This document provides details on typesetting and layout requirements pertaining to final manuscript submission to Musical Offerings.

Please feel free to use the "Tracked Changes" option in Microsoft Word to edit the text and once complete, send the edits to the editors for updating.

You may download a PDF version of these guidelines below:
Guidelines for Manuscript Submission to Musical Offerings

Formatting Requirements

Title

• Your paper should begin with the title of the article, centered and in 16 pt. font.
• Double space and put your name, centered and in 14 pt. font.
• Single space and put your institution, centered and in 14 pt. italic font.
• Double space once and then begin your paper.
• The title and paper should be written in English with proper and standard grammar. Please consult The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition or higher.

Text Font Face, Size and Color

• All fonts should be in Times New Roman. In the case where special symbols are needed, please use Times or the closest comparable font available.
• The main body of text should be set in 11 pt. font.
• Single space the body of your text.
• Please use italics to indicate the text you wish to emphasize rather than underlining it.
• Please use italics when stating titles of books, movies, etc., rather than underlining them.
• Please use italics when using foreign terms, rather than underlining them.
• The font color should be set to black for the majority of the text. We encourage authors to take advantage of the ability to use color in the production of figures, maps, etc., however you need to appreciate that this will cause some of your readers problems when they print the document on a black and white printer. For this reason, you are advised to avoid the use of colors in situations where their translation to black and white would render the material illegible or incomprehensible.
• Headings should be distinguished from the main body text by their fonts. A different font face (e.g. Arial or Computer Modern Sans Serif) is allowed for headings, but all headings must use the same font face. Hierarchy is indicated by reducing the font size. There should be a space above and below headings.

Page Size, Margins and Columns

• Page size should be 6 x 9 inches.
• Top and bottom margins should be 0.75 inch, including your tables and figures.
• Inside margin should be 0.5 inch, and outside should be 0.75 inch.
• The gutter should be 0.35 inch.
• Please select mirror margins for multiple pages.
• Use a single column layout with both left and right margins justified.
• Do not include page numbers, headers, or footers. These will be added by the editors.

Indenting, Line Spacing and Justification

• Do not indent first line of paragraphs.
• Double space between paragraphs.
• When possible, there should be no pages where more than a quarter of the page is empty space.
• Long quotations, theorems, propositions, special remarks, etc. within paragraphs should be set off from the surrounding text by an additional space above and below. Every line of long quotations should be indented left and right by 0.5 inch. Do not add quotation marks to set-apart quotes and do not further indent the first line of set-apart quotes.
• Do not “widow” or “orphan” text (i.e., ending a page with the first line of a paragraph or beginning a page with the last line of a paragraph).
• All text should be left- and right-justified unless that results in too much spacing between words.

Article Length

• There is no specified length since this journal is published electronically and page limits are not as relevant as they are in the world of print publications. But we ask that authors exercise discretion with respect to length.

Tables and Figures

• To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text.
• Large tables or figures should be put on pages by themselves.
• All tables and figures must fit within the margins on all sides.
• Figures should be high-resolution figures, preferably encoded as encapsulated PostScript.

Citations and Footnotes

• Musical Offerings uses the footnote-bibliography format recommended by The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. This is available in print or online via subscription.
• Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced rather than at the end of the paper.
• Footnotes should be set in 10 pt. font, single spaced and there should be a footnote separator (line).
• All footnotes should be left-justified.
• Footnote numbers or symbols in the text must follow rather than precede punctuation.
• Excessively long footnotes are probably better handled in an appendix.

Bibliography

• It is the author’s obligation to provide complete references with the necessary information.
• After the last sentence of the submission insert a line break and begin your bibliography on the same page.
• The title “Bibliography” should appear two double spaces after the end of the article, left-justified and in 16 pt. font or at the top of the next page if not enough space is available for at least one citation to appear.
• Individual citations should be left-justified, single spaced and formatted with a ½-inch hanging tab.
• Single space between citations.
• Alphabetize the citations but do not number them.

Before Submission

• Copyedit your manuscript.
• Submit your manuscript including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single file (Word and RTF files are accepted).