Editorial Instructions

1. Please use the address replay@uni.lodz.pl to submit your paper. You can use the .rtf, .doc, or .docx formats. The paper should not be longer than 7,000 words (footnotes,references, tables, etc. included).

2. Please also include an abstract (100–150 words) and keywords (5–8) at the beginning of the paper, and a short bio at the end.

3. Main text: 12 pts, line spacing: 1,5. Footnotes: 10 pts, line spacing: 1,5. Please justify your text and use the Times New Roman font in both cases.

4. Mottos: italics, font size 10 pts, right-aligned.

5. Headings: bold, left-aligned.

6. Quotations: inverted commas, no italics.

7. Please use in-text citations rather than footnotes. When referring to translations, you may also indicate the initial publication date.

One of the most important books in the history of game research has been Homo Ludens (Huizinga, 1967/1938).

Janet Murray (1997, p. 50) presents a different opinion.

The group of researchers interested in the performative aspect of video games includes Darshana Jayemanne. Let us examine the book in which he discusses this phenomenon (Jayemanne, 2017).

If you have any doubts regarding in-text citations or the list of references, you may consult the APA style guidelines.

8. Sample literature references at the end of the paper:

Authored book

Huizinga, J. (1967/1938). Homo Ludens. Zabawa jako źródło kultury (trans. W. Wirpsza, M. Kurecka). Warszawa: Czytelnik.

Edited book

Wolf M.J.P., Perron B. (ed.). (2014). The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies. New York – London: Routledge.

Book chapter

Waern, A., Back, J. (2015). Experimental Game Design. In P. Lankoski, S. Björk (ed.), Game Research Methods: An Overview (pp. 341–353). ETC Press.

Journal article

Apperley, T. (2006). Genre and Game Studies: Toward a Critical Approach to Video Game Genres. Simulation & Gaming, 37(1), 6–23.

Online content

Gies, A. (May 13,  2015). The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Review: Off the Path. Polygon. Online: https://www.polygon.com/2015/5/13/8533059/the-witcher-3-review-wild-hunt-PC-PS4-Xbox-one (accessed on April 23, 2021).

9. Sample video game references:

Blizzard Entertainment (2004). World of Warcraft [PC, online game]. Blizzard Entertainment (played on February 12, 2021).

From Software (2015). Dark Souls III [PlayStation 3]. Namco Bandai.

Pajitnov, A. (1984). Tetris [Electronika 60].

In case of a multi-platform game, please name the platform to which the text refers.

10. Longer fragments of sources cited (more than three lines of text) should have the form of block quotations.

11. To highlight selected phrases in the text, please put them in bold.

12. In the main text, titles of books, articles, games, journals, etc. should be written in italics.

13. Whenever a last name is given for the first time in the text, please precede it with a given name.

 

Digital accessibility - alternative texts

Please include alternative descriptions for all illustrations in the journals

An alternative text is textual information about what you see in a graphic element that is relevant to the text or topic that the element illustrates. Alternative texts are read by a screen reader and allow people with blindness or vision impairment to see what is, for example, in a given graphic, photo, table and chart. Graphic elements without an alternative description will be read by the assistive software for visually impaired people as the word ‘graphic’, so they will not get any other information that this ‘graphic’ is supposed to convey.  

What should an alternative text look like?  

  • Above all, the description should be concise and succinct – try to describe the graphic as accurately as possible, doing so in the shortest possible way (the optimum length of an alternative text should not exceed 250 characters)
  • It should describe the meaning and content of the graphic element in question 
  • It should contain key information for the viewer (e.g. a repetition of the content written on the graphic, or in the case of photos, a description of the most important elements building the message: “Rector presenting the habilitation diploma to Dr Anna Kowalska”) 
  •  When creating alternative texts for charts and infographics, remember to include, in addition to the title, a summary and description of the trends resulting from the graphic. Often, due to the length and level of complexity of the data being described, it is worth including the chart description in the proper body of the text, below the graphic itself 
  • You do not need to use alternative descriptions for graphics that are purely decorative (in which case mark them as decorative by selecting the “Mark as decorative” option). Function of adding alternative description in Microsoft Word  
  • To add alternative text for graphics/charts added into a Microsoft Word document, right-click on the object and select “Format image” -> “Accessibility” -> “Alternative text”; • or “Review” -> “Check accessibility “-> “Alternative text” 
  • For graphic elements that only have a decorative function in the document, also fill in the alternative text field – instead of the content in the “Alternative text” field, tick the “Mark as decorative” option. 

 Another possible solution could be to provide a complete set of descriptions for the entire notebook in an Excel table.