‘Universalist’ is published twice a year – in the spring and the autumn. All members of QUG receive these copies free.
Also, in the summer, QUG members receive the pamphlet following the annual conference (whether they attend the conference or not).
The Editor welcomes written contributions from QUG members and others interested in universalism. The contents of the magazine reflect the views and ideas of the contributors, and are not necessarily representative of the QUG as a whole, nor of the editor.
Copyright remains with the author of each article, but articles are published on the understanding that, in order to reach a wider readership, they have been sent with prior permission for copying in other publications when requested and at the discretion of the Editor.
Electronic copy should be sent to the Editor at contact@qug.org.uk
If you are submitting articles for the journal please follow the guidelines below.
Checklist Guidelines for contributions to QUG Publications.
This checklist applies to all submissions to the Universalist journal including articles, reviews, and letters to the editor. It also applies to QUG pamphlets.
Please only send us your contribution when you are sure that you wish to submit it for consideration for the journal and for print. If a new draft of an article you have already sent us is received near/on the deadline we may not publish it in the next journal due to time constraints.
Articles submitted to us are not always published. In some cases the publications team may consider them unsuitable for any of our publications. If this is the case, we will let you know and give you our reasons.
Also, if we do accept an article, we are unable to guarantee that we will publish it in the next edition. This might be because the edition is at capacity (we sometimes restrict the weight of the printed copy), or because the publications team may think the article would fit better in a future edition. We would let you know about this.
When reviewing your piece of writing before submitting it to QUG Publications please keep in mind the following.
Articles, reviews or other pieces need to be on Word documents only.
Writing in an inclusive way. No jargon or abbreviations (or explaining these in the notes section if needing to use them). Therefore, writing for the non-expert, and not assuming the readers’ experience of the topic.
Easy to read: Wherever possible, please use short sentences and concise paragraphs.
Please spell and grammar check.
Before you submit your article, we would be very grateful if you could use either Word’s Editor function to spell and grammar check or do this manually if you prefer. This will save volunteer readers’ or editors’ time in checking your article for basic corrections. Please make sure you use two spaces after a full stop.
References: if something you write about isn’t taken from your direct experience, or you are quoting someone else, please reference the person, book, website, etc. This is useful for the reader who may want to research the topic further but also, we hope, maintains QUG Publications as a credible, trusted source.
Guide for referencing:
In your text, if you are referencing a book or other source please put a number in brackets at the end of the sentence e.g.: (1).
Here is an example from an article by David Jenkins in the Spring 26 edition:
…delivering strong emotional connotations earlier in human evolution rather than the precise denotations of specific words. (1)
Followed at the end of the article with a reference list:
References
- Cognitive Crescendo: how music shapes the brain’s structure and function. C Toader et al. Brain Sciences 2023; 13: 1390
- Mediaeval Bodies. J Hartnell. Profile Books 2018
- Musicophilia O Sacks. Picador, London 2007
- The transformative power of music: insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. MT Zaatar. Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity-health. 2024; 35: 100716
- Neuroscience of music. Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org
- Meditation-induced Effects on whole-brain structural and effective connectivity E De Filippi. Brain Structure and Function 2022; 227: 2087
Guide for notes/bibliography/further reading lists:
A bibliography may be added for books or other sources that have informed your article but which you haven’t directly referenced or quoted. Alternatively, you could have a ‘further reading list’ to help the reader learn more about the subject of your article. Your reading list, if you have one, would also be listed at the end of the article. A notes section can be added for anything you want the reader to know about the article. These sections are all optional.
Links to websites: if you include any links, please put these in the notes section at the end of the article or in references if you are quoting a website or web page.
Universalist Article length: up to3,500 words
QUG pamphlet length: this will be decided by the editing team in consultation with the author on a case-by-case basis.
Review template. If you are reviewing a book, film or other experience here are some additional guidelines.
Please start your review with:
Author (and translator) Title (italics)
Publisher, date of publication
Reviewed by _____ (italics)
Review length: 300 – 500 words.
For all contributions:
Please provide us with a short bio of yourself. Even if you write for us regularly, we like one to be submitted each time, for our new readers. Please keep it to 60 words.