Intellect

Please refer to the Intellect style guide before submitting your article to the journal editors.

Aim and Scope 

The journal explores the nature of writing for the screen image; this includes not only writing for film and television but also computer games and animation. The journal highlights current academic and professional thinking about the screenplay and intends to promote, stimulate and bring together current research and contemporary debates around the screenplay whilst encouraging groundbreaking research in an international arena. The journal is discursive, critical, rigorous and engages with issues in a dynamic and developing field, linking academic theory to screenwriting practice.    

The journal explores a wide and diverse range of methodological approaches to include study of the history of the screenplay, textual analysis, the relationship of screenwriting to the production process and discussion of practice as research.  The focus will be on history, theory and practice.  

Call for Papers

The Journal of Screenwriting is a new peer reviewed publication which explores the nature of writing for the screen image in the broadest sense; this includes not only writing for film and television but also computer games and animation. The journal encompasses all aspects of academic and professional thinking about the screenplay and intends to promote, stimulate and bring together current research and contemporary debates in this area, an area which has previously been somewhat neglected in academic discourse.  The journal of screenwriting aims to help redress this imbalance whilst encouraging further research in an international arena.  The journal is discursive, critical and rigorous whilst engaging with issues in a dynamic and developing field, linking academic theory to screenwriting practice.   

The journal explores a wide and diverse range of methodological approaches which includes study of the history of the screenplay, textual analysis, the relationship of screenwriting to the production process and screenwriting practice as research. 

The journal invites contributions from researchers and screenwriters which discuss any aspect of the history, theory and practice of the screenplay. This may include articles concerned with film, television and computer games screenplays.

Articles should be between 4000 and 7000 words in length.

The range of possible articles is almost limitless and the following are suggestions rather than a definitive list:
  
•    Discussion of a particular screenplay
•    Discussion of a screenwriter
•    Character in the screenplay
•   Theories and methodologies which discuss the screenplay
•    The relationship between the film/television industry and screenwriting practice
•    Screenwriting practice in different nations/regions
•    Women screenwriters
•    Creativity versus craft
•    Archiving
•    History of aspects of the screenplay
•    Psychoanalysis and the screenplay
•    Genre and the screenplay
•    Writing for television
•    Writing for computer games

In the first instance please send a 250 word abstract which outlines your proposed article. This should be sent to either Jill Nelmes, Principal Editor, at j.nelmes@uel.ac.uk or Dr Ian Macdonald, Co-editor, at i.w.macdonald@leeds.co.uk.

Notes for Contributors

General
Articles submitted to JOSC should be original and not under consideration by any other publication. Articles should be sent by email as Word documents.


Language
The journal uses standard British English. The editors reserve the right to alter usage to these ends. Please note there is a preference for ‘ize’ endings rather than ‘ise’.

Length of articles
Articles should be 4000–8000 words long and must not exceed 8000 words (including notes and references, but excluding the author biography, keywords and abstract).

Metadata
Any article submitted should include the following metadata on a separate page:
•    An abstract of 150–200 words, providing a summary of the key points in the article.
•    Up to six keywords, one per line, in lower case (for indexing and abstract purposes).
•    A short biography to be included in the journal issue.
•    Your name, institution or affiliation, and contact details. Please include phone number, and e-mail address, but indicate if you do not want this to be published.

Notes
Notes should be kept to a minimum and be as brief and to the point as possible. Use Word’s note-making facility, ensuring your notes are endnotes, not footnotes. The note call must be in superscripted Arabic (1, 2, 3).  

Permissions
It is your responsibility to obtain written permission for a quotation from unpublished material, or for all quotations of more that 250 words in one extract or more that 500 words in total from any work still in copyright, and for the reprinting of illustrations or tables from unpublished or copyright material.

