Aquila: The FGCU Student Research Journal

 Style Manuals

Most students follow the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), the Modern Language Association Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (MLA), or the Chicago Manual of Style. Please check with your faculty mentor/ department to see which style is appropriate for use in your journal submission.

Although we prefer submissions formatted in one of the three above styles, Aquila accepts manuscripts in other styles as well, provided that you select a style that is appropriate for your discipline.

Aquila partners with the FGCU Writing Center to offer students help and support with citation styles.

Document formatting requirements

Formatting must be consistent and correct. Final responsibility for the journal submission lies with the author(s); however, the Editorial Board will assist authors in this task.

• Typeface and Size (Font)
  • Place all body text in 12-point Times New Roman font.
  • Use italics for textual emphasis; do not use bold or underlining.
• Text Spacing
  • Double-space all text
• Paragraph Spacing
  • Indicate paragraph breaks in one of two ways:
  • Indent first line .5”, using the tab key or paragraph format, OR
  • Align paragraph left, with no indent, and add an extra space between paragraphs
• Margins
  • Use 1 inch margins on all sides.
• Headings
  • Headings and sub-headings within the text are optional. Headings and sub-headings must be easy to identify and must follow a clear hierarchy. Make each heading stand out from the body of the text, either with extra spacing, boldface, a larger font, or some combination of these elements. Follow the heading guidelines provided in the style manual of your discipline.
• Page Numbers
  • All pages must be clearly numbered. Page numbering should follow the guidelines provided in the style manual of your discipline.
• Tables and Figures
  • All tables and figures (photographs, charts, diagrams, graphs, maps, and other illustrative material) must follow the format of the approved style manual being used. Tables must have a “clean” format and be consistent in size and style throughout the document.
  • Place tables and figures within the submission as close as possible to the parts of text they supplement, OR collect them into an appendix.
  • Do not interrupt a sentence to place a table/ figure: Place it at the end of a sentence.
  • Do not break up tables if they will fit on one page; move them to the next page.
  • Label each table/figure as “Table” or “Figure” and number them consecutively, with Arabic numbers, throughout the text and appendices.
  • Issue each table/figure both a name and descriptive title.
  • Figures (photographs, charts, diagrams, graphs, maps, and other illustrative material) must be submitted as separate files in an appropriate format, such as JPEG or TIF, in high resolution (at least 300 dpi). Please contact Aquila if you have any questions.
• Hyperlinks
  • Do not use hyperlinks in your text. Include web addresses in your list of references or works cited if they are required to cite a source, but do not create hyperlinks to these web addresses.

All students submitting to Aquila must work with a faculty mentor. Faculty mentors provide the first round of review for Aquila, as their approval of your research is essential for proceeding further with the peer-review process.

Aquila publishes scholarly projects in all fields of study covered at FGCU. If a faculty member works in the discipline at FGCU, you can publish scholarship in this area in Aquila. While we do not publish creative work such as poems, plays, short stories, and artworks, we do publish scholarly research that assisted in the creation of these works. Students interested in publishing their creative works should consult Mangrove Review, FGCU’s poetry, prose and art magazine.

Only Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to submit manuscripts to Aquila.  Students must have completed the submitted work while enrolled as a student at FGCU, and they may submit their research for publication within six months after graduating. 

Aquila will consider no more than one paper per student within an academic year. Group papers and projects are accepted, and students may have contributed to multiple group project submissions as long as the lead author is not the same student. 

A student author or faculty mentor may withdraw a submission at any point up to the final review. The Editorial Board may withdraw a submission at any time before publication.

 Materials Required for Submission:

• Article Manuscript: Manuscripts have to be in Word document (*.doc or *.docx) or in Rich Text Format (*.rtf). Manuscripts are typically between 3,000 and 6,000 words. Short Communications (typically between 1,000 - 2,000 words) will also be considered for publication. Please note that article formats vary by discipline. Most contain sections for Introductions, Methodology, Results/Expected Results, and Discussion/Conclusion, but you should contact your faculty mentor for guidance before you start writing. Note: If your manuscript needs approval from the Institutional Review Board, please ask your mentor how to get that approval. Human / Animal studies without prior approvals will not be published.
• Abstract: A brief summary of a research article to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose and conclusions. Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words, and should include 
• Author Biography: 75 words (maximum).
• Author Agreement and Mentor Approval Form: Authors & mentors are required to fill out and sign all sections of the Author Agreement and Mentor Approval Form.
• Writer's Checklist: Authors are required to have their submissions reviewed for consistency and clarity by the FGCU Writing Center and to submit the signed Writer's Checklist together with their manuscript.

Submission Process

All required materials as an email attachment to aquilafgcu@gmail.com. Please see Aquila Style Guide (above) for more information on formatting of text and illustrations.