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SUBJECT MATTER

TDR is about performance in its many aspects: theatre, dance, music, performance art, film, video, rituals, play, sports, performance in everyday life, etc.—the broad spectrum of performance. We publish theory, analyses of individual artists or groups, accounts of particular performances, in-depth book reviews, performance texts, and manifestos. We are inclusive, intercultural, interdisciplinary, and progressive. We publish on the contemporary and the historical. We seek writing about experimental performances, and performances with political or social relevance from all over the world. The best way to measure TDR's scope is to read recent issues.

SUBMISSIONS

Please include on the first page of your submission:

Author Name
Author Affiliation
Author Email

Articles, Abstracts, and Images:

Submit through ScholarOne: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tdr-journal.

Upload your article and abstract as a Microsoft Word document in 12 pt Courier New font, double spaced.
Abstracts should be 70-100 word summaries, with no "in this article" or "the author address..." language.

Manuscript

TDR uses US American spelling and Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) except where otherwise specified. We use in-text parenthetical citations with a corresponding author-date reference list.

Art / Images

Send as much art as you can so that we can make a selection. Images should have a minimum of 300 dpi and sized at a minimum of 5x7 inches. Line art should have between 800 and 1200 dpi sized at a minimum of 5x7 inches. Scan color images twice, once in color and once in black and white. Save files as jpeg or tiff files. Fully caption and credit all artwork. Captions should always include photographer or photo credit, and may include a brief description or comment relating the image to the article. When including a production image, captions should include title, date, and venues; names of performers, directors, and/or authors:

1. From left: Shirley Cheecho, Alejandro Ronceria, Gloria Miguel in Son of Ayash (1991) by Jim Morris, directed by Raoul Trujillo at the Native Canadian Centre. (Photo by Greg Staats)

Clips

If you can get permission from the rights holders, TDR can embed short clips in your article. This will augment your “thick descriptions” of performances.

Capitalization: Ethnic and national groups and associated adjectives, as per Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., section 8.38. For black, white, and other identifiers, we will use lowercase unless you specify otherwise.

Commas: Use serial commas before “and”: apples, oranges, and grapes.

Dashes: Use computer-generated N and M dashes if possible. Otherwise use two hyphens for N dashes, three hyphens for M dashes.

Dates: Day month year (no commas): 1 September 1992. Spell out months: January 1984. Decades: In the 1960s; the ’60s; 20th century.

Ellipses: Bracket ellipses that indicate author’s or editor’s deletion [...]; please generate ellipses manually (not auto-correct).

Endnotes: Use computer-generated endnotes only. Although TDR converts them to footnotes in the published article, endnotes are used during the editing process. Place endnotes before references (a continuous section break in MS Word is the easiest way to do this).

Font: Courier New, 12 pt. We do not superscript abbreviations (e.g., “20th” not “20^th”).

Gender: We do not universalize masculine pronouns. Except where descriptively appropriate, use gender-neutral nouns. Use preferred pronouns for all people discussed in the article. Where gender is not specified, use they/them/their for third person singular.

Indents: Please indent paragraphs .5 inches – no spaces or tabs.

Interviews: The last name of the speaker in all caps followed by a colon:
JONES: I said...

Italics: Use computer-generated italics, no underlines (see Titles).

Margins: 1 inch on all sides with a 1/2 inch header and footer. Check that your page setup is for a US Letter page (8.5 x 11 inches).

Non-English Words and Proper Names: Italicize non-English words on first use only. We rely on authors for accurate use of diacriticals; they must be computer-generated. For non-English language productions, give the title of the production first, then parenthetically in English: Maitu Njugira (Mother Sing for Me, 1981). In certain cases, TDR uses non-Roman character displays. Indicate where you recommend this.

Numbers: Spell out numbers from one to nine. Use numerals for numbers 10 and higher.

Quotations: Use smart, not straight quote marks (“quote” not "quote"). Use double quote marks for quotes and single quote marks for a quote within a quote.

