Submissions

Author Guidelines

Authors are invited to make a submission to this journal. All submissions will be assessed by an editor to determine whether they meet the aims and scope of this journal. Those considered to be a good fit will be sent for peer review before determining whether they will be accepted or rejected.

Before making a submission, authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any material included with the submission, such as photos, documents and datasets. All authors identified on the submission must consent to be identified as an author. Where appropriate, research should be approved by an appropriate ethics committee in accordance with the legal requirements of the study's country.

An editor may desk reject a submission if it does not meet minimum standards of quality. Before submitting, please ensure that the study design and research argument are structured and articulated properly. The title should be concise and the abstract should be able to stand on its own. This will increase the likelihood of reviewers agreeing to review the paper. When you're satisfied that your submission meets this standard, please follow the checklist below to prepare your submission.

General notes

● Manuscripts should be submitted using our Google Form in Word or RTF formats.
● To ensure anonymity, the author’s or authors’ name (s) should not appear on the
manuscript (including in metadata).
● Make sure to write in accessible and concise prose, in the active voice. Avoid excessive use
of jargon. Use gender-neutral language.

Formatting

● Double-space text in Calibri or Arial, except for quotes of five lines or more which should be
indented on both sides and single-spaced.
● 11-point font.
● Number the pages.
● Up to two levels of subheadings may be used. These should be flush to the left and
capitalization should be restricted to the first word and any proper nouns.
● Footnotes should be kept to a minimum and only be used to expand or comment upon points
in the main body of the text.
● When quoting directly, single quotation marks should be used. Any quotations over four lines
in length should remove their quotation marks and be indented (0.5 of an inch at both the left
and right margins).
● Use [square brackets] for alterations of direct quotes, explanations, translation of foreign
terms, or corrections. 
● Tables and illustrations should be submitted in the text. Graph and diagrams (illustrations)
must be in a form suitable for reproduction without retouching. If possible, attach the images with the highest possible quality within the specific section of the submission form.
● Include a bibliography formatted in the Harvard style at the end of your article.

Spelling

● Political Perspectives follows spelling as set out by the Oxford English Dictionary. Use -ize for
verbal endings (e.g. "realize"), unless they correctly end in -ise (e.g. "advertise", "exercise"). Note
the spelling for "analyse" (English spelling) is preferred.
● For non-English words, use indigenous spelling wherever possible.
● Punctuation/Spacing: Single space only after all punctuation (full points, commas, colons,
semi-colons, closing parenthesis). Initials should be spaced: "A. J. Smith", not "A.J.Smith".
● Abbreviations and acronyms: they should be spelt out at first occurrence and referred to in
their abbreviated form from then onwards. 
● Use full points after abbreviations (e.g., i.e., etc.) but not after units of measurement or
contractions (kg vols eds).
● Use minimum capitalisation for all headings; i.e., only use capitals for the first letter and
proper nouns (‘The title of the article’ not ‘The Title of the Article’).
● Numbers: spell out numbers (whether ordinal or cardinal) below 100, round numbers and at
the beginning of sentences. Exceptions: a series of numbers appearing close together;
numbers giving exact measurements or with abbreviated units of measurement such as 7 kg,
15.8mm; phrases involving hundreds, thousands, millions, etc. where round numbers are
given (e.g. two hundred, fifteen thousand); per cent (not percent); use % only in tables.
● Dates: use the style, January 7, 1958. Use 1930s, not thirties, 30s or ’30s.

Referencing

Political Perspectives uses the Harvard referencing system. For more information on how to make citations and references using this style, please access the University of Manchester's referencing guide.