How does one go about creating a well-organized chapter for an edited publication? While there’s certainly room for flexibility, there are definitely some key elements—such as an introduction and a conclusion, for example—that should be the part of every good edited-book chapter. To assist you, we have laid out some basic guidelines on the following pages for creating well-organized chapters to which we highly recommend they pay careful attention while preparing their own chapters.
In addition to the guidelines discussing the organization of a good chapter, we have also included a section labeled Important Details to Keep in Mind, which covers important copyright and editorial details that authors MUST follow while creating their chapters—for instance, if they plan on including in their chapters any images that have a copyright held by a third party, they will need to obtain permission prior to our publication of said images. Also, for example, if authors are including equations in their chapters, they will need to know that the use of metafiles should be strictly avoided unless absolutely necessary as this is something that can not only have an adverse effect on the quality of each of their chapters, but also significantly delay the production process of the entire book. These are only a couple of the very important copyright and editorial details of which authors must be aware, and to which they must pay careful attention. It is extremely important that you send the following Chapter Organizational Guidelines AND the Important Details to Keep in Mind sections to your authors upon your acceptance of their proposals.
Please see the following and carefully read each of the two sections contained therein so that you can ensure that your authors adhere to the guidelines listed in each.
For consistency of publication, it is best that you adhere as much as possible to the following guidelines when preparing your chapter:
As a contribution to a scholarly publication, your chapter will need to include an abstract, consisting of approximately 100-150 words, which will provide your readers with an overview of the content of your chapter. It is important that your abstract clearly states the purpose of your chapter and summarizes the content.
As IGI Global’s online database is searched by keywords, it’s important that you assign a list of keywords (anywhere from 5 to 20) to your chapter to assist database users in finding your chapter when doing a search on your chapter’s topic. If you need assistance, please feel free to visit http://www.igi-pub.com/assets/keywords.asp, which provides several examples of keywords on a sampling of various topics. Do be sure to include not only keywords that appear in your chapter, but also other related words that you might not have mentioned in your chapter but that you know an individual may use to search for a chapter like yours on IGI Global’s database.
In this section, you will want to describe the general perspective of your chapter. Toward the end of the introduction, you should specifically state your chapter’s objectives.
In the background section, you’ll want to provide broad definitions and discussions of the topic and incorporate views of others (literature review) into the discussion to support, refute, or demonstrate your position on the topic.
(Please note that the title of this section should NOT be “Main Thrust of the Chapter.”)
Here, you’ll want to present your perspective on the issues, controversies, problems, and so forth, as they relate to the theme and arguments supporting your position. Compare and contrast with what has been, or is currently being done, as it relates to your specific topic and the main theme of the book.
Here, you should discuss solutions and recommendations in dealing with the issues, controversies, or problems presented in the preceding section.
In this section, you’ll want to discuss future and emerging trends. You should provide insight about the future of the book’s theme from the perspective of your topic. Viability of a paradigm, model, implementation issues of proposed programs, and so forth, may be included in this section. If appropriate, you may want to suggest future research opportunities within the domain of the topic.
Here, you should provide a discussion on the overall coverage of the chapter and include your concluding remarks.
It is your responsibility to ensure that all information in your chapter that is taken from another source is substantiated with an in-text reference citation. Please also note that your references must strictly follow APA (American Psychological Association) style (The publisher may return your chapter to you for correction if you do not properly format your references. Note that this will delay the production process, and ultimately, the release of the book. ). References should relate only to the material you actually cited within your chapter (this is not a bibliography), and they should be listed in alphabetical order. Please do not include any abbreviations.
While some examples of references in APA style are included in the following
pages, it is highly recommended that you reference an actual APA style manual
(5th edition). If you do not own an APA style manual, you may either 1) consult
your library or 2) visit APA’s Web site to order your own copy: http://www.apastyle.org/pubmanual.html.
It may also benefit you to consult the following pages of APA’s Web site
for frequently asked questions and other tips:
http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html
and http://www.apastyle.org/previoustips.html.
Book with one author:
Author, A. A. (2005). Title of work. Location/City, State: Publisher.
Book with two authors:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2005). Title of work. Location/City, State:
Publisher.
Book with more than two authors:
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2005). Title of work. Location/City,
State: Publisher.
