Editorial Policy
Stockmanship Journal is a professional journal with high-level editorial and publication guidelines. All submissions will be subject to a thorough editorial review to ensure accuracy, quality of information, and compliance with the following guidelines. Submissions must be well researched, reasoned, articulate, and objective. Articles should be written in a clear, concise manner. Preference will be given to original material that is based on personal experience, firsthand knowledge or objective research. Submissions will be judged on interest, clarity, significance, relevance, and authority. The Journal seeks submissions from subject experts and serious practitioners. Articles should be directed to a well-informed audience.

In addition to articles, the editor is soliciting submissions for the Applied Stockmanship, Mythbusters, Research Pearls, and Video sections.

Review and Publication Process
The editor will review (a) completed articles and (b) query letters for article ideas. If you are contemplating an article for submission, it may be advisable to query the editor with a short description of the proposed article. In so doing the editor can advise you of his interest in publishing the article and provide suggestions on how to proceed. A positive response to a query, however, should not be viewed as a contract to publish; it only means that the editor is interested in your idea, encourages you to pursue it, and will review the completed manuscript.

Authors may be asked to make certain revisions to an article. Additionally, the editor reserves the right to edit material to meet the Journal's standards. If deemed necessary the manuscript may be sent out for peer-review.

Once a manuscript has been reviewed and accepted, it will be scheduled for publication. Every effort will be made to publish it in a timely manner, however, issues are planned several in advance and may already be full. Also, some articles may be more appropriate for a later issue that focuses on a particular theme (e.g., natural horsemanship and its relationship to low-stress livestock handling).

Digital Photographic and Video Submissions
High-quality digital photographs with captions that illustrate points made in an article are encouraged. They should be submitted in JPEG format. Slide shows (in lieu of video) that illustrate some aspect of stockmanship in action also are encouraged. Query the editor regarding how to submit photographs for an html photo gallery. An introductory and explanatory paragraph(s) should accompany the slide show.

A strong point of the Journal is its ability to publish high-quality digital videos as educational and illustrative material, therefore the editor encourages the submission of relevant videos for consideration for publication. Video submissions should be short (ideally less than five minutes), relevant, shot with high production values (e.g., well framed, steady, in focus, good lighting, and good audio which may necessitate using a telescoping or remote microphone, or doing a voice-over), and well edited. It is acknowledged that this can be difficult in real-world, real-time livestock handling situations, but every effort needs to be made to render a semiprofessional product that will convey the desired information in a manner pleasing to the viewer and worthy of a professional journal. In rare instances, videos shot with non-HD point-and-shoot cameras may be published if their educational value outweighs their inferior quality. An introductory and explanatory paragraph(s) should accompany the video.

Article Preparation and Submission
1. All article submissions should have a title page with the article title, author's name, phone number, address, and email address.

2. The title page is followed by an Abstract, a summary of the contents of the article.

3. All manuscripts should be double-spaced and page numbered.

4. Include a short biographical sketch including relevant titles, education, positions, experience, affiliations, and photo.

5. The manuscript should be accompanied by a brief cover letter stating that the article has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.

6. Submit articles to [email protected]

Style Guidelines
The editor does not insist on a particular editorial style. Rather, he encourages authors to use what style they may be familiar with. In the absence of any such familiarity, the industry standard is The Chicago Manual of Style. However, other systems, such as the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association are appropriate. The important thing is consistency and providing all the necessary information for the reader to check your sources. However, that being said, the editor prefers the following format for in-text citations and references:

Identify all sources within the text using the author-date system (as distinguished from the footnote or endnote systems). For example:

Grandin (2008) discusses humane livestock handling . . .

According to Smith (1998, p. 5), "animals never really fully recover after a severe stress."

A strong case has been made for using stockmanship principles and techniques on public grazing lands (Cote 2004).

Personal communications should be acknowledged within the text in parentheses. For example:

According to Bud Williams (personal communication, date) . . .

All citations in the text need to correspond exactly with the list of references, and all references need to appear in the text.

List all references alphabetically. For multiple publications by the same author, list them chronologically from the earliest to most recent. A common format for referencing books and journals follows:

Smith, B. (1998). Moving 'em: A guide to low stress animal handling. Kamuela, HI: The Graziers Hui.

Grandin, T. (1997). Assessment of stress during handling and transport. Journal of Animal Science 75:249-57.

For electronic sources follow standard reference formats as above, but add the specific http address at the end of the reference.

Research Papers
Scientific research papers should (a) introduce the problem, (b) review the literature, (c) explain the method, (d) summarize the results, and (e) end with a discussion and conclusions. Any researcher biases should be disclosed.

Publication Rights
Unless otherwise agreed, copyright will be transferred to Stockmanship Journal upon publication. The Journal authorizes single-copy reproductions for academic or educational purposes.

It is standard practice for professional, scientific, and academic journals to not pay for article submissions. In fact, the contrary is sometimes true (i.e., contributers pay to have their work published). This is because publication costs generally exceed proceeds with small circulation journals, such as the Stockmanship Journal.

A Checklist for Beginning Writers
The editor realizes that some, maybe most, potential contributors to the Journal are novice writers; they are necessarily subject experts on stockmanship, but not necessarily expert writers. To that end, I offer the following guide. Also, I will help you put your article in a form that meets the Journal's publishing guidelines. So, if you have something to say, say it as best you can, then I'll help you. It is important to remember that the purpose of the Journal is to publish quality information for the benefit of fellow stockmen.

1. Communicate clearly what the article is about and capture the attention and interest of the reader in the first paragraph.

2. Keep the article focused on one theme.

3. Limit yourself to your area(s) of experience, expertise and knowledge.

4. Minimize specialized or technical terms and define those used. (Definitions will be linked to the Glossary.)

5. Make sure your article is well documented with facts and scientific findings (when and where appropriate), argued persuasively with sound reasoning, and buttressed with direct observations and personal anecdotes.

6. Be succinct. Say only what needs to be said. (Watson and Crick's paper reporting the discovery of the structure of DNA took just over one page in the science journal, Nature).

7. Avoid hasty conclusions and superficial generalizations.

8. Pay special attention to the overall flow and readability of the article.

9. Develop your ideas clearly and logically and lead the reader smoothly from thought to thought, sentence to sentence, and paragraph to paragraph.

10. Proofread your manuscript carefully for

a. incomplete sentences;
b. punctuation and spelling;
c. accuracy of facts, references, and literary citations;
d. subject-verb agreement;
e. number and person agreement;
f. excessive repetition of a word or an idea;
g. proper phrasing and grammar; and
h. gender bias.