Please note that postmedieval’s style guidelines have changed significantly as of Volume 13 (2022). Articles published in previous issues will not be a reliable model for our current house style. Please also note that postmedieval only accepts original submissions from authors. We cannot publish material that has previously been published elsewhere. If you have any questions about this, please contact postmedievalED@gmail.com. You can download our style guide here. 

Word count

Most postmedieval articles fall between 6,000 and 9,000 words (including notes and references), but these are not strict limits. For articles of exceptional brevity or length, please consult with the editors. 

Referencing Style

Chicago Author-Date (See sample citations below. For further documentation, consult https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html.) 

Again, use of Chicago Author-Date is new as of 2022. It entails numerous changes; two of particular prominence are that (a) authors’ first names (not just initials) are now included in reference entries, and (b) no comma is used between author and date in parenthetical citations. 

For more details about Chicago Author-date citations, please see the final part of this style guide and Chapter 15 of The Chicago Manual of Style. (Please contact us if you do not have access to Chapter 15 of The Chicago Manual of Style.)

Author-Date Citation of Primary Sources

For manuscripts and archival material,  the in-text citation should include the name of the author (if appropriate), the location, a shortened version of the name of the library/archive, shelfmark, and (if appropriate) folio number and line number.  The bibliography should include the name of the author and the title of the  work (if appropriate), the shelfmark, name of the library/archive, and location. Examples:

In-text citation: (Al-Bisṭāmī, Paris, BnF MS Arabe 6520, fol. 16v)

Bibliography: Al-Bisṭāmī, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān, Al-fawāʾiḥ al-miskiyya. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de la France, MS Arabe 6520.

In-text citation: (Salisbury, Salisbury Cathedral Archives, FG/1/1, fol. 403r, ln. 4)

Bibliography: Avebury Parish Meeting Records, 1641-3. Salisbury, Salisbury Cathedral Archives, FG/1/1. 

In the bibliography, manuscripts and archival material are separated from edited sources and precede the list of edited sources. This list can be titled ‘Unedited Sources’. 

With regards to abbreviations, authors should remember that our readership issues from diverse disciplines and working languages, so it's always best to write or edit with a generalist reader in mind. We recommend using the full title of works when possible, as this is much easier to follow for a generalist reader. If the author does wish to use abbreviations, we recommend using the full title on the first occasion that the work is cited and indicating in the body of the article that, from now on, they will refer to the work by an abbreviation. E.g. In Quan Song shi, which I will refer to as QSS from now on,...

For a helpful guide on how to cite sources from indigenous communities, please see the Indigenous Research Guide developed by the University of Alberta in collaboration with the Situated Knowledges Indigenous Peoples and Place Project (SKIPP). 

We advise citing the premodern/early modern author where possible. If there is no premodern author/compiler to which the text is attributed, or if this attribution is disputed, authors can then opt for citing the modern editor–it is recommended to make it clear in the body of the article that the authorship of the cited text is unknown or disputed.

Quotations

Single quotation marks; double quotation marks for quotes-within-quotes. Final punctuation occurs within marks, although full stops are displaced so as to include parenthetical citations within the sentence. Examples: 

• The novel plays on commonplaces of medieval devotion: ‘Jesus lowered his eyes and said, “Like a mother I give you my breast to suck”’ (Glück 1994, 22). 

• The scene is abruptly focalized through the Vicar, who ‘saw himself twisted and crumpled forwards although he sat immobile,’ in a shift that might seem to change the rules of narrative perspective (Glück 1994, 20).

All verse quotations, and prose quotations that are longer than thirty words, are indented without quotation marks.

Notes

postmedieval uses side-notes, rather end- or footnotes. As a result, notes are strictly limited to no more than 50 words per note. Please use parenthetical in-text citations, instead of notes, whenever possible. The journal’s original motivation for employing side-notes was to lay emphasis on articles’ readability, accessibility, and essayistic style and to distinguish the journal from other, more footnote-heavy publications in medieval studies. 

Translation in text

postmedieval does not publish notes containing either original-language quotations or translations. (See previous item.) The stylistic default should be the use of Modern English translations with citations referring readers to original-language sources. For unusual or crucial phrases, it is often advisable to provide a snippet of the original language. Sometimes only a few original-language words are essential and can be incorporated parenthetically in their original script or in transliteration. The overall goal is readability. For example:

• The level tone (平 Ch: ping) is associated with the east, the spring, wood, blue green, birth, and the awakening of desire for spiritual growth (発心 Jp: hosshin).

When a quotation is employed in the body of the text, original-language words can be included in square brackets within the quotation, or in parentheses outside of the quotation. Examples:

• This finds its most well-known formulation in Ibn Sīnā’s Pointers and Reminders, where he states that ‘there is a certain relationship between enunciation [لفظ] and mental content [معنى]’.

• The treatise concludes with the assertion that the ‘Bright Mirror’ is ‘nothing other than a shining mirror in this final age, and nothing other than the heart and viscera of the path’ of sutra recitation (是則末代之明鏡也。是則此道之肝心也。).

If the translation is following a block quotation, the translation should be surrounded by square brackets. Example:

ولأن بين اللفظ والمعنى علاقة ما،

وربما أثرت أحوال فى اللفظ فى أحوال المعنى.