Photos and illustrations
The journal welcomes illustrations and images. It is the author’s responsibility to supply images and ensure they are copyright cleared. Images should be supplied independently of the article and be scanned at minimum of 300 dpi resolution. Images sent as e-mail attachments should be in greyscale. Images should be accompanied by a suitable caption. The following is the agreed style for captions: Figure 1: Caption here.  
 
Presentation
•    The title of your article should be in bold.
•    Please submit the article double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 point, the same for references and endnotes.
•    The text should have at least 2.5cm margins for annotation by the editorial team.

Quotations
•    Quotations should be within single inverted commas. Material quoted within a cited text should be in double inverted commas.
•    If quotations are of more than forty words they should be separated from the main body of the text and indented.  

Referees
The Journal of Screenwriting is a refereed journal. Strict anonymity is accorded to both authors and referees. Referees are chosen for their expertise within the subject area, are asked to comment on specialist content, comprehensibility and relevant contexts. A summary of the referees comments will be provided, whether or not the article is accepted for publication.  

References
•    The Harvard system is used for bibliographical references. All quotations should be followed by the name of the author, the date of publication and page number, e.g. (Price 2009: 2)
•    References refer the reader to the bibliography at the end of the article, this should be headed ‘References’ and listed alphabetically.
Examples of the most usual cases are given below:
•    Books –
Seger, L. (2003), Advanced Screenwriting, Beverly Hills: Silman-James Press.
Spicer, A. (2007), ‘The author as author: restoring the screenwriter to British film history’, in J. Chapman, M. Glancy and S. Harper (eds), The New Film History: Sources, Methods, Approaches, Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan, pp. 89–103.   
•    Journals –
Fawell, J. (1989), ‘The musicality of the film script’, Literature/Film Quarterly, 20:1, pp. 48–54.

Referencing film and television productions
In JOSC, there is a significant political difficulty for us in privileging the director (or indeed anyone) as a single author of a film or television production, so these listing have to be by title, to be fair. We suggest the writer and director should be named (or the creator of a TV series, if appropriate), in that order.
 
For clarity, we are adopting the following style for film and TV productions:
 
In the text:

•    Film title:
Original title/translation (year of 1st release)
e.g. Angst essen Seele auf/Fear Eats the Soul (1973)

•    TV series title:
Original title/translation (originating broadcaster, year of 1st transmission to last tx. if known)
e.g. Spooks (BBC, 2002–); The Wednesday Play (BBC 1964–70)

•    TV title episode:
Original title/translation (originating broadcaster, year of 1st transmission)
e.g. Middlemarch #1 (BBC, 1994)

•    TV single drama:
Original title/translation (originating broadcaster, year of 1st transmission)
e.g. Cathy Come Home (BBC, 1966)


In the References:

•    Film title:
Original title/translation (year of 1st release), Wr:, Dir:, Country, duration.
e.g. Soft Top, Hard Shoulder (1992),  Wr: Peter Capaldi, Dir: Stefan Schwartz, UK, 93 mins

•    TV series title:
Original title/translation (year of 1st tx. to year of last tx.) Cr. (or lead Wr.); Country, production company for originating broadcaster; tx. information ( where known and appropriate to the reference in the text), duration of ep. X number of episodes (if known).
e.g. Spooks (2002–), Cr: David Wolstencroft;  UK, Kudos for BBC; tx.BBC1 13/05/02–17/06/02, 50 mins x eps.
e.g. The Wednesday Play (1964–1970) UK, BBC;  tx. BBC1 Oct 1964–May 1970, c.75 mins x eps.

•    Single TV drama and TV title episode [number if known, and title if ep title] – similar to film title, but with tx info:
Original title/translation (year of tx.),  Wr:, Dir:, Country, production company for originating broadcaster; tx. information [where known], duration of episode (anthology title).
e.g. Middlemarch #1 (1994), Wr: Andrew Davies, Dir: Anthony Page, UK/USA, BBC TV/WGBH Boston for BBC; tx. (BBC2), 12/01/94, 90 mins.
e.g. Cathy Come Home (1966),  Wr: Jeremy Sandford, Dir: Ken Loach, BBC; tx. (BBC1) 16/11/66, 75 mins (The Wednesday Play).

