---
name: ci-submission
description: Use when running the final pre-submission preflight for Critical Inquiry (CI) via Editorial Manager — format selection, the 9,500-word limit (including discursive notes and all bibliographical information), Microsoft Word manuscript, Chicago (17th ed.) footnotes with no works-cited list, separate 300 ppi JPEG/TIFF images with author-secured permissions, and the no-simultaneous-submission rule. Final checks; it does not draft content.
---

# Submission Preflight (ci-submission)

The last check before pressing submit on **Editorial Manager** (`editorialmanager.com/ci/`). CI's most
common avoidable failures are a manuscript over the **9,500-word** cap (because notes were not counted)
and images that are embedded, low-resolution, or uncleared. Verify volatile specifics on the official
page before relying on them.

## When to trigger

- "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
- Unsure which files / format Editorial Manager expects
- Confirming the chosen format's cap is met and images are prepared correctly

## Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)

- **Publisher:** University of Chicago Press (journal founded 1974).
- **Portal:** **Editorial Manager** (`editorialmanager.com/ci/`); special-issue proposals may go to
  `cisubmissions[at]gmail.com`.
- **Review model:** peer-reviewed; reviewed by the **editors-in-chief in consultation with the
  editorial team**.
- **Formats & caps:** **Article ≤ 9,500 words** (**includes discursive notes and all bibliographical
  information**); **Critical Response ≤ 3,000 words**; **Review ≤ 500 words**.
- **Manuscript file:** **Microsoft Word**.
- **Citations:** **Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed.** footnotes, numbered consecutively; **no
  works-cited list** (待核实 on 17th vs 18th ed.).
- **Images:** **separate 300 ppi JPEG/TIFF** files, not embedded; **author secures permissions** before
  publication.
- **Multiple submission:** **not accepted** — not under consideration elsewhere.
- **Fee:** **no submission fee** stated; optional **Gold open access** APC (待核实 on amount/eligibility).
- **Abstract:** none specified in the guidelines (待核实).

## Preflight checklist

### Format & length
- [ ] Format chosen and its cap met (Article ≤ 9,500 / Response ≤ 3,000 / Review ≤ 500)
- [ ] Word count **includes discursive notes and all bibliographical information**
- [ ] Manuscript is a **Microsoft Word** file

### Citations & apparatus
- [ ] Chicago (17th ed.) **footnotes**, numbered consecutively; **no works-cited list**
- [ ] Notes are lean enough to stay within the word cap

### Images & permissions
- [ ] Images as **separate 300 ppi JPEG/TIFF** files (not embedded), with caption + **credit line**
- [ ] **Permissions secured** by the author for all published images

### Policy & files
- [ ] **Not** submitted simultaneously elsewhere
- [ ] Original work; manuscript appropriate to CI's interdisciplinary remit
- [ ] Special-issue proposal routed correctly (if applicable)

## Anti-patterns

- Forgetting that notes count — a body-only count under 9,500 but a total over it
- Embedding images, supplying low-resolution files, or leaving permissions uncleared
- Adding a works-cited list or using author-date instead of footnotes
- Submitting to CI and another journal at once
- Budgeting for a submission fee that is not charged


## Submission readiness pass for Critical Inquiry

Use this as a second-pass capability check. First lock the object, theoretical stakes, interpretive turn, and permission/citation discipline; then test whether the manuscript addresses humanities reviewers who expect a strong interpretive intervention rather than an empirical-results narrative.

- **Primary move:** Verify portal, article type, anonymity, declarations, files, data/code, and current source-map facts; return blockers before formatting advice.
- **Decision ledger:** return `claim / evidence / blocker / next edit` rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
- **Neighbor test:** compare against PMLA for literary-field reach, New Literary History for theory/history, Representations for historically grounded cultural analysis; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
- **Verification floor:** before submission-ready advice, re-open `resources/official-source-map.md` for volatile rules and name the one unresolved fact that could change the recommendation.

## Output format

```
【Format】Article / Response / Review (cap met incl. notes? Y/N)
【Word count】total incl. notes + all bibliographical info
【Citations】Chicago 17th footnotes, no works-cited list? [Y/N]
【Manuscript file】Microsoft Word? [Y/N]
【Images】separate 300 ppi JPEG/TIFF + permissions? [Y/N]
【Single submission】not elsewhere? [Y/N]
【Next】await decision → ci-revision-and-response
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — portal, file formats, image specs, Chicago tooling
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — official CI URLs behind every fact in this pack