Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore

Feature Articles

Articles published in Voices represent original contributions to folklore studies. Although Voices emphasizes the folklore of New York State, the editor welcomes articles based on the folklore of any area of the world. Articles on the theory, methodology, and geography of folklore are also welcome, as are purely descriptive articles on the ethnography of folklore. In addition, Voices provides a home for “orphan” tales, narratives, and songs, whose contributors are urged to provide contextual information.

Authors are encouraged to include short personal reminiscences, anecdotes, isolated tales, narratives, songs, and other material that relates to and enhances their main article.

Typically feature articles range from 1,000 to 4,000 words and up to 6,000 words at the editor’s discretion.

Reviews and Review Essays

Books, recordings, films, videos, exhibitions, concerts, and the like are selected for review in Voices for their relevance to folklore studies or the folklore of New York State and their potential interest to a wide audience. Persons wishing to review recently published material should contact the editor at tdegarmo@sals.edu. Unsolicited reviews and proposals for reviews will be evaluated by the editor and by outside referees where appropriate. Follow the bibliographic style in a current issue of Voices.

Reviews should not exceed 750 words.

Correspondence and Commentary

Short but substantive reactions to or elaborations upon material appearing in Voices within the previous year are welcomed. The editor may invite the author of the materials being addressed to respond; both pieces may be published together. Any subject may be addressed or rebutted once by any correspondent. The principal criteria for publication are whether, in the opinion of the editor or the editorial board, the comment constitutes a substantive contribution to folklore studies, and whether it will interest our general readers. Letters should not exceed 500 words.

The journal follows The Chicago Manual of Style. Consult Webster’s Third International Dictionary for questions of spelling, meaning, and usage, and avoids gender-specific terminology.

Endnotes and footnotes should be avoided; incorporate such information into the text. Ancillary information may be submitted as a sidebar.

For citations of text from outside sources, use the author-date style described in The Chicago Manual of Style. 

All material must be submitted in English. Foreign-language terms (transliterated, where appropriate, into the Roman alphabet) should be italicized and followed by a concise parenthetical English gloss; the author bears responsibility for the correct spelling and orthographics of non-English words. British spellings should be Americanized. 

Unless indicated, New York Folklore holds copyright to all material published in Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore. With the submission of material to the editor, the author acknowledges that he or she gives Voices sole rights to its publication, and that permission to publish elsewhere must be secured by contacting New York Folklore at info@nyfolklore.org.

Copy must be a Word file, double spaced, with all pages numbered consecutively. To facilitate anonymous review of feature articles, the author’s name and biography should appear only on a separate title page. 

Tables, charts, maps, illustrations, photographs, captions, and credits should follow the main text and be numbered consecutively. All illustrations should be clean, sharp, and camera-ready. Photographs should emailed to the editor, Todd DeGarmo, at tdegarmo@sals.edu as .jpg or .tiff files. Captions and credits must be included. Written permission to publish each image must be obtained by authors from the copyright holders prior to submission of manuscripts, and the written permissions must be sent directly to the offices of New York Folklore at info@nyfolklore.org as an electronic file (PDF).

For the initial submission, send an email attachment to the Editor, Todd DeGarmo, at tdegarmo@sals.edu. Alternatively, email to info@nyfolklore.org or mail digital media to New York Folklore at 129 Jay Street, Schenectady, NY 12305. (Email submission is preferred.)

Materials are acknowledged upon receipt. The editor and two anonymous readers review manuscripts submitted as articles and the name and affiliation of the author are not shared with the reviewers.  The review process takes several weeks.

Authors receive two complimentary copies of the issue in which their contribution appears and may purchase additional copies at a discount.