The Esoteric Quarterly
Guidelines for Authors
In general, the Quarterly uses U.S. spelling and The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition as its standard for the final editing of articles for publication. Please finalize your manuscript according to the following guidelines and submit it as either a *.doc (Word 97) or a *.rft file.
1. Final Manuscript
The article e-file should contain the following:
Title
Author’s name
Author’s bio of no more than 50 words.
Abstract (or summary for more informal articles) of no more than 150 words
Text of the article (revised as requested by the Review Editor)
Endnotes formatted as indicated in Item #2.
2. Endnote References
- All referencing of citations or explanatory comments should be in the form of Endnotes.
- The references should be indicated by a superscript number in the text, numbered sequentially throughout the manuscript, and listed in the Endnotes.
- The format for Endnote hardcopy references is as follows:
1Brian Swimme, The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos: Humanity and the New Story (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001).
2Alice A. Bailey, Glamour: A World Problem (New York: Lucis Publishing, 1950), 36-38.
3Carl Andre and Martin Velasquez, “The Common Good,” Issues in Ethics 5, no. 2 (1992): 15-18.
4Bailey, Glamour, 251.
5Ibid., 1-6.
6David Dakake, "The Myth of a Militant Islam," in Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition, ed. Joseph E.B. Lumbard, 3-38 (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2004).
- For Internet references, please note that the full URL (including the final "/") is now the standard. If you are referencing a website in general, rather than particular text, no access date is needed. When you cite web-published text, you need to include the date of access, as in the example below:
7Warren Richey, "Supreme Court Lifts Limits on Navy Sonar Near Whales," Christian Science Monitor, November 12, 2008, http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/ 11/12/supreme-court-lifts-limits-on-navy-sonar-near-whales/ (accessed November 17, 2008).
3. Capitalization
- Capitalize all major words in titles of books and articles. Do not capitalize conjunctions, articles, and short prepositions; however, capitalize all words (even prepositions) of four letters or more.
- When a capitalized word is a hyphenated compound, capitalize both words.
- Capitalize the first word after a colon or a dash in a title.
- Do not capitalize the first letter of text inside parentheses in a sentence unless the word is a proper noun.
- There are certain esoteric terms that the School for Esoteric Studies routinely capitalizes—for example, Antahkarana, Earth (when referring to the planet), Shamballa, Soul, etc. The Editor will ensure standard capitalization of such esoteric terms in the final copy editing.
Discipleship in the New Age
Twentieth-Century Literature
Glamour: A World Problem
...different rays (see Table 1).
4. Common Punctuation Issues
- Insert only one space at the end of sentence or after colons.
- Commas should be used:
- Semi-colons should be used to separate independent clauses, with a comma after the adverb.
A lot of attention has been focused on requirements for initiation; however, little attention has been paid to...
- Colons should be used before a series of options, particularly if the options are set off by (x).
...three possibilities: (a) the etheric body, (b) the astral body, and (c) the mental body.
- Commas and periods are always placed inside quotation marks.
Vera said calmly, "I've no idea what you mean."
"Morgenstern refuses to drive us home," replied Eberly. - Colons and semi-colons go outside quotation marks.
- Question marks and exclamation marks go in or out depending on whether they belong to the material inside the quote or not.
The woman cried, "Those men are beating that child!"
Her husband replied-calmly-"It is no concern of mine"!
In a series of items to separate all items.
...books, articles, and videos.
Following an introductory dependent clause (unless the phrase is very short).
Until we have a formal meditation program, we will ...
After abbreviations that occur in the middle of a sentence.
We will discuss, plan, etc., and then...
Kego had three objections to "Fiomore’s Summer": (a) it was contrived....
5. Common Usage Issues
- Distinguishing between “which” and “that”
“Which” is used at the beginning of a phrase (set off by commas) that elaborates on an idea but is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.
The report, which is a new compilation, is useful in meditation work.“That” is used at the beginning of a phrase (without commas) that is essential to the meaning of the sentence.
They must seek those new attitudes that will produce personality integration.
- Using bias-free language
Unless the gender of the entity referenced is critical to the narrative, please use gender neutral language. Often this can be achieved by using plural (“they”) rather than singular (“he”) pronouns or a gender neutral term (e.g., “colleague” rather than “brother”). See detailed resources at www.servicegrowth.net, clicking on "Changing Attitudes" and then "Language."
One of the challenges we face is our frequent desire to use quotations from authors who were writing at a time when gender-biased language was in common usage. When using direct quotations, gender-biased language should not be amended as this would distort the integrity of the original text, which naturally reflects the historical and cultural milieu in which it was written. However, we offer the following specific suggestions for avoiding the extensive inclusion of gender-biased quotations:
- Select quotations without gender bias, if there is an option.
- Use partial quotes so that you can substitute gender-neutral language for the sections of the quote with problematic language but still quote the core idea.
- Paraphrase the concept so that you express it in gender-neutral language, while giving attribution to the original source.
6. Formatting of the Final Manuscript
To simplify the Quarterly’s formatting process, please ensure the following:
- Single space, with left justification.
- Double space between paragraphs without indenting the first line of the paragraph.
- Insert only one space (not two) after periods and colons.
- Do not use any other formatting such as paragraph spacing.
- Do not insert headers, footers, or page numbers.
Note: If the guidelines above have not been followed in the final manuscript submitted, the Editor reserves the right to either edit the manuscript to the guidelines or return the manuscript to the author for further editing.