500 words)

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