Notes for Contributors - Arms & Armour

Arms and Armour welcomes original contributions that match the aims and scope of the journal (as described on the inside front cover) on the understanding that their contents have not previously been published or are currently submitted for publication elsewhere. All submissions will be sent to independent referees. It is a condition of publication that papers become the copyright of the Trustees of the Armouries and an assignment form will be circulated with proofs. These notes are intended as guidelines only and can be adapted if there are good reasons for following an alternative style after agreement with the managing editor. More detailed advice can be sought in Judith Butcher, Copy-editing: the Cambridge handbook for editors, authors and publishers, 3rd ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992. All editorial correspondence and manuscripts should be sent to: Managing Editor, Arms and Armour, Publications Department, Royal Armouries, Leeds LS10 1LT, UK. Email: publications@armouries.org.uk.

Approval round

All manuscripts submitted for publication in Arms and Armour are subject to a reviewing process. Generally this involves the manuscript being read by the Academic Editor and a member(s) of the Editorial Board.

It is helpful for scheduling if copy ready for approval is passed to the Publications Department first, in hard copy form clearly marked DRAFT. The Managing Editor will then ensure that the relevant people read the material, and will pass the material back to you for any amendments needed or queries to be resolved. You should then supply the final text on disk (in Word) and in hard copy to the Managing Editor.

Length

Articles should be no more than 8,000 words in length including abstract and notes and references.

Presentation and Style        

Two complete copies should be submitted printed double-spaced with ample margins. All pages should be numbered: the first page should state only the title of the paper, name(s) of the author(s) and, for each author, a short institutional affiliation, and an abbreviated title (for running headlines within the article). At the bottom of the page give the full name and address to which all correspondence, including proofs, should be sent.

Abstracts and keywords

Each article for the journal should be accompanied by an abstract (150 words) and a short list of key words (5-10) for indexing purposes, which are printed at the head of the article.

Manuscript preparation/ Submission on disk

It is assumed that the manuscript will be prepared using a word processor. On notification by the Managing Editor that a paper has been accepted, a final version of the article should be submitted on disk with accompanying print outs. Submission on disk will help to improve typographical accuracy and may accelerate publication. The filename and software must be indicated on the disk, ideally PC formatted files in Word for Windows should be used. For ease of editing, it is recommended that minimum formatting is used on the disk; do not use the auto-hyphenation tool or automatic numbering and do not justify the text on the page. Much effort spent in lining up headings, or spacing lists, etc., is lost once the typesetting process begins, so you can save yourself time by avoiding formatting by use of tabs, spaces, etc. Please do not use excessive character formatting; for example, use superscripts and subscripts only where essential, e.g., for expressions such as H2O, mm2, endnotes25, etc. but not 17th century. Italic and bold may be used in the file, but if they are not clear on the printout use a straight underline for italic and a wavy underline for bold on the hard copy. Consistency in spacing, punctuation, and spelling will be of help. Tables should be submitted as separate files and keyed horizontally from left to right using a tab between columns, not the space bar (or keyed in Table mode in Word). Please provide a print out for each. 

Endnotes should be typed separately at the end of the text, or in a separate file. Do not use editing tools such as automatic foot- or endnote routines from the word-processor package since these have to be stripped out manually at the typesetting stage.

Illustrations

These should be supplied separately, with a separate list of captions, including credit for permission to reproduce.  In the text there should be a reference for each figure (see figure 1, etc.). 

Originals should be supplied as large format transparency for colour reproduction (at the Editor's discretion), or, for black and white illustration, a glossy black and white print at least 6" x 8" should be supplied. If new artwork is to be generated for line drawings, a clear rough diagram should be supplied. 

Digital images: Scanned images should be supplied on disk with files clearly labelled and with accompanying hard copy printout. All images should be supplied as Tiff or EPS files.  Colour should be scanned at a minimum input scanning resolution of 300 dpi; Halftones at 350/400 dpi; simple line drawings at 800 dpi and fine line at 1200 dpi.

Permissions and copyright

If permission is required to reproduce illustrations this will need to be obtained before including the illustration in the work. Please refer to the Managing Editor if you have any queries about illustrations.