Journal article:
Sawyer, S., & Tapia, A. (2005). The sociotechnical nature of mobile computing
work: Evidence from a study of policing in the United States. International
Journal of Technology and Human Interaction, 1(3), 1-14.
A publication in press:
Junho, S. (in press). Roadmap for e-commerce standardization in Korea. International
Journal of IT Standards and Standardization Research.
Edited book:
Zhao, F. (Ed.). (2006). Maximize business profits through e-partnerships. Hershey,
PA: IRM Press.
Chapter in an edited book:
Jaques, P. A., & Viccari, R. M. (2006). Considering students’ emotions
in computer-mediated learning environments. In Z. Ma (Ed.), Web-based intelligent
e-learning systems: Technologies and applications (pp. 122-138). Hershey, PA:
Information Science Publishing.
Report from a university:
Broadhurst, R. G., & Maller, R. A. (1991). Sex offending and recidivism
(Tech. Rep. No. 3). Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia,
Crime Research Centre.
Published proceedings:
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). A motivational approach to self: Integration
in personality. In R. Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol.
38. Perspectives on motivation (pp. 237-288). Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis:
Wilfley, D. (1989). Interpersonal analyses of bulimia: Normal-weight and obese.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri, Columbia.
A presented paper:
Lanktree, C., & Briere, J. (1991, January). Early data on the Trauma Symptom
Checklist for Children (TSC-C). Paper presented at the meeting of the American
Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, San Diego, CA.
Web site:
VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in
the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic
Research, 5, 117-123. Retrieved October 13, 2001, from http://jbr.org/articles.html
When citing a source in your text, you will need to state the authors’ surnames along with the year of publication. Please note the following:
If you have several references cited within the same parenthesis, the citations should be listed in alphabetical order. You’ll note that 1) each citation is separated by a semicolon, and 2) ampersands (&) are used instead of the word “and.”
Example: In most organizations, data resources are considered to be a major resource (Brown, 2002; Krall & Johnson, 2005; Smith, 2001).
If an author’s name is mentioned directly within the text of your chapter as part of a sentence, please note that only the year is placed within parenthesis.
Example: Brown (2002) states that the value of data is recognized by most organizations.
If you directly quote another individual’s work, you must also provide the page of the source from which the quote was taken.
Example: “In most organizations, data resources are
considered to be a major organization asset” (Smith, 2001, pp. 35-36)
and must be carefully monitored by the senior management.
Example: Brown (2002) states that “the value of data is realized by most
organizations” (p. 45).
Under NO circumstances should in-text citations be numbered.
Incorrect: In most organizations, data resources are considered
to be a major resource [15; 30; 84].
Correct: In most organizations, data resources are considered to be a major
resource (Brown, 2002; Krall & Johnson, 2005; Smith, 2001).
If a direct quote that you wish to include in your chapter is more than 40
words long, please be sure to format your quote as a block quote (a block quote
uses no quotation marks, and its margins are indented from the left; also, you’ll
notice that the period at the end of the sentence comes before the parenthetical
in-text citation):
Example: As an ever-growing number of people around the world have gained access
to e-mail and Internet facilities, it has become clear that the communicative
environment provided by these tools can foster language learning. E-mail facilitates
access to speakers of one's target language. (Vinagre & Lera, 2007, p. 35)
NOTE: If you plan on including more than 2 paragraphs of quoted text, you must
acquire permission from the copyright holder for use of the quote before IGI
Global will agree to publish your chapter.
1. Originality of chapters. Only ORIGINAL chapters will be accepted for publication. Upon acceptance of your chapter, you will be required to sign a warranty that your chapter is original and has NOT been submitted for publication or published elsewhere.
2. Revised chapters. IGI Global will not publish a chapter that is a “revised” version of a chapter that you published elsewhere. While your chapter may certainly be based on the same data and research as another chapter published by you, the chapter you submit to IGI Global must be a completely new and original work—in other words, it must NOT have the same wording or formatting as another chapter previously published by you.
3. Acquiring permission for copyrighted images. It is YOUR responsibility to obtain written permission to include any copyrighted images (whether they be screenshots [e.g., a screenshot of a page from a company’s Web site, a screenshot of a scene from a video game, etc.], figures, tables, graphics, etc.) in your chapter. The copyright holder MUST agree to and sign IGI Global’s permission form before IGI Global will agree to include the image in your chapter. To obtain a copy of this permission form, please contact the book editor or IGI Global (development@igi-global.com).
