MAINE POLICY REVIEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Maine Policy Review publishes articles, commentaries, research briefs, and essays on policy issues relevant to Maine encourages submissions from both policy researchers and practitioners. This peer-reviewed journal provides timely, independent analysis of public policy issues affecting Maine and/or the region. Articles with a national or international focus also are considered as long as their relevance to public policy formulation in Maine is clearly established.
Maine Policy Review is intended for a diverse audience, including state policymakers; government, business, and nonprofit leaders; students; and general readers with a broad interest in public policy. Many of its articles are based on some form of applied research or independent inquiry. Occasionally, the journal includes more technical or scientific articles. However, the journal’s philosophy is that articles must be understandable and informative to a diverse readership.
Submissions should represent original, previously unpublished material. The journal sometimes prints material that has been published elsewhere (assuming all requisite permissions are obtained). This is not the norm, and the editors should be contacted prior to the submission of non-original material.
Authors are encouraged to contact the editor (mpr@maine.edu) prior to submitting to discuss their proposed piece and to have any questions answered.
Submission Categories
1. Feature Articles
MPR articles include research papers and review articles. They undergo full peer review and are usually around 15–25 pages (~4,000–10,000 words) in length (double-spaced text, 12-size font, one-inch margins). If the submission is longer than 10,000 words, authors should explain in their cover letters why the additional length is merited.
2. Commentaries
Commentaries are shorter pieces, generally 1,000–3,000 words in length. They may be in the following forms:
- a short essay commenting on some aspect of public policy formulation in Maine;
- a summary of a recent event or policy process dealing with an issue of current policy relevance;
- a rebuttal to an article previously published in the journal; or
- a rejoinder to an article appearing in the same issue (generally, commentaries that react to current subject matter are submitted at the request of the editor).
3. Research briefs
Research briefs report results that are of significant and archival value, but are more limited in scope and length than a research paper. This category is used for preliminary reports where the results are not yet fully developed, or for a study of a small size but that would be of interest to scholars. Research briefs also undergo full peer review and are usually around 4,000–5,000 words.
4. The Margaret Chase Smith Essay
The essay in honor of Senator Margaret Chase Smith should express an idea or perspective about public affairs, our society, or the world. The essay reflects the informed perspective of the author and often is challenging or provocative. Essays have covered such topics as education, civil society, campaign reform, climate change, and welfare policy. They can address the future as well as assess recent events or public policies.
Essays are usually short (800-1,200 words), are written in plain English and the use of references or footnotes should be avoided. They are similar in style and purpose to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. In fact, occasionally the essay is a reprint from these or other national publications.
Most Margaret Chase Smith essays are published by invitation. However, writers interested in submitting a Margaret Chase Smith Essay are encouraged to contact the editor to discuss their proposal.
Use of AI Tools
MPR prides itself on being a forum for an exchange of information between subject specialists and policymakers, state and municipal leaders, and the interested general public. Therefore, the journal discourages the use of AI tools (large language models [LLMs]) by authors when they are writing their submissions. The use of an AI tool to improve readability and grammar is acceptable, but please note that MPR editors copyedit all submissions thoroughly for conformation to MPR style and tone guidelines.
We expect honesty and transparency from our authors and ask that any use of an LLM to help with writing be fully documented in the cover letter and methods section. Please include the tool name and a description of the prompt. Authors need to take full accountability for accuracy and completeness of the AI-generated text and citations. Fair warning: AI invents references all the time, adds faulty DOIs to citations, and sounds supremely confident even when it is incorrect. Honestly, it seems a lot easier to do the writing yourself.
Stylistic Considerations
All submissions should be written with a general audience, not a technical or academic audience, in mind. Authors might imagine they are addressing a member of the legislature or a government, nonprofit, or business leader in the state. Submissions should provide sufficient background on the issue so that readers can understand it, but not include cumbersome details that, while interesting to technical readers, would confuse a general audience. Avoid jargon, vague bureaucratic words, and alphabet soups of abbreviations. Define all technical terms and any abbreviations on first use. Whenever possible, provide concrete examples to clarify terms or concepts. If an abbreviation is used only once or twice, use the entire phrase.
1. Author Information
Submissions should include the author’s name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. This information should be provided for each author; however, please indicate to whom all editorial correspondence should be sent.
For articles that are accepted for publication, the journal requires a concise biographical statement (60 to 80 words) about each author that conveys his/her background in the article’s subject area.