Editorial points

Headings: three levels of heading usually suffice. These may be indicated by separate styles on the electronic file. For Arms and Armour the heading levels are, range left: bold for main sub-headings; italic for secondary subheadings; and roman for 3rd level headings. Use minimal capitals, i.e., for first word and proper names only. 

Spellings: the suffix -ize should be used in preference to -ise with the usual exceptions. Note that -yse must be used in preference to -yze. In general, follow the Oxford English Dictionary.

Preferred spellings: judgement, focused, connection, medieval, encyclopedia, biased, archaeology, artefact, coat of arms.

Foreign words should be italicized unless they are in regular English use (e.g., elite, regime, etc. without accents). Chinese words should be transliterated using pinyin if possible. Please indicate 'ain or hamza where relevant for Arabic words.

Apostrophes: use James's, etc. except for classical names, such as Augustus'.

Quotation marks: use single quotation marks reserving double for quoted words within a quotation.

Hyphenation: keep hyphens to a minimum, using them where ambiguity may arise. For example, wheellock, flintlock, etc. Note the following: a 19th-century gun but in the 19th century; adjectives ending in -ly do not normally require hyphenation: newly built museum. Words should not be hyphenated at the end of a line.

Capitalization: in general avoid using too many capitals. Distinguish between, for example, conservative and Conservative. Use capitals for titles only when referring to individuals: the Duke of York but the sport of kings. Use lower case for geographic references unless they are political units: the south-west of the country but South-East Asia. References to figures and chapters should use lower case: see figure 1, in chapter 3, etc. For battles use lower case b, as in battle of Naseby, but use capitals for major wars, e.g., World War I, English Civil Wars.

Italic: this should be reserved for foreign words and titles of newspapers, books, journals, plays, films and the names of ships. Occasional use for emphasis is acceptable, but can be distracting for the reader if used too often.

Abbreviations: use without full stops, e.g., RN, USA, etc. Plurals do not require apostrophes: MPs, RMLs. Initials do not require full stops: John P Doe. If the abbreviation is a contraction, no full stop is needed: Dr, St, Ltd, eds,  but if the termination is omitted use a stop: e.g., i.e., ed., anon. Use fol. and fols for folio(s) and MS(S) for manuscript(s). Provide a list of abbreviations if necessary.

Dates: Use the style 23 July 1863 (in detailed narrative 'on the 9th'), i.e., no commas; the 19th century (not the nineteenth century); 1920s ('the twenties' if the context makes it clear which century); BC follows the date, AD precedes it (note the use of small capitals). Periods BC should be written in full: 150-145 BC, but elide ad dates: 1821-5; 1821-34; 1891-1902 (NB dates in the teens are not elided for clarity: 1816-17). Use 1643/4 when necessary.

Numbers: generally numbers one to twenty should be spelt out, for larger numbers use numerals. Use common sense in applying this rule: nineteen to 23 is clearly not acceptable. Do not start sentences with figures. Use figures with units (6 km) and for cross-references. Percentages are normally given in figures, 10 per cent, (reserve % for tables, figures, etc.) unless they are infrequent when ten per cent may be better. Use a comma for large numbers: 1,300 and 13,000 (but use two million or 2 m). Elide numbers as for dates.

Units: it is difficult to provide sensible guidelines for units used in books on arms and armour; in general, use metric units unless the measurement has an historical context, such as 6" gun. In general, provided that it is unambiguous, hyphens should be omitted from such expressions since it is usually quite clear what is meant. Imperial or metric equivalents may be given if this is useful. Use SI abbreviations and units: mm, m, km (not cm), g, kg (not gm, kgm, etc.). Abbreviated units do not change in the plural: 3 lb, 4 km.

Quotations: it is assumed that these are supplied as quoted, so any style points in the original are retained. Glosses should be added in square brackets in italic [sic], [author's italics]. Quotations over 50 words will be treated as extracts, i.e., indented from the main text. Single inverted commas should be used for short quotations which run-on in the text.