After you obtain permission, you are then responsible to indicate in the caption of the image the original source of the image and that it is being used in your chapter with permission. Your caption should look something like this:
Figure 1. [insert caption here]. (© [insert copyright year here], [insert copyright holder’s name here]. Used with permission.).
Please note that, should you create an image that is loosely based on another copyrighted image, you must indicate in the image caption that your image is adapted from another copyrighted image and then provide the original source:
Figure 1. [insert caption here]. (Adapted from [insert source of copyrighted image here]).
As some publishers require that you obtain permission for use of even an image that you may have adapted from one of their images, it is YOUR responsibility to investigate as to whether or not permission is needed for your adapted image.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Since acquiring permission may take a significant amount of time, it is very important that you begin the process as soon as possible.
4 .Permission fees. Subsequent to the previous point, IGI Global will NOT agree to publish any copyrighted image for which a permission fee is required (even if you offer to pay the fee), OR for which permission is required for each subsequent publication of the image.
5. Trademark use. All trademark use within your chapter MUST be credited to its owner, or written permission to use the name must be granted.
6. Interviews. Please note that if any full interviews are included in your chapter, you must have the interviewee sign IGI Global’s “Interview Release and Assignment Agreement” with which you will be provided by the book editor or IGI Global (development@igi-global.com) upon request.
When preparing your chapter, it is important that you use the chapter template located at http://www.igi-global.com/development/author_info/index.asp. You will find the appropriate template under the heading “Books.”
Chapters must
It is crucial that complete copy editing and proofreading of your chapter be conducted PRIOR to submission to ensure proper use of the English language, proper grammatical structure, and correct spelling and punctuation. Attention to these details is imperative. IMPORTANT: Chapters that are submitted to the publisher are considered to be in their FINAL FORM and ready for publication as is. Please also keep in mind that the material you submit for production is final. Other than minor grammatical, typographical, spelling, and reference list corrections, major changes such as moving and/or deleting paragraphs, sections, etc., will NOT be permitted.
Unfortunately, LaTex files are currently NOT accepted by the publisher because these types of files are not compatible with IGI Global’s current typesetting program. As an alternative, it is recommended that you use MathType.
If you include equations in your chapter, it is important that you do NOT use metafiles for any mathematical symbols or letters unless absolutely necessary. For example, take into consideration the following equation: (a + b) – (c + d) = e. There is absolutely no need for the use of metafiles here since each of the symbols and letters in this equation appear on your keyboard.
Additionally, it is extremely important that all symbols and letters are consistent in their formatting (i.e., if you italicize “x” in equation number one, please be sure to italicize “x” throughout the rest of your chapter if it is used to represent the same item). Please note that the unnecessary use of metafiles and the inconsistent formatting of symbols and letters will have an adverse effect on the quality of your chapter, as well as significantly slow down the production of the entire book.
Please note that, as per IGI Global’s house style, the subhead divisions in your chapter should NOT be numbered. All subheadings should be designated simply by title, and the level of each heading should be clearly indicated by font size and the use of italicized, bolded, or underlined words.
IGI Global requests that, if possible, your chapter not contain more than five to eight images (as mentioned, images include screenshots, figures, tables, graphics, etc.). Images should be submitted BOTH as:
Please note that, currently, images published by IGI Global are black and white only; thus, for images of the best quality, it is important that you submit your images in black and white or gray scale.
Also, please ensure that your images are a conservative size. The members of IGI Global’s Production Department will use their discretion in resizing your images to fit the layout of the book. If your images are too large, re-sizing may cause them to become illegible and unclear. Please be advised that if your images look blurred or unreadable in the Word copy of your chapter, this is how they will look in the final typeset version of the book. Therefore, please be sure to send high-quality images saved between a 180-360 dpi setting. If the images are embedded in the Word document, please also include them as separate tif, jpeg, eps, or gif files.
Please use only endnotes, if needed. If you include endnotes, they will be placed after the references at the end of your chapter. Footnotes at the bottom of a page are not acceptable.
Please be advised that due to APA and IGI Global house style rules, changes in regard to, among other things, capitalization, the appearance of block quotes and bulleted and numbered lists, as well as the placement of images on your pages may be adjusted accordingly during the typesetting phase.