Focus and Scope

Wide Screen is a peer-reviewed, open access journal. It is devoted to the critical study of cinema from historical, theoretical, political, and aesthetic perspectives. With radical changes in the modes of production, distribution, and exhibition, the journal aims to combine the best of academic and journalistic critique of cinema to inform readers about the various critical vantage points from which to understand cinema in this dynamic environment.

 

Section Policies

Essays

Wide Screen adheres to a policy of blind, peer-review. In order to ensure appropriate review, author name(s) should appear only on the title page, references to any author's prior work should be masked, and internal identifications in the text should be avoided. Manuscripts that have already appeared in any other published form or are under review at any other journal cannot be considered.

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Comment

Wide Screen welcomes articles (2000-3000 words) that express opinions or comment on any subject related to cinema. Please contact the Editors if help is needed is needed in submission.

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Interviews

Wide Screen will occasionally publish interviews with film professionals, policy makers, and academics. Readers interested in contributing material to this section should contact the General Editor.

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Film Reviews

Wide Screen welcomes reviews of recently released or forthcoming films (1,000-1,500 words).

A few things to keep in mind, first, the length of the review should be within the said word limit. Second, it should more than just a synopsis of the film. Why you have liked or disliked the film etc should be articulated. Third, to avoid duplication, reviewers are requested to discuss their topics with the editors.

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Announcements and Calls

This section is used for providing announcements of interest to the readers of the journal and for issuing calls for participants interested.

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Director in Focus

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Book Reviews

Wide Screen welcomes book reviews (1,000-2,000 words) relating either directly to cinema or to closely related themes/writers. We also welcome responses from the authors of works previously reviewed in Wide Screen. Please contact the Editorial Office if help is needed obtaining review copies.

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Peer Review Process

All submissions are read by at least one of the Editors. Every effort is made to judge the merits of manuscripts. If it is believed the manuscript is not suitable for publication it will be read by all the other editors and on agreement by others over its lack of suitability the authors are informed. This will normally be organised within 10 days of reading the manuscript. Where a paper is sent for review it will be sent to two referees. At least one of these will be on the Editorial Board of the journal. On the basis of advice from these referees, the Editors will make a decision as to whether the manuscript might be published. Typically there are three options:

(1) Publish at once

(2) Revise and re-submit

(3) Rejected for publication.

An invitation to revise involves no promise of subsequent publication - although, of course, this does imply a basically favourable reaction from referees and, therefore, publication should be within the authors reach. All communication with authors is mediated by one of the Editors to ensure the anonymity of both reviewer and author. The Editors undertake to discharge these duties according to the intent of both parties. However, authors may be protected from comments that the Editors judge to be offensive rather than critical. Direct communication between reviewers themselves is permissible but is normally mediated by the Editors in order to protect anonymity. In making decisions, the Editors may take note of comments and advice made by reviewers that are not intended to be shared with authors. Where these mediated exchanges do not result in consensus regarding the fate of a submission, the Editors may call on a member of the editorial board to break this deadlock. The Editors must then weigh the balance of opinion and make a final judgement as to publication. Resubmission On re-submission, the manuscript is read by the Editors and sent to both referees with a commentary from the Editors regarding his impression of how far revisions have met their concerns. Based on their reaction to this new manuscript a decision to publish may be made. If there are continued reservations the author may be asked to revise once more or may call in a third opinion as described above.

Special Issues

Papers submitted to Special Issues enjoy a similar level of scrutiny although in this case, one referee will be allocated by the Guest Editor of that issue.

Total time taken for decision on submission will not normally exceed four weeks from date of submission.

 

Publication Frequency

To utilise the medium-specific qualities of the Web, Wide Screen has no pre-set publication dates. Papers will be accepted after peer review into a rolling programme of publication with the expectation of one volume per calendar year and a variable number of issues per volume depending upon the number and quality of submissions received. This online publication schedule avoids needlessly imitating the limitations of paper-based publications whilst retaining the value of its tried and tested peer review process.

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

Archiving

This journal utilises the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...