فلذاك يلزم المنطقي أيضاً أن يراعى جانب اللفظ المطلق من

حيث ذلك غير مقيد بلغة قوم دون قوم

[There is a certain relationship between enunciation and mental content. And the states of the enunciations may affect the states of the mental content. For this reason, the logician must also take heed with regards to absolute enunciation, since it is not defined in the language of one tribe more than another.] (Ibn Sīnā 1957, I 131; trans. my own from Arabic)

Please indicate the original language of any translated quotations, either in the body of the text, or in the citation. If the quotation is taken from an original-language source, which you have translated yourself, please indicate that you are the translator in the in-text citation by using a semicolon followed by ‘trans. my own from’. For example:

• (Latour 2023, 132; trans. my own from French)

In the bibliography, please give the full title of works in their original language, transliterated into the Latin alphabet if required. Examples:

• Ibn Khaldūn, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. 1981. Al-ʿibar wa-l-dīwān al-mubtadaʾ wa-l-khabar fī tārīkh al-ʿarab. Beirut: Dār al-fikr. 

• Latour, Bruno. 2012. Enquête sur les modes d’existence:  une anthropologie des modernes. Paris: la Découverte.

Non-Latin Writing Systems

We support non-Latin writing systems. Please insert any quotations you decide to use in their original script, without transliteration. Single words, personal names, and place names are an exception–they can be used in transliteration in a sentence. Examples:

• Arabic philological methods would help to define the concept of ṣaḥut ha-leshon, the linguistic purity of the Hebrew language. 

• Kannō, as a Buddhist term, speaks to a desired state of resonance between a believer and the divine being who is the object of belief. 

Please contact us if you have any questions about which transliteration system to use. We recognise that when working with some premodern sources, especially premodern Sinitic textual materials, not all written characters have a stable transliteration and that how to sound a written character may often be determined by context. We are happy for authors to determine what is the most contextually appropriate transliteration. 

Non-English Words

Single words or phrases in Non-English languages should be italicized, unless they are in common use in English (e.g. Quran, hadith, praxis, mise en scène). If frequently used in the article, italicize the first occurrence only. 

Oxford comma

Yes

Use of dashes

When dashes are used in a manner similar to parentheses or commas—for instance, to add an additional thought within a sentence by gently breaking away from that sentence, as we’ve done here—then please use an em-dash (the longest form of dash) not separated by spaces from its surrounding words. In Microsoft Word, one creates an em-dash by typing a word, two hyphens, another word, and then a space; the two hyphens will then turn into a correctly formatted em-dash. For more on the correct use of hyphens, en-dashes, and em-dashes, see https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/HyphensEnDashesEmDashes/faq0002.html. 

Pronouns

Our default is to use the third person plural, “they,” rather than “he or she” when gender identity is unknown. 

Social media

Much important intellectual work is carried out on social-media platforms. It should be cited whenever it contributes meaningfully to an article’s claims or analysis.

Images

Authors are responsible for obtaining high-resolution files and permissions by the time their article is ready for copyediting. For more information on the formats and resolutions that we support, please consult the page here. There is no fixed number of images allowed per article. Authors often size the images in text to show how they should be formatted. Image captions should include a description, the provenance of the image, whether the image is a detail and the credit.Please label the images as fig.1, fig. 2, and so on. In physical printing, images will be in black&white, but digital (including .pdf versions) can feature them in colour. If you have questions about images, please contact postmedievalED@gmail.com

Second language abstract

We offer authors an opportunity to include, in addition to the required article abstract in English, an abstract in another language (e.g. French, Arabic, Chinese). Abstracts are not paywalled, so we hope that this practice will make your scholarship and the issue more accessible. We do not require authors to include a second abstract - we only offer it as an option for authors who might be interested doing so.

If you would like to include a second abstract, there are a couple things to consider:

• The second abstract would need to be an exact translation of the English abstract.

• We cannot copyedit these second abstracts; all editing and proofing would need to be performed by the author or a trusted reader.

If you would like to include a second abstract, please insert it underneath the English abstract.

Ethical commitments

• postmedieval asks our authors to consider their citation practises as simultaneously reflecting and constructing authority. We evaluate submissions based in part on their breadth and depth of engagement with thinkers who represent multiple perspectives in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, able-bodiedness, discipline, and/or academic status or affiliation. There is no simple rule to guide citation, so we ask authors to be thoughtful about its politics and ethics and open to editorial dialogue about it.

• As part of our citational ethics, we uphold a policy of not citing known harassers (unless accompanied by an acknowledgement of their harassing behaviour, documented with reference to public record). While medieval studies has been and continues to be shaped by systemic forms of violence, specific individuals nonetheless have been agents of exceptional harm. The motivation behind this policy is not to hold up past thinkers to our own moral judgement but to act in the present in solidarity with those now struggling to thrive in our field, with its hierarchies and unequal vulnerabilities. As editors, we are ready to confer confidentially with authors about relevant situations and concerns; authors are not responsible for upholding this policy on their own. Sadly, many who might have made rich intellectual contributions have already been excluded from our footnotes by the damaging effects of harassing behaviour. 

• postmedieval is committed to acknowledging and respecting cultural and linguistic diversity and specificity. Authors are responsible for ensuring that all names of scholars and persons to which they refer are spelled correctly throughout. Please pay particular attention to names from cultures and writing conventions to some degree unfamiliar to you.

• postmedieval acknowledges the pervasive Latinisation of non-Western names in existing scholarly practice as well as the persuasive critiques of that practice. We recognise that it may at points be appropriate (for instance, to distinguish the influence of the Latin translations of the works of Ibn Sina under the Latinised name Avicenna). Authors are invited to engage critically with such usages, acknowledging and marking the adoption of naming conventions rather than naturalising Latinisation.

• postmedieval follows the practice of capitalising ‘Black’ and not capitalising ‘white’ when writing about race. For further guidance: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/capital-b-black-styleguide.php 

• postmedieval acknowledges and supports personal religious practice, inclusive for instance of authors who should wish to spell God ‘G-d’. It invites authors to engage respectfully with religious traditions not their own. 

If you would like clarifications on any aspect of this style guide, please write to postmedievalED@gmail.com.