General Writing Guidelines
1. Audience
The International Studies Compendium Project will be the most comprehensive reference work of its kind for the field of international relations. It will be an indispensable source, informing about the state of the art in international studies research around the world.
This is an international compendium. All essays should be written from an international point of view. Except for a few that are explicitly country- or region-specific, essays should give an overview of the state of the art in international studies worldwide.
2. Main Text
The contribution should be in English using US spelling and punctuation. For guidance, refer to The Chicago Manual of Style (2003) and Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (1995) or www.merriam-webster.com (dictionary and thesaurus). The page should be set up with margins of 1 inch on all sides. Use Times New Roman characters and 12-point size throughout (except for the title, which should be in 14-point size). Section headings, sub-section headings, and sub-sub-section headings should all be in 12-point size. Insert page numbers, centered at the bottom of the page. Captions to figures and tables should be part of the main text, centered, and at the appropriate location. They should also be repeated with the tables and figures, which should be supplied in separate files. DOUBLE-SPACE ALL MATERIAL, including quotations, references, tables, and figure captions. Essays should be submitted in Word or RTF format.
For further details, see Text Formatting Guidelines.
3. Length
Review essays may be up to 10,000 words. The word count includes the space taken up by visuals such as tables, graphs, or pictures. Please subtract 250 words from your permitted maximum word count for each visual you wish to use. The word count does not include your first 25 references, online resources and their annotations, or the mini-bio.
4. Elements of the Review Essay
Each review essay will contain eight elements:
- the title,
Note that the essay titles should have capital letters on main words; e.g. “Media Relations.”
- the author's name (exactly as you wish it to appear), affiliation in English
on a new line, and e-mail address on a new line,
IMPORTANT: As your First Draft will undertake a blind review it is essential that you EXCLUDE THE AUTHOR(S) NAME(S) FROM THE FIRST DRAFT. Please only add this to your Revised and Final Draft versions.
- a word count for the total of the main text and the reference section
(do not add 250 words per visual to this),
Example of (a), (b), and (c):
Diplomacy, Negotiation, and Foreign Policy Analysis
Mark Boyer
University of Connecticut
[email protected]
Michael Butler
Clark University
[email protected]
Word Count: 10,000 - the main text,
- a list of references,
- a list of online resources, annotated,
- acknowledgements,
- keywords, approximately ten, listed in alphabetical order,
A mini-bio is also required but it must be submitted as a separate document along with the First Draft (see below for more details).
5. Contents of the Review Essay
Begin the essay with a clear definition of the concept or introduction to the topic. The reader should be able to assess the significance and importance of the essay within the first two sentences. Each essay must include:
- major intellectual and social dimensions of the topic
- a comprehensive review of classical and older literature
- changes over time in the topic and its current treatment
- sufficient bibliographic material and links to important sources
Essays might also include:
- an assessment of future directions in research, theory, and methodology
- a critical consideration of important elements that remain unconsidered
Do not conclude your review with a summary. Compendium essays do not require formal conclusions.
6. Points of Particular Relevance to the Compendium Style
Compendium review essays should be written in a simple and straightforward style. Here are further style-related guidelines for authors:
- Avoid gendered language.
- Avoid use of the first person pronoun.
- Do not use rhetorical questions.
7. Headings
Divide your contribution into a number of sections starting after the “Introduction.” All headings should have no more than 100 characters (including spaces) and be flushed left, with capital letters starting all main words. Major headings should be given in bold. Sub-headings should be given in italics. If sub-sub-headings are used, they should be given in plain text. There should be no more than three levels.
For further details, see Text Formatting Guidelines.
8. Illustrations
In some essays it will make sense to illustrate major findings, models, or examples of what the text speaks about by tables, figures, or other kinds of illustrations. In general, we recommend adding illustrations. Number all tables in one sequence, and all figures in a separate sequence. Refer to them all, e.g. “(see Figure 1)” or “Table 1 shows.”
For further details, see Illustration Guidelines.
9. References
The Harvard (author-date) system is the preferred style at Blackwell. All references should be listed alphabetically by author's last name. Fairly full but incidental mentions of well-known texts, like “Hans Morgenthau's Politics Among Nations,” may be used without a reference entry. Authors should aim to include approximately 25 references. The first 25 references do not count as part of the 10,000-word limit. Subsequent references do.
For further details, see Text Formatting Guidelines.
10. Online Resources
In the electronic version, titled International Studies Online (ISO), the review essays will be enhanced with live links to archives, datasets, cases, pedagogical aids, and other relevant materials that reflect ongoing research in the field. With this in mind, please list between 5 and 10 online resources relevant to your review essay by title, noting website addresses (see Text Formatting Guidelines). Annotate each of these sources in a few short sentences. The title, address, and annotation should run to about 50 words.
11. Acknowledgments
Include any acknowledgments in a few sentences following the main text, under a heading “Acknowledgments.”
12. Keywords
Please provide up to 10 keywords in alphabetical order.
13. Mini-Bio
Please provide a 3-4-sentence mini-biography as a separate document, giving your name in the same form as at the start of your essay, your title, your affiliation, and any noteworthy publications or achievements. Note that the mini-bios will not be included in the word count. If there are multiple authors writing the essay, the lead author is required to include mini-bios for all of the authors within one document. Authors will be required to upload their mini-bio at the point of uploading the first draft of their review essay at the author submission website.
