Western Folklore
Manuscript Submission and Editorial Correspondence

Published continuously since 1942, Western Folklore is one of the leading scholarly journals in folkloristics in the United States. WF is currently accepting submissions from all fields as long as they deal substantively with folklore, folklife, the discipline or history of folklore, folklore theory, or other topics related to expressive human behavior anywhere in the world.

Western Folklore welcomes submissions from all fields as long as they deal substantively with folklore, folklife, the discipline or history of folklore, folklore theory, or other topics related to expressive human behavior anywhere in the world. Submissions that address folklore as informed by any academic field, methodological approach, or theoretical perspective shall be considered. Authors are responsible for the content of their articles.

All manuscripts submitted to Western Folklore must be

Do not format the document in any way other that this; submissions not conforming to these specifications will be returned.

In addition, we request that you

The order of assembly is:

  1. Article Title
  2. Author's Byline
  3. Statement of professional status and affiliation
  4. Abstract (with the word ABSTRACT preceding the text)
  5. Keywords (with the word KEYWORDS: preceding the list)
  6. Text
  7. WORKS CITED
  8. NOTES (endnotes only; do not use footnotes).

Works Cited entries should follow the format of the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, Chapter 16, and should contain author, year (see next entry for later and original editions), title, volume, place, and publisher, with page numbers for articles. Entries must be in alphabetical order by author, and chronologically within author.

Examples for a jointly edited work, a dissertation, a chapter/essay in an edited book, an online item, a monograph, and a journal article, are as follows:

Abrahams, Roger, and Lois Rankin, eds. 1980. Counting-Out Rhymes. A Dictionary. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Hall, Jonathon. 1984. The Dynamics of Oral Narrative. Ph.D. diss., The Ohio State University.

Lloyd, Timothy C. 1995. Folklore, Foodways, and the Supernatural. In Out of the Ordinary: Folklore and the Supernatural, edited by Barbara Walker. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press.

Mechling, Jay. 2013. Always something new to learn from him. Customer review of Oring 2012, www.Amazon.com; accessed 23 February 2016.

Oring, Elliott. 2012. Just Folklore: Analysis, Interpretation, Critique. Bloomington, IN: Cantilever Press.

Simons, Elizabeth Radin. 1986. The NASA Joke Cycle: The Astronauts and the Teacher. Western Folklore 45:261-277.

Author-Date citations are used parenthetically: (Oring 2012:25), in both text and endnotes. Please use this exact format; do not use commas or spaces between the year and the page number(s). When citing later editions, please include the original publication year in square brackets following the date of the edition cited: Abrahams 1970 [1964]. Substantive notes are welcome but must conform to the main text with regard to bibliographical citation. Citations of personal communications may be referenced by endnotes.

Photographs: The editors will be happy to consider up to 5 photographs in your paper at 300 dpi density at 5 inches width. Photographs may be in color or black-and-white. Please do not try to fix or resize photographs to correspond to these requirements. Indicate clearly in the body of your paper where they are to go by indicating which photo or photos should be included, such as: [insert photo 1].

Manuscripts must be submitted as an email attachment. Photographs must be included as separate attachments. Address editorial correspondence by mail or email to:

Rachel V. González-Martin, Ph.D.
Editor, Western Folklore
Associate Professor,
Department of Mexican American & Latino/a Studies
The University of Texas at Austin
210 W. 24th St, 9200
Austin, TX 78712
editor@westernfolklore.org (Note: please cut and paste address.)

Book and Film/Video Reviews: Address all correspondence regarding books, films, and videos for review to the book review editor, Eric Morales, by cutting and pasting the following address into your email program: reviews@westernfolklore.org.