Article Selection

We invite submissions of short papers and research reviews, notes on practice, methods, policies as well as book or film reviews.

Articles submitted must be original and not published or submitted for publication in other media (including websites, electronic newsletters, or other print publications). We favour articles with a strong policy framework and context, containing clear methodologies pertaining to studies and research, and providing critical reflection or lessons for planning practice. Authors are encouraged to reflect urban and rural interests and the diversity of the Canadian context recognizing the varied cultures, societies, geographies, economies.

Authors can expect a three-month time frame for initial review of submitted material and will be notified if their submission is rejected, accepted as is, or accepted conditionally with revisions. All conditionally accepted articles will be returned to authors, along with comments and advice regarding any revisions required to render it suitable for publication.

Space in Plan Canada is limited and the best submissions and those that adhere to the Author Guidelines will have the best chance of being selected for publication.

Author Guidelines

All articles should be submitted electronically to: Julia Waterer, Managing Editor, Kelman & Associates at julia@kelman.ca.

Word count: Article length should be 700-1,400 words (excluding graphics and tables). Plan Canada also welcomes research-based articles and will allow for extended content of between 1,500 and 3,000 words.

References and citations: Plan Canada uses Chicago Style (please see this link for examples).

Content: The Editorial Committee and the publisher ultimately determine all content for publication. They reserve the right to reject any submission and to edit all submissions for length and content (including the removal of inappropriate or inaccurate information).

Article summary: Submissions must be accompanied by a one-paragraph summary not exceeding 100 words.

Author’s biography: Authors will be identified by name in the byline, and a short (one or two-sentence) biography will be included at the end of the article indicating title, company or academic institution, credentials, and professional affiliation as relevant to the subject of the article. Please submit this information with your article, also including an email address for reader correspondence.

Authors’ responsibilities: Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all information, references and attributions contained in any submissions. References should be footnoted and appear in their complete form at the end of the article. Authors making submissions for publication in Plan Canada must attach a completed Waiver Form for Authors. You must acknowledge your understanding of Plan Canada‘s Official Language Policy when making a submission.

References: Plan Canada is a periodical for Canadian profession planners and those interested in planning matters. While the publication is part magazine and part journal, it is not a scholarly journal. As such, the number of references and citations should be minimized. Authors should consider whether to include a section “For further reading” or a list of key references instead of extensive citing of references.

Sending text files: All text should be submitted in MS Word format. With the exception of suggested bold and italic formatting, do not apply complex formatting (columns, inserts, text boxes, headers etc.). Do not embed photos, tables, etc. in the article text; images should be sent as separate file attachments with notations in the text for preferred placement of images. Please name your file using the convention:

AuthorLastName_ShortTitle_Type_Date.doc (or .docx). Finally, be sure to include your name and contact information within the file itself, as it may become separated from the details of your submission.

Images: Authors are asked to submit images to accompany their articles, and to obtain clearances of copyright involving photos, graphics, tables, etc.; without confirmation of such permission, the image cannot be published. Confirmation of clearances and permissions must be submitted with the respective images. Photos and graphics should be submitted in TIFF, JPEG, or EPS formats at a minimum resolution of 300 DPI in their largest possible sizes. Images taken from websites will not be accepted.

Review process: The Plan Canada Editorial Committee reviews all articles submitted for publication. At least two members of the Committee will provide feedback, which will be communicated to the author.

Style Guide

This short style guide combines recommendations from the Globe and Mail style guide and practical advice from the former editors of the Ontario Planning Journal. Everything after “punctuation” is listed alphabetically.

Punctuation

A classic example of the misuse of punctuation was famously captured by author Lynn Truss:

“A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

“Why?” asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife annual and tosses it over his shoulder.

“I’m a panda,” he says, at the door. “Look it up.”

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

“Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”

― Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

Punctuation is probably the most difficult area to offer guidance. When in doubt, ensure that your punctuation choices are consistent within the article. Although ”experts” may offer different advice on the niceties of punctuation, the Globe and Mail style guide says it best:

“The goal of punctuation is to help readers read what writers write.”

Punctuation for Bulleted Lists

There are two types:

The first, which begins with a grammatically incomplete sentence, uses semi-colons. The list concludes with a period. As in:

The planner advised that the municipality:

• Take steps to improve its policies;
• Institute reforms to increase participation;
• Hold talks with the public.

(Don’t put “and” at the end of the second-last item.)

The second type begins with a complete sentence. As in:

The planner advised the municipality to revise its policies:

• The improved policies should be posted in both official languages.
• Increased participation will inevitably increase municipal costs.

Apostrophes

One week’s notice. Two weeks’ notice.

• Form the possessive with ‘s, and that includes names that end in “s”: King Charles’s Coronation.
• Never confuse “its” (possessive) and “it’s” (contraction).

Abbreviations

Spell out the name of an organization, followed by the initials in brackets: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Use Statistics Canada in the first reference, Statscan after that or in headline.

Do not introduce initialisms that will not be used elsewhere in the article. Re-introduce an initialism if it is separated from its first use by a couple of pages or more. Try to avoid two-letter examples such as DCs for development charges.

