Information for Authors
General Information
1) Any submission must be the original work of the author that has not been published previously, as a whole or in part, either in print or electronically, or is soon to be so published.
2) The target length for an article is 8,000–10,000 words, excluding notes. Articles should not exceed 12,000 words including footnotes. If your article is longer than this, please contact the editorial office. We do on very rare occasions consider articles of more than 10,000 words for the journal, but such an article would have to be of exceptional quality and importance to justify its inclusion in the journal: the longer the piece, the higher the bar to acceptance. The number of submissions we receive increases every year, and it is getting ever more difficult to accept long pieces, so we urge authors to keep within the word limits.
We would also ask authors to note that it may take substantially longer for us to make decisions on overlong submissions.
For a Review Article, the target length is 4,000–5,000 words, plus notes.
For a Viewpoint piece, we are flexible in relation to length, but our preference is for Viewpoints to be shorter than articles: we suggest 6,000 words (plus notes) as a rough guide.
Viewpoints might also take the form of a collection of shorter pieces (c.2,000–3,000 words each) addressing a particular conceptual, historiographical or methodological problem, theme or topic. Our guideline for the maximum length of such collections is 15,000 words (inclusive of notes). We are, however, open to considering other formats and would encourage editors/authors to contact us directly with details for approval of the format before submitting.
Please provide a word count for both text and notes on the first page of the article.
3) Please supply a short (200–250 words) abstract of the article at submission.
4) Style: at submission, we ask that authors ensure that their texts are double spaced and paginated, with footnotes (not endnotes) in arabic not roman numerals. The Past and Present style guidelines can be found below. In the event of acceptance, we will ask authors to render articles according to the full style guide.
5) We hope to reach decisions on most submissions well within four months (and certainly no longer than six), and we will contact you if the refereeing process takes longer than this.
6) We now practise 'double blind' reviewing. The main text of any submission should therefore exclude the name(s) of the author(s), affiliations, and any directly personal references, as well as acknowledgements to those who have read the paper. Please also ensure that the title of the file does not include your name.
Acknowledgements and relevant citation of previous work by the author(s) can be incorporated after a paper has been accepted for publication.
We will, as far as is possible, send the readers' reports on to authors for information once a decision has been taken on a submission. These reports are sent in confidence.
7) Please bear in mind that any article in Past and Present has to be of interest, and fully accessible, to the non-specialist as well as the specialist reader, so:
- make clear what the interest of the article to the non-specialist is or may be: e.g., does it change debate on an issue, and if so, how? does it feature new data? and so on;
- keep technical/specialist expressions to a minimum and ensure that any expressions that are necessary are carefully defined;
- assume little linguistic knowledge. Avoid quotations in languages other than English; quotations from non-English sources must be translated into English (if essential, the full original text can be supplied in a footnote);
- footnote references to books or other sources in non-western-European languages should give the original title (transliterated as necessary), followed by an English translation of the title in square brackets.
8) P&P Viewpoints: we now welcome submissions of pieces specifically intended for consideration as a Viewpoint. Viewpoints should seek to provoke or advance debate, to open up new questions, to define the state or direction of a particular field, to shape trends in historiography at a more general level — always in a way that is comprehensible to non-specialists. They might be relatively specific/substantive with respective to area and period or more theoretical.
Viewpoint articles would generally have a less formal character than journal articles. The scholarly apparatus of research articles need not be applied so rigorously: polemic could have a place, there might be less need for careful nuance or qualification, or for comprehensiveness of coverage, footnoting could be light, and style could be more individual.
Viewpoint pieces could be flexible in form. Two people (or more) might wish to collaborate on an exchange of views. (We think the difference between such exchanges and our Debates would be that they would not focus on one article). We are flexible in relation to length, as noted above, but our preference is for Viewpoint pieces which are shorter than articles so that they stand apart.
As noted above, Viewpoints might also take the form of a collection of shorter pieces addressing a particular conceptual, historiographical or methodological problem, theme or topic. Organisers of such a collection of shorter viewpoints should endeavour to ensure that the set has conceptual and intellectual coherence. We encourage contributors to such conversations to read each other's works and we expect the viewpoints to be prefaced by an introduction that draws out the key points and provides a suitable frame of reference for reading them.
9) We also welcome submissions of Review Articles, covering one or more important recent publications. As with other articles, it is important that Review Articles appeal and are accessible to the non-specialist as well as the specialist. We prefer Review Articles which supply a view of the state of the field as well as a review of the specific works in question.
10) Please make submissions to be via our online submission website. Articles should be submitted according to the instructions for online manuscript submission.
All submissions will be acknowledged by email as soon as possible after receipt.
11) Article texts should be in English. We can exceptionally consider for publication articles in some western European languages, but prospective authors must in that case contact the Editors in advance.
A condition of acceptance of an article so submitted would be that the article be translated into English — and vetted by a native English speaker for fluency and idiom.
12) Articles sent to Past and Present for consideration for publication should not be submitted simultaneously to any other journal or journals for refereeing. Authors must never multi-submit! All journals frown on this practice.
13) Notes should be kept to a minimum and, wherever possible, be confined to necessary references. Notes should not be used for 'sub-texts'. Wherever possible without confusion, references should be grouped together. Notes should rarely exceed 10-20% of the text.
