Guide for Contributors 

Lost in Citations is an audio journal: we accept contributions of interviews much like a paper or online journal accepts contributions of written works. We encourage academics to interview people in their field or their profession, to reach out and interview people they think produce work that would be interesting to others. 

 

A good way to start the process would be to check the interviews already available in our catalog (https://www.lostincitations.com/contributors) - get a feel for the way the interviews are structured. This being said, please feel free to adopt your own structure once you feel comfortable with the process. 

 

The main point to consider is that the episode should be centered on the citation. For further ideas on interview-style read these tips:

https://www.lostincitations.com/post/10-tips-for-interview-style

 

From our experiences over the last year, we can say it has been a valuable experience to connect with other researchers both within and outside our fields of interest, learn a great deal about the wide fields of interest available throughout academia, and improve our skills as interviewers and online content providers. We hope that your experience will be the same.

 

If you are interested in submitting an interview, please submit the following:

•  a 5-minute audio sample to demonstrate the sound quality of your recording equipment.

• A short bio of yourself and the guest

• The citation in APA formatting

• A digital copy of the publication and/or a link to read (e.g., Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Academia.edu)

 

Much like the contributions to any journal, certain factors must be considered and quality issues dealt with first. For people interested in submitting an interview for consideration, please read the following directions carefully.

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Some key points about the recordings:

• Take time to set up the recording equipment, both for you and your interview subject. Trust us: it will save you time later. Most microphones and speakers built into personal computers are not sufficient for the sound quality we require (see the Resources tab for suggestions for a good quality microphone - however, these are not as expensive as you might expect): https://www.lostincitations.com/resources

• To prevent feedback that can occur through the use of Skype as the medium of communication, please use earphones and encourage the use of headphones for your interviewee.

• Using ZOOM is a helpful alternative to a complex recording set-up, and the sound quality is often leveled better than Skype. In addition, the recorded output is an mp4 file, which is relatively simple to use and edit. Nevertheless, the first point about taking time to set up the recording equipment of both you and your interview subject stands paramount.

• A good idea is to have a practice call and set up the hardware and software before the time of the recording. This can be submitted as the above-noted ‘sound check’ prior to the full interview; we can then advise you about any changes we would suggest to either your or your interviewee’s sound set-up - we do not want you to take the time to conduct a full interview then have to edit your work for submission only to be rejected on the grounds of quality.