The Vickers MG Collection & Research Association is excited to share our plans for a new annual journal: Zero Post.
We want to capture the great research related to the Vickers Machine Gun undertaken by our members, followers, patrons and those interested in the Vickers. Containing a mix of academic research articles, notes, correspondence, and reviews, Zero Post will be published each winter and will contain a review of the VMGCRA’s activities each year as well as submissions from whoever wants to submit something related to the Vickers MG.
We hope to be able to offer an opportunity for all to author something, be they inexperienced or prolific: it just has to relate to the Vickers in some way or another. A small team from the VMGCRA will lead the editing and review process as well as coaching those who may not have written recently or at all.
Read on for more information.
We are looking for different types of articles to be included in the Journal. Outlines of those are:
Research Articles
6,000 to 8,000 words including references, tables and footnotes. These should be an in-depth study of a subject and will be subject to peer review as well as editorial scrunity.
Research Notes
3,000 to 4,000 words including references, tables and footnotes. Perhaps an ongoing piece of work for some data that’s been collated and analysed but not yet finalised. These will be subject to peer review as well as editorial scrunity.
Correspondence
1,000 to 2,000 words in total. These should be referenced (as should all writing) but may not be as heavily evidenced as the articles and notes. They could be an idea, theory of other hypothesis that has yet to be researched. They could also be personal profiles of a machine gunner or related individual, such as one of the engineering team or a related inventor.
Review
500 to 800 words reviewing a product such as a book but maybe some other media where the Vickers features (films or video games even). If an item has been gifted in return for a review, this must be mentioned to the editorial team as part of the submission.
It may also be a review of an item such as something from the VMGCRA’s own collection or perhaps a photo analysis similar to that published by the Association (they should be free of copyright if photos are used).
Authors’ Guide
There’s little to write here other than we expect submissions to be in English and should be submitted in Microsoft Word (so they can be easily edited but other software may be considered if necessary). All work should be that of the authors and artificial intelligence tools must not be used to generate content. Any images or other content must be legally suitable for inclusion (meaning the authors hold the copyright or the requisite permissions to use).
Please use the Modern Humanities Research Association style guide for guidance on formatting and referencing. All works should be referenced where needed. Any queries or further advice can be sought from the editorial team once a proposal is submitted.
By submitted an article to the Journal, you agree not to publish it anywhere else at the same time without agreement from the editorial team.
It’s our intent that the Journal will be Open Access and we are currently developing the author publishing agreements that reflect this. This website will host the online version of the Journal.
Timeline
This is ambitious for 2023! It will be more relaxed in 2024.
- August – launch
- September – proposals
- End of October – drafts submitted
- November – review
- December – setting and publication
- January 2024 – it’s out there!
Submit your proposal
It doesn’t have to be fully formed, just let us know what you’re thinking.
The Team
Rich Fisher
Rich is the Research Director for the VMGCRA and is a Research Fellow for a university specialising in postgraduate education and his area of expertise is historic analysis. As a supervisor for many masters-level students, he is happy to support people writing their first articles and really wants to encourage the non-traditional authors to puts their research and often years of work on the page.
Matt Moss
Matt is the Media Officer for the VMGCRA and is the editor and assistant editor for several defence publications. He has written his own material for Osprey Publishing (on the Sterling SMG and the PIAT). He is a regular contributor to Armax: The Journal of Contemporary Arms.
Dave Voisey
The Education Officer for the VMGCRA. Dave is a secondary school history teacher with an MA in Military History. A regular historic rifle shooter as well giving him some unique insights into education and the sport. He also wants to encourage and coach the inexperienced authors to put their ‘pen to paper’ and share their knowledge.
Matt Yates
Creative Director for the VMGCRA, Matt brings his many years of graphics design and artistic experience to the journal to ensure we have a professional publication that everybody involved will be proud of. Matt has his own interests in the use of the military glider and runs The CHALK Collection and has previously edited related journals.