References and Citations: For citations within the text, use the author-date system: (Miller 1993:143–45) or (Miller 1993) or (see Miller 1993). Place references after endnotes at the end of document. Please do not put references within footnote section. References are for cited works only. List multiple sources by one author chronologically. See below list for examples:

Anthology

MacGregor, Robert. 1966. “Further Entries for a Chronology.” In Stanislavsky and America, ed. Erica Munk, 178–81. New York: Hill and Wang.

Book

Brown, Wendy. 2023. Nihilistic Times: Thinking with Max Weber. Harvard University Press.

Journal Article

Santana, Dora Silva. 2019. “Mais Viva!: Reassembling Transness, Blackness, and Feminism.” TSQ: Transgender Studies
Quarterly 6 (2):210–22. doi.org/10.1215/23289252-7348496

Newspaper Article

Stearns, David Patrick. 1991. “Bending Genders.” USA Today, 14 August: D1–2.

Online sources (please supply shortened URLs whenever possible)

AfroCubaWeb.com. 1997. “Operation Northwoods.” AfroCubaWeb.com. Accessed 14 October 2019. http://www.afrocubaweb.com/news/northwoods/northwoods.htm .

Sundaram, Ravi. 1997. “Beyond the Nationalist Panopticon.” MediaCity. Accessed 17 July 2020. http://www.sarai.net/mediacity/newmedia/newmedia.htm .

Please note : Social media sources are listed under the name of the poster with posted date and accessed date. For example:

TwinsthenewTrend. 2020. “FIRST TIME HEARING Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight REACTION.” YouTube, 27 July. Accessed 20 August 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l3-iufiywU

kpopbroadway. 2022. “Our eyes are on the prize of another magnificent week on Broadway!” Instagram, 4 December. Accessed 30 March 2022. https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwY9q9OEZr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Original publication date (please include where works have been reprinted)

In citation:

(Murdoch [1892] 1897)

In reference:

Murdoch, John. (1892) 1897. Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Same Year/Same Author; Interview; Personal correspondence

Manet, Eduardo. 1991a. Interview with author. Paris, 21 May.

Manet, Eduardo. 1991b. Personal correspondence, 2 October.

Sound

Strasberg, Lee. 1956–1969. The Actors Studio Sound Recording No. 339A, Madison: Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Spacing: Double-space all text, including endnotes, extracts, and reference lists. Type only one letter space after periods and colons. No space after colon in citations: (Hartman 1997:65

Titles: Italicize books, performances, operas, movies, TV and radio programs, paintings, sculptures, dances, and epic poems. In quotation marks: articles, unpublished works, TV and radio episodes, poems, and songs. Follow first mention of any performance or artwork with a date.

Copyright

The policy of TDR is that authors (or in some cases their employers) retain copyright and grant New York University a licence to publish their work. In the case of gold open access articles this is a non-exclusive licence. Authors must complete and return an author publishing agreement form as soon as their article has been accepted for publication; the journal is unable to publish the article without this. Please download the appropriate publishing agreement here.

For open access articles, the form also sets out the Creative Commons licence under which the article is made available to end users: a fundamental principle of open access is that content should not simply be accessible but should also be freely re-usable. Articles will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY) by default. This means that the article is freely available to read, copy and redistribute, and can also be adapted (users can “remix, transform, and build upon” the work) for any commercial or non-commercial purpose, as long as proper attribution is given. Authors can, in the publishing agreement form, choose a different kind of Creative Commons license (including those prohibiting non-commercial and derivative use) if they prefer.

Please remember to:

- Double space manuscript

- Submit Microsoft Word doc

- Use Courier New 12 pt font

- Use TDR style referencing

- Include author name, email, and affiliation on first page of manuscript

Thank You!

The submission review process may take 3 to 4 months. Please contact our office with any questions. We look forward to receiving your submission. —TDR Editorial Staff