Sourcing and referencing unpublished screenplays
Unpublished screenplays need to be referenced consistently, but can basically be treated like a manuscript in Harvard style.  However, in JOSC we may need to include some detailed information. Unstated, but known, information is common with scripts and can be accommodated by the usual convention of using square brackets.

In the text such material would be no different to any other authored piece. The original script for Sunrise (1927) would be listed as Mayer (1927), for example.  

In the References the information runs as follows:
Author (date) Title, [draft number], Place, originating company, No. of pages.
e.g. Mayer, Carl [1927], Sunrise. A Song of Two Humans. Photoplay, [Los Angeles, Fox Film Corporation], 145pp.

If it is an unpublished script, subsequently published, add the type of publication (if appropriate, e.g. DVD, download) place and publisher.
e.g. Mayer, Carl ([1927] 2003), Sunrise. A Song of Two Humans. Photoplay, [Los Angeles, Fox Film Corporation], DVD ([London], Eureka Video), 145pp.

It may be appropriate to include the source of the adaptation or dramatization, and also the library source for the unpublished script.
e.g. Mayer, Carl ([1927] 2003), Sunrise. A Song of Two Humans. Photoplay, based on ‘a theme’ of Herman Sudermann’s The Trip to Tilsit, [Los Angeles, Fox Film Corporation], DVD ([London], Eureka Video), 145 pp.
e.g. Capaldi, Peter (1991), Soft Top Hard Shoulder, [unknown draft], [London], The Gruber Brothers, 79pp., (BFI: S19242).

Dates should be noted as on the draft itself, not release or transmission dates for the screenwork.  The term ‘composite draft’ refers to a script with amendments inserted, often on differently coloured paper. The addition of ‘+’ to the number of pages refers to an unknown number of additional inserted pages (sometimes marked ‘27a’ for example).  Some unpublished scripts also come ‘doped’ with shot lists, cast lists, location details and other material, but the amount of additional detail on the full reference depends on the article, and on how appropriate that detail is.

Here are a few more examples:

Coates, Paul (1998), Emmerdale #:2403, rehearsal script D976/98,  Leeds, Yorkshire Television, 87 pp. incl. running order, (09/06/98), (author’s collection).

Cook, David (1992), The Volunteer [working title] = Closing Numbers, 3rd draft, 17/12/92, [London?], Arden Films/Prominent Studios, 81pp., (BFI: S15272).

Forder, Timothy and Awan, Shabina (1994), Binodini, based on the novel by Rabindranath Tagore, 2nd draft, Dec1994, London, Bevanfield Films, 104pp., (BFI: S18862).

Hirst, Michael (1997), Elizabeth I, 15th draft [composite], Aug/Dec 1997, London, Working Title Films, 109+ pp., (author’s collection).

Norman, Marc and Stoppard, Tom (1998), Shakespeare in Love, [unknown draft, composite], [amdts. dated 23/03/98], [place, company unknown], 129pp.,  (author’s collection).

Passes, Alan, Quay, [Stephen] and Quay [Timothy] [c.1995], Institute Benjamenta, based on the novel by Robert Walser, ‘scenario’ [1st?], London, Koninck, 59pp., (BFI: S17611) – in German.

Wilder, Billy and Diamond, H.A.L. [c.1961], One, Two, Three, [based on a one-act play by Ferenc Molnar], [Munich?, the Mirisch Company?],  179pp., (Thomas Pevsner collection, Leeds Metropolitan University).

Web references
These are the same as other references, they must have an author and be referenced Harvard-style within the text. As web pages may change we need a date of access as well as the full web reference:  
Kearns Read, C. (2009), ‘Writing Screenplay Dialogue’, http://writingdialogue.suite101.com/article.cfm/writing_screenplay_dialogue. Accessed 9 February 2009.