Policies | CSUMB Writing Waves Journal | Student Journals | California State University, Monterey Bay
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Policies

Contents

Policy Statement

We at Writing Waves want to emphasize academic and ethical integrity in finding and presenting the work of the CSUMB student body. We will not accept any submissions that demonstrate plagiarism, artificial intelligence, or any concerning material that violates CSUMB policies. We reserve the right to reject any works that illustrate such.

The following policies emphasize what will and will not be accepted by the Writing Waves team. General rules and guidelines regarding all aspects of work done with the Writing Waves team are as follows.

General Submission Rules

  • Submissions will be submitted at writingwaves@csumb.edu.
  • Only one submission per person, and may be anonymous if desired (name and title is needed for internal use).
  • Submissions may be any genre of writing (research, narrative, creative, etc.)
  • Submissions are accepted all through the fall semester and will be published the following spring at the end of the semester for first years submitting an academic writing project.
  • Submissions will continue to be accepted until March 25 for Multimedia Works and Creative Writing (ex: pictures, videos, audio, comics…) for all grade levels.
  • Submitted articles must not have been published previously elsewhere.
  • Revisions from the editors will take place during the spring semester - be on the lookout for emails from Writing Waves.
  • Submitters must be willing to work with editors throughout the semester to revise and edit their piece multiple times.
  • Submissions will go through at least two rounds of revisions.
  • Submitters will have the chance to confirm the final copy of their submissions before it is published.

Rules for Working with Writing Waves

When working with Writing Waves, we hope to create a friendly environment for those who choose to work with us. We will uphold transparency in our decision-making and potential edits made to submissions.
  • Communication from authors verifying interest in publishing must be received within three to five academic days upon initial email.
  • The Writing Waves team will give one academic week to receive responses to proposed edits (exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis with proper notice).
  • Finalized edits must be completed by the end of week 11 (April 13th).

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Formatting Requirements

Writing Waves requires the following as format requirements:

    Writing Waves requires the following as format requirements:
  • All pieces should follow a consistent style and format (MLA, APA, etc.) If sources are used, the author must have in-text citations and a corresponding Works Cited page in either MLA or APA.
  • Written works must be submitted with a shareable Google Docs link Digital art, video, and other forms of media must be a PDF or JPEG

    • It is understood that the current state of technology of Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) has no guarantees that PDF documents will work perfectly with all possible hardware and software configurations that readers may have.

    It is understood that the current state of technology of Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) is such that there are no, and can be no, guarantees that documents in PDF will work perfectly with all possible hardware and software configurations that readers may have.

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    Rights for Authors and Digital Commons @ CSUMB

    As further described in our submission agreement (the Submission Agreement), in consideration for publication of the article, the authors assign to Digital Commons @ CSUMB all copyright in the article, subject to the expansive personal--use exceptions described below.

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    For Students Interested in Becoming Involved with Writing Waves

    Interested in becoming an author for Writing Waves? While submissions are accepted year-round, the majority of submissions used for Writing Waves will come from submissions submitted during the Fall semester to be used the following semester.

    Interested in becoming apart of the Writing Waves editorial team? While submissions are accepted year-round, the class needed to be apart of the Writing Waves team is not. It is a course offered to upper-division students during the Spring semester.

    For more information on either topic or any general Digital Commons @ CSUMB questions please send them to Cody Jay Roberts (M.A) at codroberts@csumb.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.

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    Attribution and Usage Policies

    Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the article or any material therein, in any medium as permitted by a personal-use exemption or by written agreement of Digital Commons @ CSUMB, requires credit to Digital Commons @ CSUMB as copyright holder (e.g., Digital Commons @ CSUMB © 2025).

    Personal-use Exceptions

    The following uses are always permitted to the author(s) and do not require further permission from Digital Commons @ CSUMB provided the author does not alter the format or content of the articles, including the copyright notification:

    • Storage and back-up of the article on the author's computer(s) and digital media (e.g., diskettes, back-up servers, Zip disks, etc.), provided that the article stored on these computers and media is not readily accessible by persons other than the author(s);
    • Posting of the article on the author(s) personal website, provided that the website is non-commercial;
    • Posting of the article on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment (e.g., a Phrenology professor at the University of Southern North Dakota can have her article appear in the University of Southern North Dakota's Department of Phrenology online publication series); and
    • Posting of the article on a non-commercial course website for a course being taught by the author at the university or college employing the author.

    People seeking an exception, or who have questions about use, should contact the editors.

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    General Terms and Conditions of Use

    Users of the Digital Commons @ CSUMB website and/or software agree not to misuse the Digital Commons @ CSUMB service or software in any way.

    The failure of Digital Commons @ CSUMB to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between Digital Commons @ CSUMB and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.


    AI (Artificial Intelligence) Policy

    We at Writing Waves reserve the right to refuse publishing works that demonstrate the use of generative AI. Prior to being sent to the editorial team, all submissions will have been passed through an AI detector as a preventative measure. While the use of AI as a tool to assist the creator is acceptable, AI that generates content rather than transcribing or editing content will not be accepted.

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