Style Guide

American, British and Canadian Studies

 Guidelines for Contributors

  • Our standard is the latest (9th) edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
  • Times New Roman 12 pt, 11 pt for long quotes.
  • Line spacing 1.5.
  • Keep formatting minimal.
  • DO NOT insert page numbers, table of contents, headers and footers, or automatically generated lists of bibliography.
  • Paragraphs should be indented.
  • All Tabs: 1.27 cm / 0.5 inch.
  • Quotations longer than four lines of prose or two lines of verse should be indented by 1.27 cm, on the left side only, and separated from the main body of the text by one line.
  • Notes to the printed text should take the form of endnotes, not footnotes. Make sparing use of endnotes. Content notes only.
  • Include a list of works cited. Lists of general bibliography are unacceptable.
  • Titles of books should be in italics, as well as words singled out for emphasis, single foreign words not naturalised in English and foreign phrases.
  • No other form of emphasis (block capitals, bold, large print, etc.) should be used, and sparse use of inverted commas is recommended.
  • Quotations within the main body of the text should be in double inverted commas.
  • Words or phrases used in an unusual way, upon first appearance in that acceptation, should be in single inverted commas.
  • Quotations within quotations should be in single inverted commas.
  • Changes, or additions within quotations, are marked by square brackets, but not elisions. References and comments at the end of the quote should be in round brackets.
  • Quotations in languages other than English should be followed by an English translation, whose author should be acknowledged in a parenthetical note.
  • Spelling may follow either British or American conventions, but should be consistent.
  • The article must be accompanied by a 200-word abstract, 7-10 keywords, and a 200-word biographical note detailing the author’s affiliation, academic expertise, research interests and contact details.

Papers which do not conform will not be considered for publication!