Guidelines for Submissions to The California Nugget
The Journal of the California Genealogical Society
Do you have an article to submit to The California Nugget ? We publish two general categories of articles in the California Genealogical Society’s journal, which appears twice a year, spring and fall. Most articles fall into either the “21st-Century Genealogy” section or the portion of the journal devoted to “California Ancestors.”
Articles of General Interest for 21st-Century Genealogy
Your experiences or unique information will be of assistance to someone else. Twenty-first-century innovations for genealogists, information on little-known resources for California research, “how-to” descriptions for those just starting out in genealogy, and informative pieces that assist in the navigation of libraries, repositories, and the internet are of special interest to our readers.
Sketches of California Ancestors
Readers are invited to submit the story of a family member who settled in California, whether this person arrived prior to 1849 or as recently as last year. Perhaps you or your children are the first members of your family to settle in California. If so, then your forebears, or those of your children, are the ones we want to read about. Did your ancestor perhaps participate in an adventure—or misadventure—while passing through California? We would love to hear those stories as well.
The summary should include the California ancestor’s origins, spouses, siblings and parents if known, children, and, if appropriate, grandchildren, with locations and dates of birth, marriage, and death clearly stated. We prefer this information in the form of a descendancy chart at the end of the article. We list the names of living people only in certain circumstances.
Format for Submissions
- Manuscripts should be submitted in Word or RTF (Rich Text Format). Please send the manuscript as an email attachment to the editor: [email protected].
- Bold, italic, and superscript formats are fine. Please use only one font in the document; a common font such as Calibri or Times New Roman is preferred.
- As identification of sources is critical, we require citations. (See below for guidelines.) Citations will be printed in the journal as endnotes. If you are using Microsoft Word’s footnote tool, we prefer that you submit your article with footnotes. We will convert them to endnotes before publishing the article.
- Preferred length is between 750 and 1,500 words. Please include page numbers and proofread your article carefully before submitting it.
Photos
Photos add life and interest to any story and can enhance and expand the text. Please submit them as jpg, pdf, or tiff files. Low-resolution images will not print well, even when they look fine on a screen. If scanning, set the scanner’s resolution to at least 300 dpi. Images below 900 x 900 dpi may not reproduce well in print. Color photos are acceptable; they will appear in black and white in the printed format. Please provide captions that identify as completely as possible the names of all persons, locations, and dates, if known.
Guidelines for Citing Your Sources
Submitters are strongly encouraged to turn to these classic sources for assistance: The Chicago Manual of Style, Sixteenth Edition (2010) or Seventeenth Edition (2017), or one of Elizabeth Shown Mills’s citation reference books. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Third Edition Revised (2017) is the most recent edition. You may also email the editor ([email protected]) for our in-house style sheet.
Please provide a citation that is complete enough to allow another researcher to quickly find the source using traditional or online resources. We prefer that you avoid citing undocumented information from websites such as Ancestry.com unless you have verified the information quoted therein. If you must use unsourced information, please explain in your citations, or in the body of your work, the evidence you have for believing the data to be correct.
Editorial Policies
Because of space limitations, not all manuscripts will be accepted. You will be notified of the status of your submission within sixty days of its receipt. All manuscripts are subject to editing for space, clarity, and content, as well as for grammar and syntax. When a manuscript is accepted, the editor will work with the submitter to achieve a final copy that meets the society’s standards. The California Genealogical Society will hold the copyright to all articles printed in The California Nugget; authors printed in The California Nugget need only apply in writing to obtain automatic permission to reprint.
Advertise in The California Nugget!
Your advertisements will reach at least 1,000 readers in print. This is the place to publicize your new book, a publication for sale, research services, or your society’s events. We can prepare an ad layout for you, or you may submit copy-ready advertisements. Please note: the editorial policies noted above will apply. If you wish to submit a copy-ready ad, it should be in pdf form only.
Rates are as follows for one year (two issues, one spring issue and one fall issue): full page: $200; half page: $100; quarter page: $50; eighth page: $25. Please send submissions to [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
The California Nugget, the journal of the California Genealogical Society, is published twice a year. Its purpose is to share the unique genealogical material in the CGS library, add to the body of family history information about Californians, offer guidance and timely information to family researchers, and provide a forum for members to share their expertise and findings. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. The journal is distributed free to members — both in print version and, starting with the Fall 2019 edition, online. The print version is available to nonmembers for $10.00 an issue, plus postage.