Updated May 2026
You have wonderful stories to tell about your genealogy research and ancestors in W.I.S.E. countries (Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and England). We can hardly wait to learn from you!
Submission deadlines
January 15
April 15
July 15
October 15
Publication dates
February 15
May 15
August 15
November 15
(The editor reserves the right to publish a day or two earlier or later.)
Instructions to Authors
Topics
The editors will consider, for example, research articles, your DNA “travels,” memoirs, book reviews, word histories, recipes, items of historical interest, and more. Articles should have a direct link to our W.I.S.E. countries and ancestors.
Article Length and Format
Articles should be a maximum of eight pages (when in Arial font, 11 point, 1.15 spacing) or 2,500 to 3,000 words. Add one space (not two) after each sentence (period). The editor may break long articles into several parts to be published across multiple issues.
Instead of footnotes and endnotes, provide a Works Used listing at the end of the article. More about that below.
Images
Please attach images separately from your (Microsoft) Word document in the JPEG/JPG (at least 300 dpi) or PNG format. In your Word document, indicate where your pictures should be placed.
Provide a caption and a citation for each image, separate from the image, in your Word document.
Provide images from your personal collections (family photos or pictures you took when you visited W.I.S.E. countries) whenever possible. Avoid using images that you found online–unless you can show that the image is free for public use (Creative Commons license). You may use images in the public domain from Wikimedia Creative Commons, Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash, etc. Please provide the links and full citations.
Sources
As you write your article, identify the source of your information. Provide the author’s name or the title of the document (For example, UK researcher Don Smith says that …). Your reference will direct readers to your Works Used section at the end of your article (more about that below). Do not add URLs to the body of your text unless you are encouraging readers to visit a particular URL to conduct research.
When you quote from a source, name the source and put quotation marks around the author’s exact words. When you paraphrase, share a source’s ideas in your own words, and name the source in your sentence. Do not use quotation marks for paraphrased ideas and facts. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/quoting_paraphrasing_and_summarizing/paraphrasing.html
Please do not use AI (Artificial Intelligence) to write your stories. We want to read your story in your words. AI can give you helpful grammar advice, as does Grammarly.com (a free download for your computer).
Works Used
At the end of your article, you will list all the resources you consulted, in alphabetical order.
In each Works Used entry, the following elements are generally included, so provide as many of the following items as you can find. We can adjust the format, if necessary.
1. Author(s) or editor(s)
2. Title of source (book, article name, etc.)
3. Location and publisher (e.g., Maryland: Penguin Publishing) for books; website name (e.g. Ancestry) for online sources.
4. Publication date
5. Access date
Here are some examples:
Books
1. Lloyd, John Edward. A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest. New York: Longmans, Green and Co, 1911; republished by Legare Street Press, 2022.
2. Davies, John. A History of Wales. Maryland: Penguin Books, 1993.
3. Stevenson, Robert Louis, et al. Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses. New York: Longmans, Green and Company. Republished 1993.
Websites
(Date of access or last update date is needed if information on the website could change. This includes sites such as encyclopedias, blogs, and news articles):
1. “Kings and Princes of Wales.” Historic UK, Historic U.K., 22 Oct. 2025, www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/Kings-Princes-of-Wales/.
2. Britannica Editors. “Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Dec. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Llywelyn-ap-Gruffudd, accessed 22 January 2026.
3. Wikipedia. “Chicago Manual of Style.” Last modified March 27, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Manual_of_Style.
Print Articles
1. “Business: Global Warming’s Boom Town; Tourism in Greenland.” The Economist, 24 May 2007, p. 82.
Interviews
1. Bellum, Sarah. Interview. 29 March 2026.
How to Cite AI (Artificial Intelligence) Images
Example for Works Used OR as a caption under the image
AI-generated image of a 19th-century Illinois farm, created by the author using ChatGPT (DALL·E), 2025.
Errors and Omissions
W.I.S.E. Words is not responsible for errors and omissions in submitted and published articles. Authors should carefully research and cite matters of fact. The editor may or may not fact-check an author’s assertions. The editor may ask authors to cite facts that lack citations.
Republication of a W.I.S.E. Words Article
If an author chooses to republish an article that has appeared in an issue of W.I.S.E. Words, please get in touch with the editor at editor@wise-fhs.org so we can be aware that the article is being republished. Be sure to cite the original publication (W.I.S.E. Words) this way:
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2023 issue of the quarterly publication of W.I.S.E. Family History Society, W.I.S.E. Words, https://wise-fhs.org.
Republication of an article that originally appeared in another publication
If all or part of the submitted article has appeared in another publication at any time, the author must provide:
- The name of the publication, date, volume, issue, URL, and contact information. Please contact the publisher for permission before submitting your article to W.I.S.E. Words.
The editor and board reserve the right to reject any submission for any reason, as well as the right to request the writer to revise even major parts of their article.
Enjoy your researching and writing. Submit your questions and/or articles to editor@wise-fhs.org.