[MR] most common issues with Oak article submissions

[Becky McEllistrem]

I'm seeing various miscellaneous issues with Oak
article submissions and thought this would be a great
place for reminders to writers and researchers.

====================================

The following issues with current Oak submissions
could result in a rejection or holdup of publication. 
Please consider these issues when writing articles for
the kingdom A&S newsletter.

1.) No footnotes or not enough footnotes 

A bibliography or a listing of books is not enough for
proper documentation.  If you're going to quote books
or even paraphrase books footnotes will be necessary. 
Footnotes must include the page number of the page
you're quoting.

In that same line of thought, cut and paste from a web
site is also plagiarism.  The web site must be
referenced in the bibliography.

2.) Photographs are artwork.  If you're going to
include photographs in your article you must give
credit to the person that took the picture even if the
picture was taken by the author.  The picture should
focus the subject being discussed clearly.  If an
image discussed is cut off you might want to think
about help with the photography.

3.) We strive to recreate the European middle ages
from 500 to 1600 AD.  While people Europe did come in
contact with many other civilizations, the article
you're writing should be about a civilization that is
commonly known to have been in contact with the
European middle ages.  If it's not commonly known you
should have the documentation to prove the contact.
Extrapolation is not documentation.

http://www.sca.org/docs/govdocs.pdf

Corpora of 2005-November in the PDF file page 9 of 77
says  "These activities recreate aspects of the life
and culture of the landed nobility in Europe prior to
1600 CE.

 For Society members, most of the world, and all of
the centuries prior to the 17th, can serve as a source
for personal research. However, the further you go
from the core of Medieval and Renaissance Europe, the
less the environment we offer will resemble what
someone of your time and country would find natural or
homelike. For example, you can be an Asian or African
guest at a European court, but you cannot expect
others to share your special interests - like any
long-term visitor in a foreign land, you are the one
who will have to adapt to the customs you find around
you. Since members have free choice of what areas they
will explore, it follows that Society branches cannot
decide to specialize in a specific time and place,
since that would make it hard for members there to
pursue their own interests in other times and places."

4.)  "How to" articles are nice but we call ourselves
an educational society.  While basic how to articles
are accepted I do ask that authors do whatever they
can to document the techniques they're discussing as
well as the images they're discussing.  An image in a
picture is not always proof of a specific technique
unless the tools to create said image or also in the
picture.

Ignoring the first two issues results in immediate
rejection of a submission as this creates plagiarism
issues and puts the SCA at risk.  


Ignoring 3 and 4 might slow up publication for you.
If you have any questions you can always submit a
draft and I can always do what I can to help you find
the direction you need.  

Sometimes I can direct you to references myself. 
Sometimes I can hook you up with people who have been
recognized as doing similar research that might give
you ideas or direction.


Please pay attention to these issues as you create Oak
submissions.  They'll go a very long way to helping
your article get published!

Lady Rebecca the Contrary
Editor of the Oak