INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

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Submission of manuscripts

Manuscripts should be submitted by e-mail to either of the Executive Editors: s.kettell@warwick.ac.uk or p.kerr@bham.ac.uk in word or odt format. The title page should be a separate file, or may be included in the covering e-mail.

In extreme circumstances we will accept paper submissions, but this may considerably delay the review of the paper. Authors should submit one copy of their article (with any original illustrations and including all references and notes) to:

  • Steven Kettell
    Department of Politics and International Studies
    University of Warwick
    Coventry
    CV4 7AL
    UK

and one copy to:

  • Peter Kerr
    Dept of Political Science & International Studies
    University of Birmingham
    Edgbaston
    Birmingham
    B15 2TT
    UK

Authors should confirm at point of submission that their article is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Articles may be rejected prior to peer review at the Editors' discretion if the subject is outside the Aims and Scope of the journal, or if the article is considered to be of insufficient quality. The final decision to publish rests with the Editors.

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Presentation of the paper

Articles should be in English, typed in double spacing (including all notes and references).

Articles will normally be between 7,000 and 12,000 words in length. Print a word count at the end of the text, together with the date of the manuscript. Provide an abstract of 150-200 words with the article, plus a list of up to 6 keywords suitable for indexing and abstracting services. Give authors' full postal and e-mail addresses as well as telephone and fax numbers.

British Politics features an innovative section entitled 'Forward Thinking' which aims to promote the very latest research and theoretical reflection from within the field. Ph.D. students are especially encouraged to submit to this section. Submissions should normally be between 4,000 and 5,000 words in length; authors are invited to contact the Executive Editors prior to making a submission to this section.

Notes

Keep textual notes to a minimum, indicate them with superscript numbers, and provide the note text as a list at the end of the article before the references. Please do not use footnotes.

References in the text

The whole citation should follow the Harvard style, enclosed within parentheses (author surname, year) if not a natural part of the surrounding sentence; the year should be enclosed within parentheses if the names do form a natural part of the surrounding sentence. Citations of works by two authors should have ‘and’ (not an ampersand) between the names. Citations of works by three or more authors should have the first author followed by et al in italics with no trailing stop.

Publications by the same author(s) in the same year should be identified with a, b, c (e.g. 2008a, 2008b) closed up to the year.

Personal communications should be listed as such where they are cited in the text, and not listed in the references.

    Example:
    Since Paterson (1983) has shown that… This is in results attained later (Kramer, 1984). Results have been reported (Don Graham, 1989, personal communication).

Articles not yet published should show ‘forthcoming’ in place of the year (in both the reference and the citation). ‘In press’ should be used in place of the volume, issue and page range details.

    Example:
    Sharp Parker, A.M. (forthcoming) Cyberterrorism: An examination of the preparedness of the North Carolina local law enforcement. Security Journal, in press.

List of References

References are placed in alphabetical order of authors. Examples of correct forms of references for alphabetical style:

Book

    Slovic, P. (2000) The Perception of Risk. London: Earthscan Publications.

Edited volume

    Nye Jr, J.S., Zelikow, P.D. and King D.C. (eds.) (1997) Why People Don’t Trust Government. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Chapter in book

    Flora, P. and Alber, J. (1981) Modernization, democratization, and the development of the welfare state. In: P. Flora and A.J. Heidenheimer (eds.) The Development of Welfare States in Europe and America. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Books, pp. 17–34.

Article in journal

    Thompson, K., Griffith, E. and Leaf, P. (1990) A historical review of the Madison model of community care. Hospital and Community PsychiatryS 41(6): 21–35.

Article in newspaper

    Webster, B. (2008) Record bonus for Network Rail chief, despite Christmas chaos. The Times, 6 June: p1.

Newspaper or magazine article (without a named author)

    Economist (2005) The mountain man and the surgeon. 24 December, pp. 24–26.