14) Graphs, Tables, Maps, etc., may of course be included in an article when they add materially to the substance or comprehensibility of the argument.
15) Illustrations may also be included where they add materially — up to a maximum of twelve (3–6 is more usual). It is the author's responsibility to provide high-definition images of any illustrations they wish to include (good-quality prints if hard copy; jpgs etc. if electronic). All figures submitted to the journal in colour will be published in colour online at no cost. Authors may choose to also publish their figures in colour in the print journal for £350 per figure or plate. You will be asked to specify if you would like to pay for print colour when you submit your article via ScholarOne. Colour figures must have a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch at their final size.
It is the author's responsibility also to obtain any necessary permissions (and to provide us with copies of the relevant documentation). For guidance on this, please contact the Oxford University Press Rights department. Please note the relatively small page-size of Past and Present (max. 6.75 x 4 inches) when considering possible illustrations for inclusion.
16) Debates. The Journal encourages the publication of constructive Debates on controversial topics and on controversial points made in the course of articles which it has published. In every case where a P&P article is the subject of a Comment in a Debate, the author of the article critiqued is invited to submit a Reply.
17) Authors of articles that are accepted for publication should note:
- there is the option of 'Advance Access'. Advance Access allows for swift online publication in advance of the print issue. More information;
- proofs: alterations on proof are expensive and must be kept to a minimum;
18) P&P's Open Access policy: Authors are permitted to deposit the 'accepted article' version of their articles in institutional and centrally organized repositories, subject to an embargo period of 24 months. The 'accepted' version is the final draft author manuscript, as accepted for publication, including modifications based on referees' suggestions but before it has undergone copy-editing and proof correction. Before you deposit your article, please refer to our more detailed guidelines.
We also offer authors the option of paying an APC (article processing charge) to publish their work freely online immediately on publication. This form of open access publication is offered under a range of licences (CC-BY, CC-BY NC, and CC-BY NC ND). Some types of research funding may stipulate the kind of licence under which authors must publish their work. We would be very happy to go through the different licences with you if that would be helpful.
19) Authors are wholly responsible for checking the production of non-Latin scripts at copy-editing and proofing .
We now ask that when citing or quoting sources in non-Latin scripts that authors use the original scripts followed, at first reference, by a full translation in English in a square bracket.
Authors should use fonts MS Mincho and SimSun for Japanese and Chinese scripts respectively.
All editorial correspondence should be sent to editors@pastandpresent.org.uk.
Preprint policy
Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page.
Language Editing
Particularly if English is not your first language, before submitting your manuscript you may wish to have it edited for language. This is not a mandatory step, but may help to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.
Permissions
Please note: permission to reproduce copyright material, for print and online publication in perpetuity, must be cleared and if necessary paid for by the author; this includes applications and payments to DACS, ARS, and similar licensing agencies where appropriate. Evidence in writing that such permissions have been secured from the rights-holder must be made available to the editorial office. It is also the author's responsibility to include acknowledgements as stipulated by the particular institutions. Further information on permissions can be found at Rights and Permissions.
Copyright
It is a condition of publication in the Journal that authors assign their copyright to the Past and Present Society. This ensures that requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely disseminated as possible. Authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the Journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication, and Oxford University Press is notified in writing and in advance.
Please note that by submitting an article for publication you confirm that you are the corresponding/submitting author and that Oxford University Press ('OUP') may retain your email address for the purpose of communicating with you about the article. Please notify OUP immediately if your details change. If your article is accepted for publication OUP will contact you using the email address you have used in the registration process.
Open Access Option for Authors
Past & Present offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution.
Should you wish to publish your article open access, you should select your choice of open access licence in our online system after your article has been accepted for publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence.
Details of the open access licences and open access charges.
OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.
CrossRef Funding Data Registry
In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. Please ensure that any funding is acknowledged in the form required by your funder, in the initial footnote cued to the article title. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.
Editorial correspondence
All editorial correspondence should be sent to editors@pastandpresent.org.uk.
Author Self-Archiving/Public Access Policy
For information about this journal's policy, please visit our Author Self-Archiving policy page.
Author Toll Free Link and Discounts
All corresponding authors will be provided with a free access link to their article upon publication. The link will be sent via email to the article’s corresponding author who is free to share the link with any co-authors. Please see OUP’s Author Self-Archiving policy (above) for more information regarding how this link may be publicly shared depending on the type of license under which the article has published.All authors have the option to purchase up to 10 print copies of the issue in which they publish at a 50% discount. Orders should be placed through this order form. Orders must be made within 12 months of the online publication date.
Availability of Data and Materials
Where ethically feasible, Past & Present strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. Information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by subject area.
Data and Software Citation
Past & Present supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and requires that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI). Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite:
[dataset]* Authors, Year, Title, Publisher (repository or archive name), Identifier
*The inclusion of the [dataset] tag at the beginning of the citation helps us to correctly identify and tag the citation. This tag will be removed from the citation published in the reference list.
Software citations should include the minimum information recommended by the FORCE11 Software Citation Implementation Group:
Author/Developer, Release date, Title, Publisher (repository or archive name), Identifier
If there is an article describing the software, it is recommended to cite both the software and the article.
