Instructions for Pharos Authors
- Submissions may not have been published elsewhere or be under review by any other journal.
- Authors need not be members of ΑΩΑ; however, if the author is an AΩA member they must be an active member having paid either the current year’s annual dues or lifetime dues.
- Manuscripts, essays should be no more than 15 pages (approximately 5,000 words), and should be submitted in 12-point type, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. All pages must be numbered. All submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter and a title page with the word count, return address, and E-mail address of the author. References should not exceed 20 unique items (see below). Do not use End Notes.
- Manuscripts, essays should not be written in first person.
- Poems should be in 12-point type, with one-inch margins, with the author’s name, address, and E-mail address on the first page.
- Send submissions to thepharos@alphaomegaalpha.org.
- After peer review, by The Pharos Editorial Board, the reviewers’ decision will be sent to the author. Every attempt is made to complete preliminary reviews within 12 weeks.
- The editors of The Pharos will edit all manuscripts that are accepted for publication for style, usage, relevance, grammar, and punctuation and may provide appropriate illustrative material. Authors should not purchase illustrative material because the editors cannot guarantee that it will be used.
- In accordance with revised copyright laws, each contributor will need to sign an Author’s Agreement, which will be sent with the edited galleys. Information on copyright ownership and re-publication of articles is detailed in the Author’s Agreement.
Books for review
The Pharos publishes reviews of books related to medical humanities, including, but not exclusive to, medical history, philosophy, art, literature, anthropology, and the social and cultural dimensions of illness and health care, the social determinants of health, public heath, and medical education. We are sorry, but we cannot publish reviews of books written on aspects of clinical medicine, health education books for laypersons, or extended fiction. However, we encourage AΩA members to notify The Pharos when they publish a book so we can include a citation in the list of new books published.
Photos/Artwork
Once an article/manuscript/essay/poem/reflection/review is accepted, the author must provide written copyright permissions for any photos or artwork he/she would like to accompany manuscript.
Reference Information
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of citations and quotations in their submissions. Once a piece has been accepted for publication, the author will be required to provide photocopies of all direct quotations from the primary source material, including page numbers. The photocopies of references must include the title page and copyright pages of all books cited; the first and last pages of book chapters cited; and the first and last pages of journal articles cited, as well as the Table of Contents of the particular issue of the journal in which the cited article appeared. Reference materials will not be returned to the author.
References should be double-spaced, numbered consecutively in the text, and cited at the end in the following standard form:
| (Journal) | Zilm DH, Sellers EM, MacLeod SM, Degani N. Propranolol effect on tremor in alcoholic withdrawal. Ann Intern Med. 1975; 83: 234-6. |
| (Book) | Harris ED Jr. Rheumatoid Arthritis. Philadelphia (PA): WB Saunders; 1997. |
| (Book Chapter) | Pelligrini CA. Postoperative Complications. In: Way LW, editor. Current Surgical Diagnosis and Treatment, Ninth Edition. Norwalk (CT): Appleton & Lange. 1991: 25-41. |
Each reference should be listed only once, with multiple uses of a single reference citing the same reference number. Sample articles from The Pharos (with correct reference form) are available on the Back Issues page of this website.
Citation of web sites as references is discouraged unless a site is the single source of the information in question, or has official or academic credentials. Examples of such sites are official government web pages such as the National Institutes of Health. Encyclopedia sites such as britannica.com are not primary references. Wikipedia will not be accepted as a source citation.
Corrections/Retractions
The Pharos will correct any mistake inadvertently published in the journal. Requests for correction(s) should be sent to the Managing Editor who will review and write any necessary correction or clarification of published materials.
For more information, please contact Julie Passo at thepharos@alphaomegaalpha.org, or 720-859-4149.
