Article Guidelines

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:

  • between 6,000 and 10,000 words total, inclusive of Abstract, Notes, and Works Cited
  • in electronic format, specifically MS Word (.docx or .doc) or rich text (.rtf)
  • justified left only (aka “ragged right”
  • double-spaced throughout, including block quotations, endnotes, and works cited

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

  • Do not use tabbing
  • Indent block quotes 5 spaces (block quotes contain 100 or more words in a single quotation)
  • Avoid gender-specific language whenever possible
  • Include a statement of your professional status and institutional affiliation, as appropriate; this statement must follow your byline (name as author)
  • Include a 50-75 word abstract, with list of 5 keywords associated with the subject of the article; the abstract must appear on the first page, following the statement of status and affiliation and preceding the first line of text.

The order of assembly is:

  1. Article Title
  2. Author’s Byline, including statement of professional status and affiliation
  3. The word ABSTRACT in a paragraph by itself
  4. The text of the Abstract, in italics (foreign words and special terms should be in roman, not italic), including the word KEYWORDS: in italics
  5. Exactly five keywords, in roman type following the word KEYWORDS:
  6. Text of the article
  7. The words WORKS CITED as a separate paragraph following the text of the article
  8. The list of works cited
  9. The word NOTES in a paragraph by itself
  10. The text of all endnotes (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 listed below:

Jointly Edited Work:

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

A Dissertation:

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

Chapter/Essay in an Edited book:

    • 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.

An Online Item:

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

A Monograph:

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

A Journal Article:

    • 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: .

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

Prof. Rachel V. González-Martin
Editor, Western Folklore
Associate Professor
Department of Mexican American & Latino/a Studies
The University of Texas at Austin


editor@westernfolklore.org (Note: please cut and paste address.)