Markers: Annual Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies

Elisabeth Roark, Professor of Art History and Museum Studies, Chatham University

Joy Giguere, Penn State York

Elise M. Ciregna, Religion, Harvard University

Bruce S. Elliot, History, Carleton University (emeritus)

Richard Francaviglia, History, University of Texas at Arlington

Laurel K. Gabel, independent scholar

June Hadden Hobbs, English, Gardner-Webb University (emeritus)

Siobhan Lavelle, independent archeologist and historian (Australia)

Cornelia Paraskevas, Linguistics and Writing, Western Oregon University

Julie Rugg, Social Policy and Social Work, University of York (United Kingdom)

Timothy Sedore, English, The City University of New York, Bronx Community College

David Charles Sloane, Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, University of Southern California

Annette Stott, Art History, University of Denver (emeritus)

Kara Van Dam, Chief Executive of GVSU Omni, Grand Valley State University

Richard Veit, Anthropology, Monmouth University

David. H. Watters, English, University of New Hampshire (emeritus)

Anne-Maree Whitaker, independent historian (Australian)

Elizabethada Wright, English, University of Minnesota Duluth

Submissions

Please submit inquiries and manuscripts to editor Elisabeth Roark at roark@chatham.edu. Manuscripts are accepted in electronic form only. Article length is up to 6,000 words, not including endnotes, and the journal style guide is the most recent edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. Markers is a lavishly illustrated journal and encourages up to 20 illustrations, not including tables and charts.

Authors’ names should not appear on manuscripts; instead, please include a separate document with the author’s name, address, and the title of the article with your electronic submission. Authors should not refer to themselves in the first person in the submitted text or notes if such references would identify them; to ensure double-blind peer review, any references to the author’s previous work should be in the third person. See the Style Guide and Notes for Contributors, linked to the Markers page on the Association for Gravestone website here.

Books for review should be addressed to:

Joy Giguere

Book Review Editor, Markers

23 South Pleasant Ave.

Dallastown, PA 17313

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to Markers go through several stages of review. Submissions are initially reviewed internally by the journal’s editor. After this, manuscripts fitting the aims and scope of the journal, as well as adherence to basic standards of academic quality, are sent for double-blind peer review.

Author Fees

Markers does not require author fees for publishing materials in the journal for non-Open Access submissions. Queries about Open Access Article Processing Charges (APCs) should be directed to the editorial team at: roark@chatham.edu.

Editor

• The editor of Markers is responsible for identifying and contacting peer reviewers, always keeping in mind potential conflicts of interest and making sure that submissions are evaluated in terms of scholarly content and contribution without regard to the identity and affiliation of the author.
• The editor of Markers ensures the confidentiality of authors and reviewers.
• Based on Markers’ internal and external review process, the editor decides whether to accept, reject, or encourage revision and resubmission of the manuscript. 

Author

• Guidelines for authors appear on the Association for Gravestone Studies website, the University of Minnesota Press website, and can also be sent on request.
• Authors are required to state whether the article has been submitted to or is under review with another publication and whether the article has previously been published in another language.
• Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the submission. Authors should ensure that all the listed authors have seen and agreed to the submitted version of the manuscript and to the inclusion of their names as co-authors.
• Authors are expected to respect the intellectual properties of others, through acknowledgement of sources, proper citation and attribution, quotation of direct texts taken from other sources, and recognition of research participants and research funders.
• Before a submission can be published, authors will be required to sign the University of Minnesota Press Contributor Agreement Form and a Permissions Agreement regarding illustration and artwork.
• Authors should communicate any errors discovered after publication directly to the editor and publisher.

Review Policies

Editor

• The editor will independently review and select submissions in a confidential process, and reserve the right to reject any submission that does not meet the journal’s standard. Submissions will not be discussed or shared beyond those directly involved in the publication process, such as reviewers and editorial staff.
• Articles undergo an internal review by the editor and, when relevant, members of the Editorial Board. If submissions are deemed appropriate for the journal, they undergo double-blind peer review. Markers sends authors reviewer comments and a decision about publication as expeditiously as possible.
• The editor will make every effort to ensure that the selection process and peer review of submissions is fair and unbiased, and that peer review is undertaken by qualified scholars in the appropriate field who are free of conflicts of interest.
• The editor’s decision to accept or reject an article for publication in Markers is based only on the submission’s relevance to the remit of the journal and the significance of the submission as a work of original scholarship.

Reviewers

• Reviewers should have no potential conflict of interest.
• Potential reviewers are provided with the title and abstract of the submission, and if they agree to serve as reviewers and have no conflicts of interest, are sent Markers’ review guidelines.
• In order to protect the anonymity of the double-blind peer review process, reviewers are requested to keep confidential all information regarding submissions to Markers.

