Author Guidelines
Guidelines for presenting original articles
1. Article submission
Comparative Cinema accepts unpublished articles which follow a comparative methodology. Articles can be sent, within the corresponding deadlines, as part of the thematic dossier, or as part of the miscellaneous "Rear Window" section, which is open year round. The journal will not accept proposals that are not original or that are undergoing editorial processes in other journals. The maximum number of authors per article will be three. The journal accepts texts in English, Spanish and Catalan.
The journal’s main research lines are:
- The interpretation of filmic forms and the relations between films.
- The history of interpretation and the analysis of critical and political contexts.
- Comparative essays on material processes and practices of creation, distribution and exhibition.
- The study of comparative cinema methodologies and its relation to literature and visual arts.
- Reviewing the history of cinema based on the investigation of forms and the aesthetic confluences between films and narrative videos, non-fiction, the avant-garde, scientific, industrial and expanded cinema.
- The essay and visual thought.
See our "About" page for more information on comparative film studies.
Authors will receive notifications via the Comparative Cinema platform on RACO regarding the journal's various editorial decisions and the subsequent stages the article goes through, whether it is rejected or accepted. If the article is rejected for publication, they will receive a notification identifying the characteristics that do not meet the criteria. If the article is sent for review, they will receive an initial notification, followed by a series of recommendations from the reviewers and editors once the review period has concluded. Upon entering the production and layout process, authors will receive subsequent notifications to validate the final version of the article.
Estimated timeline for the journal's workflow:
First editorial decision (acceptance for peer review or rejection): 15 days after the closing of the CFP (applies both to CFP related articles and to texts sent to the miscellaneous section, as this calendar determines the main workflow of the journal).
Peer review process: one month to one month and a half.
Revision by the authors: one month to one month and a half.
Production process (copyediting and layout): two months.
Articles
Research articles must have a minimum length of 5500 words and a maximum of 7000 words, including footnotes (but not including references). They should be linked to thematic issues that will be published in the website’s Call for Papers ("Announcements") section. Comparative Cinema also receives texts for its miscellaneous section, "Rear Window", in which the journal will include articles that have no thematic bond to the proposed monographic issues. The reception of these submissions is carried out continuously throughout the year, but the articles will be published in subsequent issues of the journal, prior coordination with the editors.
Films in Discussion
The “Films in Discussion” section includes interviews and conversations aimed at research, debate and documentation, and related to the monographic topics tackled in each issue. The minimum length must be 5000 words and the maximum 8000 words.
The journal occasionally also includes some unoriginal documents that act as the conceptual basis for the themes and research strands proposed in each issue.
Reviews
The length of the reviews must be between 800 and 1000 words.
The information on the reviewed book should include full name of the author, publisher, city of publication, year of publication and number of pages.
The author of the review must indicate his or her name and email address.
We accept reviews of books edited sometime over the last 5 years.
2. Guidelines for Submissions
Languages: Comparative Cinema accepts articles in English, Catalan and Spanish.
Submission: The texts must be submitted in a Word file and via the RACO OJS platform*. Authors must delete their name and any identifying details from the text and notes, as well as from the file properties/metadata.
Structure: In writing the article, Comparative Cinema recommends authors follow a structure that includes an introduction to the topic, a theoretical framework and objectives, as well as adapting to the comparative methodology promoted by the journal, developing the proposed hypothesis, drawing up conclusions and a list of bibliographical references.
CV/résumé: In submitting the article, the authors must also submit a separate document with a brief CV of 70 words or less (per author). Authors must include their ORCID ID number, their professional affiliation, and their institutional email, if they have one.
Authorship: According to international guidelines, we consider as authors all those who have made significant intellectual contributions regarding the design of the work or the analysis or interpretation contained in it, as well as those who have taken part in its extensive revision or redaction. The authors, moreover, must be organized hierarchically according to their level of implication in the piece. See criteria for said order here.
Images: the author must provide a minimum of three images. The comparison of these images must be the basis for the paper. The images must have a minimum resolution of 800 px. The authors must provide basic information for every image (film title, director, year), whether in the article itself or through a different file dedicated to footers.
Title: Upon submission, the title of the articles must be 20 words long or less. Further information can be added later through subtitling. For indexing purposes, titles must be submitted in Catalan or Spanish and English.
Abstract: Abstracts must be 150 words long or less, and only one paragraph. For indexing purposes, abstracts must be submitted in Catalan or Spanish and English.
Keywords: Keywords should include 6–10 words, separated by commas. For indexing purposes, keywords must be submitted in Catalan or Spanish and English.
Funding and support: Authors are responsible for stating the funding and institutional support received for the research in their acknowledgements, including, if needed, the corresponding ID code.
Typeset and font size: Articles must be submitted in Times New Roman, 12 point. Paragraphs must be justified. The line spacing must be in 1.5 point, both for the main text and for the footnotes. Indents must not be used. Titles and subtitles should be in bold.
Word processing tools: Please refrain from using tools such as tables, numbering, columns, headings, etc.
Bibliography: The sources for both the texts and ideas from other authors must be clearly and explicitly identified. Quotes and bibliographical references must follow the Chicago Manual of Style guidelines, and more specifically its Author-Date Style: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org
Comparative Cinema recommends that its authors use inclusive language in their articles following the guidelines that can be found in the following guides. Likewise, the journal encourages the incorporation of a gender perspective when relevant to the analysis, considering the sex/gender variables in the research proposal, the methodological approach, the analysis and the conclusions.
The authors must not pay the journal any fees (APCs) for the submission or processing of their manuscript.
* For instructions on how to send articles, visit the PKP School Youtube Channel.