The Globe and Mail style guide suggests that some sets of initials are so well known that they do not need to spelled out: CBC, TSN, CNN, MP or RCMP.  This approach can also be taken for Plan Canada readers, so in most instances it is okay to refer to CIP rather than bog down the sentence by spelling out Canadian Institute of Planners. Our preference when referring to CMHC or CIP is to leave off the article, as in “CIP is dedicated to …”

When used as an adjective, B.C., P.E.I. and U.S. may be used in the first reference without the need to spell out later.

When listing provinces or cities as nouns, present the list in geographic order (west to east) as in, “British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Quebec.”

Etc. for et cetera.  Avoid if possible. Instead, use “such as” in front of one or more examples. Spell out “for example” instead of e.g.

Capital Letters

Only capitalize things like Official Community Plan when referring to a specific city (e.g. The Waterloo Official Plan….)  Otherwise use lower case (for example, All official plans in the province…).

Another example where consistency is beneficial is to know when to capitalize “government.” In most cases, the expectation is that government refers to either the federal or provincial government. Lower “orders of government” such as municipalities should be referred to as either “municipal” or “city’ sources.”

Use lower case for “city” unless referring to a specific place (e.g. the City of Montreal).

As our readership is Canadian, it isn’t always necessary to spell out British Columbia. So it is appropriate to say B.C.  (see abbreviations). Also, if it fits the context, it is also okay to use N.W.T. instead of spelling out North West Territories.

Exclamation Points

Use sparingly. Better yet, omit entirely.

Gender-neutral Language

Firefighters (not firemen), police officers (not policemen), and so on. Shouldn’t need saying, but it still pops up here and there. Use plurals so that the pronoun “their” sounds natural: rather than “each participant submitted their comments” say something like “all the participants submitted their comments.” See also: https://www.un.org/en/gender-inclusive-language/guidelines.shtml.

Honorifics

• Mr. Ms. Dr.
• References to individuals with earned doctorates (PhDs) can be identified as “Dr. Jones” if that the author’s preference.

Hyphens (and Contractions)

Examples: free-trade agreement. Open-ended argument. Mixed-use building. Well-being.

But NO hyphen in “vice president” or “past president.”

Also, use a hyphen when vowels are involved: Co-operate. Re-enact. Re-educate.

Also, terms like “place making” are often contracted to “placemaking.” The same with “database.”

Italics

Needed for the titles of books, newspapers, movies and plays; legislation (acts, but not bills); ships; scientific nomenclature for species (E. coli); and so on.

Numbers

• Spell out numbers nine and under.
• An example of when to mix words and numerals: 18 cows, 20 chickens and three horses.
• For large numbers, A $90-million budget, but otherwise no hyphen if simply stating an amount. Spell out at the start of a sentence. Ninety million dollars.
• Use figures if a number is part of a name. Ward 5.  Highway 2.
• Dates: January 1, 2024. Put a comma after the year if the sentence continues. If only a month and year are given, do not separate them with a comma. No apostrophes in decades: the 1990s.

Parentheses

Use rounded brackets for incidental thoughts: She worked for the province (in a department that was actively involved in misleading the public) for more than five years. Use square brackets for quotations within a quoted passage, as in [sic].

In conversation, most people say “the data is clear.” Although ‘data’ is the plural of ‘datum,’ it can seem jarring to write ‘and the data are…’ The Globe and Mail style guide suggests substituting numbers wherever possible. If you do use ‘data,’ aim for consistency within your article.

Percentages

The Globe style is to use “per cent” as two words. The single word “percent” is an American usage.

• 77 per cent.
• But “percentage points.”
• The symbol % should only be used in graphs or tabs or in a figure, although when paragraphs contain a lot of references to “percentage,” the symbol can be used to help the reader focus on the message.

Politically-correct Language

• There are rules about referring to other races and Indigenous peoples (or First Nations).
• If in doubt, check with  https://jhr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/JHR2017-Style-Book-Indigenous-People.pdf.

Quotation Marks

• Take care to close a quotation once you have opened it.
• Place periods or commas inside quotation marks (e.g. “Planning policies should be bullet proof,” the Director suggested.)
• Semi-colons and colons remain outside the quotation marks.

Spelling

The challenge is that settings in Word often default to American spelling, but changing your settings to UK spelling won’t work either because many words are spelled differently in Canada. Although not always reliable, there is actually a Canadian setting in Word.

Our experience is that the Globe and Mail is the most reliable guide: Labour, program, criticize, centre, organize, storeys (for buildings), Councillors (with two l’s). But, enterprise.

Also, important to use the correct version of “principle” – as in “these policies are based on sound principles.”  Do not use as an adjective.  “Principal” refers to “the most important or consequential something or other.”  (Also “school principals are working to rule…”

References

 References must be in the following format: superscripted numbers for each reference (full citation listed for the first instance of an author, and last name only for subsequent references to the same) corresponding to a numbered endnote, using author-date style.

Example:

By the effect of backlighting, one can observe from the tower, standing out precisely against the light, the small captive shadows in the cells of the periphery.¹

Endnotes:

1. Foucault, Michel, and Alan Sheridan. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Penguin, 1977.

Cite journal articles like this, no DOI needed.

MacDonald, Susan Peck. “The Erasure of Language.” College Composition and Communication 58, no. 4 (2007): 585-625.