Article online

    Gardener, T. and Moffatt, J. (2007) Changing behaviours in defence acquisition: a game theory approach. Journal of the Operational Research Society, advance online publication 28 November, doi: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602476.

Other online resource

    Green Party. (2005) Greens call for attack on asylum ‘push factors’. Green Party report, 4 March, http://www.greenparty.org.uk/index.php?nav=new&n=1838, accessed 9 March 2005.

Conference proceedings

    Sapin, A. (ed.) (1985) Health and the Environment. Proceedings of the Conference on Biological Monitoring Methods for Industrial Chemicals; 30–31 March 1984, Chicago, IL. Chicago: American Toxological Association.

Conference paper

    Harley, N.H. (1981) Radon risk models. In: A.R. Knight and B. Harrad, (eds.) Indoor Air and Human Health. Proceedings of the Seventh Life Sciences Symposium; 29–31 October, Knoxville, TN. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp.69–78.

Papers/talks presented at a conference but not published

    Martin, S. (2003) An exploration of factors which have an impact on the vocal performance and vocal effectiveness of newly qualified teachers and lecturers. Paper presented at the Pan European Voice Conference; 31 August, Graz, Austria.

Dissertation/thesis

    Young, W.R. (1981) Effects of different tree species on soil properties in central New York. MSc thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Research papers/reports/working papers

    Bloom., G. et al (2005) Poverty Reduction During Democratic Transition: The Malawi Social Action Fund 1996-2001. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies. IDS Research Report no. 56.

Mimeo

    Bond, S. A., Hwang, S., Lin, Z. and Vandell, K. (2005) Marketing Period Risk in a Portfolio Context: Theory and Empirical Estimates from the UK Commercial Real Estate Market. Cambridge, UK: Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge (mimeo).

Speech

    Blair, A. (2003) Britain in the World. Speech to FCO Leadership Conference. London, 7 January.

Spelling

Use either US or UK spellings consistently throughout. For UK spellings, take as a guide the new edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors; Websters Collegiate for US spellings. UK spellings will therefore prefer -ize to -ise, as a verb ending (e.g. realize, specialize, recognize, etc.).

Illustrations and tables

Supply tables and figures on separate sheets at the end of the article, with their position within the text clearly indicated on the page where they are introduced. Provide typed captions for figures (including sources and acknowledgements) on a separate sheet. Present tables with the minimum use of horizontal rules (usually three are sufficient) and avoiding vertical rules except in matrices.

Authors are requested to follow our instructions on how to prepare and submit their figures, for more information see www.palgrave-journals.com/pal/palgrave_artwork_guidelines.pdf.

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Proofs

These are received as PDF attachments to an email to only the first (or nominated) author of a multi-authored article. Please print the PDF attachment, correct your proofs within the time period indicated and return your proofs as directed. Please make no revisions to the final, edited text, except where the copy editor has requested clarification.

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PDF

Corresponding authors will receive a PDF of their article. This PDF offprint is provided for personal use. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to pass the PDF offprint onto co-authors (if relevant) and ensure that they are aware of the conditions pertaining to its use.

The PDF must not be placed on a publicly-available website for general viewing, or otherwise distributed without seeking our permission, as this would contravene our copyright policy and potentially damage the journal’s circulation. Please visit www.palgrave-journals.com/pal/authors/rights_and_permissions.html to see our latest copyright policy.

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Clearing Permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing through any medium of communication those illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. Add your acknowledgements to the typescript, preferably in the form of an Acknowledgements section at the end of the paper. Credit the source and copyright of photographs or figures in the accompanying captions.

The journal's policy is to own copyright in all contributions. Before publication authors assign copyright to the Publishers , but retain their rights to republish this material in other works written or edited by themselves subject to full acknowledgement of the original source of publication.

The journal mandates the Copyright Clearance Center in the USA and the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK to offer centralised licensing arrangements for photocopying in their respective territories.