Style Sheet and Guide to Authors

General Points

Contributions should be clearly typed in double spacing leaving a wide (c. 2 inch) margin at the left hand side of the page for editorial marking. Three copies should be submitted and contributors should retain a copy for proof-reading purposes (there is no need to send a disk with your initial submission). A short 150 word summary should accompany each submission. In general authors should adhere to the usages and conventions in Fowler's Modern English Usage (second revised edition, Oxford, 1968), which should be consulted for all questions not covered in these notes. Please note that manuscripts can only be returned if postage is prepaid.

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Word-Processors

The publishers would like to encourage those contributors who have access to a word-processor or disc based computer to send a floppy disc once the manuscript is accepted. We have technology to convert most diskettes directly into typeset form. The machine operating systems that are easiest to access are MSDOS and Microsoft Windows (IBM-compatibles), and we can also read many other formats including Apple Macintosh and Amstrad PCW. Typesetting direct from your disc speeds up publication and reduces proof-reading. Always specify the machine type, operating system and word-processing program.

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Despatch of accepted manuscripts by Email

The other method that authors may prefer is to email the text of an article (once it has been accepted for publication) in native wordprocessor format (retaining italics, accents, superscripts, footnotes etc.). Please do not use this method to submit manuscripts for review.
There are two alternative ways to do this:
  1. Save the file as RTF (Rich Text Format) and send this as an ordinary (ascii) email (LaTex documents can also be sent as ascii email);

    2. or
  2. Most email programs have a MIME facility to encode and send binary files, such as ``insert file'', or ``transmit from file''. We can handle most standard PC and Mac programs this way. Send all such messages to hpt@exeter.ac.uk
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Text

  1. Quotations of more than six lines should be indented and double spaced. For shorter quotations use single inverted commas. All references should appear as footnotes. Use square brackets for interpolations; use three dots to indicate the omission of material within a quotation. Original spelling and punctuation should be retained unless otherwise stated.
  2. Capitals should be used sparingly. Capitalize proper names and substantives where they refer to particular individuals. Thus, ``the King fled to Dover'', but ``kings do not habitually depart in haste''; ``The Parliament refused to be threatened'', but ``parliaments are malleable''.
  3. Dates and numbers should take the following form. For dates the form is, ``14 July 1789''. Write ``seventeenth century'', not ``C17th''. Numbers under 100 should be spelled out, apart from page numbers, dates and month, or where they occur as part of a series. The second or subsequent number of a pair or series may be abbreviated as appropriate, thus, 253-6, and 254-61.
  4. Italics, abbreviations. Use italics for non-naturalised words of foreign origin. Thus Weltanschauung but elite. Omit full stops from common abbreviations and acronyms, thus, MP, USA.
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Footnotes

Footnotes should be typed separately at the end of the text in double spacing. Numbering should be consecutive throughout the article.
  1. References to books should take the following form for the first reference: J.P. Sommerville, Politics and Ideology in England (London and New York, 1986), pp.120-6, and subsequently: Sommerville, Politics and Ideology, p. 140.
  2. Reference to articles should take the following form: Q.Skinner, `The Ideological Context of Hobbes's Political Thought', The Historical Journal, IX (1966) pp. 286-317, p.2 90, and subsequently: Skinner, `Ideological Context', p. 290.
  3. Use Ibid. only to refer to the preceding footnote and taking care to avoid any ambiguity. In all other cases use the name and short title; do not use op. cit.
  4. MSS sources, Tracts, Ephemera. Where such material is quoted the standard catalogue number (e.g. Wing) should be given, or the source library's accession or reference code, thus, The Afflicted Man's out-cry (1653), British Library, E711 (7).
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Articles for publication and books for review (pre-1600)

These should be sent to: Professor Janet Coleman,
Department of Government,
The London School of Economics and Political Science,
Houghton Street,
London WC2A 2AE,
UK.

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Articles for publication and books for review (post-1600)

These should be sent to:
Professor Iain Hampsher-Monk,
History of Political Thought
Department of Politics,
University of Exeter,
Exeter EX4 4RY,
UK.
hpt@exeter.ac.uk

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Subscriptions, and all matters relating to circulation, advertising etc.

These should be addressed to: Imprint Academic,
PO Box No. 1,
Thorverton,
Exeter EX5 5YX,
UK.
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1392 841600.
sandra@imprint.co.uk
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