Latin words/phrases: should be avoided unless they are very well known or apposite. Use about, not circa. Avoid ibid., op. cit., etc. Ideally use 'for example' and 'that is' in text, reserving the Latin abbreviations for notes, tables, etc.

Special symbols: please make a list of any special symbols that you have used; these may pose setting problems. It is helpful if these are marked by highlighter pen on the printout.

Inscriptions, signatures, etc.: many of the articles forming the subject of Royal Armouries publications have inscriptions or other textual matter on them. The convention for setting these is to use small capitals: REGERE SEIPSUM/SUMMA EST SA/PIENTIA; these should be typed on the manuscript in small capitals or lower case with single quotation marks so they can be identified, with forward slash showing breaks, spelling as it appears.

Notes and references

Notes: if these are essential they should be supplied at the end of the article. They will be set as endnotes. Please do not use footnote or endnote facilities in your word-processor, but type in the notes at the end of the relevant section. Within the text, notes should be indicated by a superscript arabic numeral. Notes should only be used if they contain substantive information that cannot sensibly be incorporated in the text. 

References: the author-date system is used for reference with in the text. A single reference list can then be provided at the end of the text, and notes can often be avoided. The reference should be given in brackets, with page numbers shown after a colon: (Partington 1960: 33). Where the author's name is mentioned in the text use the date only. If there is more than one author they should be shown in the order in which they appear in the original reference and separated by an ampersand (Smith & Jones 1973). If there is more than one author with a given surname, use the initials (H Smith 1973).

The date given should be the date of the edition used; the edition number should be given in the full reference.

If there is more than one reference by an author in a year, order them alphabetically by title and designate them a, b, etc. (Parnell 1993a).

Show all authors in the references but in text use et al. in italics with full stop, for more than two authors.

Book references: full book references are given at the end of the article following any endnotes. Ideally place of publication and the publisher should be given, but the minimum requirement is for place of publication. Book titles are set in italics, using minimum capitals, i.e., for first word and proper nouns only. Royal Armouries style shows authors in a bold face, with no terminal stop. Where relevant show volume number after the title. Only the first author is inverted as Williams, A.

Marsden, E W 1969 Greek and Roman artillery: historical development. Oxford, Oxford University Press

Williams, A and A de Reuck 1995 The Royal Armoury at Greenwich 1515-1649; a history of its technology. Royal Armouries Monograph 4. London, Royal Armouries

Wilson, G M 1994 European crossbows: a survey by Josef Alm. Translated by H Bartlett Wells. Royal Armouries Monograph 3. London, Royal Armouries

Maitland, W 1739 History of London, from its foundation to the present time. Vol. 1, London

Museum catalogues: without specified authors the museum name should be shown as author.

Journal articles: the journal title should be shown in full in italic and the volume number in bold. Page ranges must be supplied. The volume number should be shown as it appears on the relevant volume. 

Searle, A 1967 Sir Thomas Barrington in London, 1640-44. Essex Journal II: 35-41

Edited volumes: page ranges must be supplied

North, A 1989 From rapier to smallsword. In Michael D Coe et al., Swords and hilt weapons. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London: 58-71

Manuscript and official records: these may require special treatment, depending on the subject area and the frequency of the references. Refer to the Managing Editor for advice.

Offprints        

Twenty-five offprints are supplied free of charge to article contributors, to be shared between co-authors. Additional offprints and single copies of the issue may be ordered from the publisher using the form enclosed with proofs. Offprints are sent approximately three weeks after publication of the journal issue.

Proofs        

Proofs will be sent to the author nominated for correspondence, by airmail if outside the UK. Proofs are supplied for checking and making essential typographical corrections, not for general revision, alteration, or changes to illustrations, which will not be allowed. Proofs must be returned to the Managing Editor at the Royal Armouries within 7 days of receipt.

Book reviews

If publishers wish to submit suitable books for review please send copies and full publication details to the Managing Editor at the Royal Armouries.

If you have any further queries please refer to:

Managing Editor, Arms and Armour, Publications Department, Royal Armouries, Leeds LS10 1LT, UK or email publications@armouries.org.uk