Authors

• For revised resubmissions, authors should address all comments and suggestions by reviewers and provide an account of the revisions undertaken.

Conflict of Interest Guidelines

Editor

Conflicts of Interest are considered to occur when the editor has private interests that interfere with their ability to make an unbiased final decision on any manuscript. In cases where it is deemed an editorial conflict of interest exists, including (but not limited to) financial interest or a personal relationship with the author, the editor of Markers will disclose this to members of the Editorial Board and be recused from making a decision on the article.

Authors

Authors are expected to disclose any potential conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interests for authors occur when their private interests influence the objectivity of research. In order to avoid conflicts, authors should acknowledge the following upon submission of their manuscript:

• All sources of research funding.
• Any financial or non-financial interests that may have impacted presentation of their research.

Reviewers

The following situations are considered conflicts of interest for reviewers and will be avoided:

• Co-authoring publications with at least one of the authors in the past 3 years, not including edited collections.
• Being colleagues within the same section / department or similar organization unit in the past 3 years.
• Supervising / having supervised the doctoral work of the author(s) or being supervised / having been supervised by the author(s).
• Having a personal relationship (e.g. family, close friend) with the author(s).
• Having a direct or indirect financial interest in the paper being reviewed.

It is not considered a Conflict of Interest if the reviewers have worked together with the authors in a collaborative project or if they have co-organized an event.

Allegations of Misconduct

• The editor will promptly investigate complaints related to pieces published in this journal.
• When there is an allegation of academic misconduct, we solicit a response from those accused, seek full documentation of the allegation, and consult with the editorial board to determine any appropriate steps.
• After consultation with the editorial board, the editor will work with the author(s) to ethically address the issue and come to the appropriate solution, whether that is revising the article, issuing an apology, and/or retracting the piece. 

Plagiarism

• Markers considers plagiarism to be the presentation of another author’s work as the manuscript submitter’s own.
• Markers considers text-recycling to be when an author re-uses sections of text from their other publications without proper permissions.
• Markers peer reviewers are instructed to inform the editor of suspected plagiarism. Upon review of the claims, if the editor finds evidence of substantial portions of text and / or data from another source presented as if they were by the author, they will contact the submitter to respond to the claims. If the author provides an unsatisfactory explanation, the submission will be rejected, and the author’s work will no longer be accepted for review by Markers. If the author provides an unsatisfactory explanation, the submission will be rejected, and the author’s work will no longer be accepted for review by Markers. If the author confirms the case to be an honest error, the manuscript will be rejected but the author’s future work will be accepted for review by Markers.
• Markers understands some degree of text-recycling may be unavoidable in publications on related topics and considers cases of self-plagiarism based on the significance of the text that is repeated. Markers will accept a manuscript that presents similar data with a new argument but rejects all submissions that recycle the arguments in authors’ previous publications. In such cases, all relevant previous work must be properly referenced.

Retractions

The editor will consider retraction if:

• They have evidence that the article presents unreliable findings, includes unethical or fabricated research, plagiarizes other materials, or infringes upon copyright.
• The author(s) and / or reviewer(s) failed to disclose a major conflict of interest during the peer-review process that impacted the decision to publish by the editor.

In all cases, the editor will promptly publish a retraction statement that clearly identifies the article and explains the reason for retraction.

The University of Minnesota Press sells journal-only subscriptions to Markers. Individuals looking to purchase AGS membership (with benefits including a copy of Markers, digital access to the journal, The AGS Quarterly, a monthly newsletter, and member pricing for the AGS conference) should sign up on the Association for Gravestone Studies website.

For journal-only print individual and institutional orders, please click the subscribe button. To place a single title institutional subscription, Project MUSE account holders may use the Single Title Order Form.

To check the availability of back issues and to place a single copy order, please email journals@umn.edu.

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Rates

Discounts are not available at this time.

Mechanical Requirements

• Trim size is 6″ x 9″.
• 133 line screen.
• Camera-ready copy.
• No color or bleeds.
• PDF files also accepted.

Scheduling and advertising questions? Contact

Markers
Attn: Shelby Connelly
University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Ave. S., Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN  55401-2520

Phone: 612-301-1938
Fax: 612-301-1980

Copyright, Ownership, and Management

The copyright for Markers is held by the Association for Gravestone Studies. Manuscript submission and review processes are managed by the editorial team at Markers while the University of Minnesota Press coordinates production of the journal.

Governing Body

For up to date information on Markers’ Editorial Board see the “Editorial Information” tab.

Revenue Sources

This journal makes revenue from subscriptions, advertising, and institutional sources. Publishing fees do not influence the editorial decision-making process.