Guidelines and Rules

Paper Submission Guidelines

• Submissions should not exceed the word limit or the 15-minute time limit. 

  • Prose submissions should not exceed 2,000 words (excluding the title, footnotes, and/or bibliography/Works Cited) and should take no longer than 15 minutes to read.

  • Poetry submissions should take no more than 15 minutes to present, including introductions to individual poems, which should be kept at a minimum or avoided entirely. Poets may present only those poems submitted and accepted. A poetry collection (two or more works) should have a title.

  • Collections of flash fiction will be considered, provided that the total length of the submission does not exceed the 2,000 word limit. The collection should have a title in addition to the titles for the individual pieces within.

  • Very short prose submissions, single poems, or very short poetry collections will be evaluated but will not be privileged over longer submissions. (We define “very short submissions” as those works that take fewer than 8 minutes to present.)

• Because very long titles may be abbreviated or condensed for the program and app, we strongly encourage you to limit your title 

• Submitters should submit only unpublished critical or creative works for consideration.

• Submitters should submit only unpublished critical or creative works for consideration. However, papers submitted for the Sigma Tau Delta conference are encouraged to be submitted. 

• Submissions remain anonymous for the evaluators who judge them. Acceptance is based on the merit of the works alone and on the time constraints of our venue.

• Members must remove any identifying information on submitted documents, including their name, the name of their institution, or the name of the faculty member to whom the work was originally submitted. 

• Decisions of the judges are final. No opportunity for revision and resubmission of a denied work will be provided for critical essay or creative submissions.

• Members must be present at the conference (in-person or virtually) to read their own submissions. Essays or creative works will not be presented on the author’s behalf.

• Members whose works are accepted for presentation must be available to present anytime on Saturday, November 1, 2025. .

Formatting for Submissions

Use a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman or Arial recommended). Though you may italicize the titles of primary works within your title, avoid bold letters or underlining in titles, and do not put quotation marks around your own title(s). Remove any identifying material such as headers.

Poetry

1. A collection of poems must be contained in one document file saved as a doc, docx, or PDF. Each piece within the document should begin on a new page.

2. File Name: Use an abbreviated version of your collection title as your file name. Do not use your name in the file name.

3. Though formatting should be appropriate to the poem, most poems will be single-spaced, and both the title and individual lines or stanzas will be left justified, that is, aligned on the left-hand margin.

4. Polish: Submitted work should be free of grammatical errors and mechanical mistakes.

Prose (Critical Essays, Creative Works)

1. Essays should follow appropriate and updated style guidelines, such as MLA or APA. Work must be submitted as a document file saved as a doc, docx, or PDF.

2. Use an abbreviated version of your title as your file name. Do not use your name in your file name.

3. Submissions should be double-spaced with one-inch margins. Titles should be centered at the top of the first page, rather than in a running header or on a separate cover page.

4. Flash fiction: In addition to adhering to all other guidelines for prose, a flash fiction collection must include a title; each new piece should begin on a separate page. Also, be sure to use the phrase “flash fiction” when prompted to provide keywords in the submission process.

5. Polish: Submitted work should be free of typographical and grammatical errors. Titles of primary or secondary works identified within essays should be properly formatted.