2. Figures and Tables
Tables and figures should be included in the body of the text, in the approximate place they would appear in print. Because all figures will be recreated in the sizes and formats most appropriate for presentation in the journal, authors of accepted articles may be asked to send original data files on which the table or figure is based (e.g., an Excel data file). Please contact the editors if this is not possible or is unusually cumbersome. Also for accepted articles, please consult the editors about any maps so that they can be provided in a format suitable for editing.
3. Footnotes/Endnotes/Citing References
Maine Policy Review uses in-text citations for references, e.g., About 90 percent of Maine’s land is privately owned; the state owns 8.7 percent; and the federal government 1.8 percent (Hagen et al. 2005: 9). Please use the in-text citation format as shown in the example. In-text parenthetical citations sufficient for court cases, (Near v. Minnesota), simple public laws, Maine Revised Statutes, and simple urls.
If you wish to include a note that contains important material, either format it as an endnote or include it in the text in parentheses. If the note is of limited relevance to the text, then leave it out. Endnotes are numbered sequentially throughout the text and will appear at the end of the article.
4. References
Many authors include references. However, please avoid long, exhaustive reference lists that are not central to your analysis. MPR uses The Chicago Manual of Style format. Use authors’ full first names unless the original publication used only authors’ initials. For on-line sources, indicate the exact website address and the date accessed. Examples are shown below. Please provide DOIs where available.
Book:
Heinrich, Bernd. 1979. Bumblebee Economics. Harvard University Press.
Chapter in book:
Mueller, Michael P., and Deborah J. Tippins. 2012. “Citizen Science, Ecojustice, and Science Education: Rethinking an Education from Nowhere.” In Second International Handbook of Science Education, edited by B.J. Fraser, K. Tobin, and C.J. McRobbie, 865–882. Springer.
Journal article:
Thompson, Cameron, Teresa R. Johnson, and Samuel Hanes. 2016. “Vulnerability of Fishing Communities Undergoing Gentrification.” Journal of Rural Studies 45:165–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.03.008
Government/institution report:
Taylor, Davis, Rob Brown, Jonah Fertig, Noemi Giszpenc, Kate Harris, and Ahri Tallon. 2016. Cooperatives Build a Better Maine. Cooperative Development Institute.
News release
BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics). 2023. “Employee Benefits in the United States—March 2023.” News release, September 21. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs2.toc.htm
Paper presented at meeting
TallBear, Kim. 2020. “A Sharpening of the Already-Present: An Indigenous Reading of Settler Apocalypse—2020. rdquo; Presented at the Humanities on the Brink: Energy, Environment, Emergency, July 23, 2020.
Source accessed from a website:
CBPP (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). 2024. “Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go?rdquo; Policy Basics. https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go
5. Headings
We prefer no more than two levels of heads within the text, but will accept three levels if necessary.
6. Abstracts and keywords
Articles should include an abstract of no more than 150 words and up to five (5) keywords.
7. Permissions
If a figure, table, or more than 100 words of text from previously published material are included in the article, then the author must obtain written permission to use it from the copyright holder.
Submission Format
All submissions should be in electronic format
The text should be in Microsoft Word (*.doc) or Rich Text (*.rtf) format. You may use character formatting, that is, formatting you can do on single characters or words (e.g., bold, italics, indentations), but do not use your word-processing program’s auto-reference placement feature.
Editorial Review
Submissions to Maine Policy Review are subject to editorial review. The journal employs a double-blind method of review that involves expert (peer) as well as practitioner assessment of the article’s quality, policy relevance, and suitability for a general audience. Authors can expect to hear from the editor within three months of the date of submission as to whether the article has been accepted for publication.
Authors should expect to make revisions to their original submissions. Typically the reviewers’ comments indicate additional background that should be supplied for readers, suggest details that may be unnecessary or confusing to readers, and ask for stylistic changes that conform the article to the journal’s style.
Contact Information
Articles, commentaries, and research briefs may be submitted via Digital Commons by clicking the Submit Article link on the righthand menu or via email to the editor at the address below.
Barbara Harrity, Editor
Ph: (207) 581.4133
Fx: (207) 581.1266
Email: mpr@maine.edu
Maine Policy Review
Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center
5784 York Complex, Bldg. #4
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469.5784
Updated: June 6, 2025
