Author Guidelines
All contributions are accepted on the understanding that they are the original work of the author(s). The editorial staff of the JCER reserve the right to edit contributions, for both content and style.
You must be registered as an Author before you can submit an article to the JCER. If you are already registered as a Reader, but not as an Author, you need to login and upgrade your status by selecting the Author button.
If you have any problems with registration please contact us.
1.0 What does the JCER publish?
- Research articles (7,000 to 8,000 words) in the field of contemporary European Studies;
- Commentaries (2,000 to 3,000 words) which critically examine the literature and research direction of a particular topic of interest;
- Book reviews (up to 1,500 words).
Both research articles and commentaries will undergo peer-review.
2.0 Manuscript Requirements
- All submissions should be written in English (UK) with the exception of –ize (i.e Globalization), in place of –ise (i.e. Globalisation) – a compromise for search optimisation;
- Research articles and commentaries should include an abstract (up to 200 words);
- Manuscripts should be double spaced, font size 12, and in Times New Roman;
- Only Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Files (.rtf) will be accepted;
- Word limits must be respected and are inclusive of the abstract, footnotes, references and tables;
- Footnotes must be concise and used very sparingly;
- As a separate document/file, you must also prepare a cover sheet to contain the title of your paper and the name, title (e.g. Dr) and affiliation of any authors (but nothing else).
3.0 Presentation
Abbreviations: appropriate abbreviations (i.e., e.g., etc.) can be used. Excessive use of abbreviations should be avoided.
Acronyms: spell out in full the first time, as initials thereafter.
Italics: use to add emphasis to words and phrases, for Latin expressions (e.g.
prima facie,
ad hoc,
a priori), as well as names of books, journals and newspapers, but not organisations.
Numbers: write out numbers below 10 in full e.g. nine, otherwise as numerals, separate thousands using commas (e.g. 123,456).
Currency: use EUR for euros, GBP for pounds sterling etc., to appear after the amount (e.g. 1,000 EUR).
Centuries: use numbers (e.g. 20th).
Decades: use numbers and ‘s’ (e.g. 1990s).
Percentages: in numbers followed by per cent; use % only in tables.
Dates: number, month and year (e.g. 1 January 2013).
Times: use the 12-hour clock (e.g. 4:00 pm).
Capitalisation: use minimum capitalisation for all headings (i.e. only use capitals for the first letter and proper nouns).
Quotation Marks: use double "quotation marks", except when quoting within a quote, when single 'quotation marks' should be used. Quotations should close before the full-stop which ends the sentence.
Spelling: use English spelling, (e.g. colour, not color, with the exception of –ize in place of –ise). Use local spelling for names - for names in another alphabet, use standard English transcriptions. If in doubt refer to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Footnotes: use very sparingly. These will be published as endnotes.
Tables and Figures: tables and illustrations must be prepared in separate pages at the end of the main document. They should be numbered consecutively. The approximate position of tables and figures or illustrations should be indicated in the manuscript. Graphs and diagrams must be in a form suitable for reproduction.
Web Address Referencing: you must provide as many details as possible when referencing a web address. This includes the author if appropriate, title of webpage, full URL address, and date accessed.
Headings: headings should be in capitals, bold and left-justified; sub-headings should be in bold and left-justified. Do not number headings.
4.0 References
For authors submitting a paper in Political Science, Economics or Sociology we require the Harvard system of referencing.
For authors submitting an article in Law where there is substantial use of case law, then a footnoting method of referencing is acceptable.
4.1 Harvard
In the Harvard system, the author's surname and year of publication are cited in the text of your work. The full details of the book are included in a reference list at the end of the article.
A few examples can be found below. For comprehensive guidelines on the use of the Harvard system please refer to the
Guide produced by the staff of Anglia Ruskin University Library.
In-text citation
- For a single author, use Smith (1994);
- To reference a particular page, use Smith (1994, pp.32-33);
- If there are more than two authors, use Smith et al. (1994);
- To reference more than one work at the same time, use (Smith 1994; Hix 2003; Jones 2009).
Reference list
References should be listed in full alphabetical order at the end of the paper in the following form:
Alter, K. J. (1998). ‘Who are the “Masters of the Treaty”?: European Governments and the European Court of Justice’,
International Organization, 52 (1), pp.121-147.
Gabel, M. J. (1998).
Interest and Integration. Market Liberalization, Public Opinion and European Union. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Smith, M. and Sandholtz, W. (1995). ‘Institutions and Leadership: Germany, Maastricht and the ERM Crisis,’ in C. Rhodes and S. Mazey (eds),
The state of the European Union: Building a European Polity?. London: Lynne Riennerk.
4.2 Footnoting Style of Referencing
This style of referencing should only be used for those articles where footnoting is discipline specific and commonplace, such as European Law (case law, treaties etc.) and History (archives).
Footnotes should be numbered sequentially throughout the text and should appear at the bottom of the page. Authors are asked to keep footnotes as short as possible and to make cross-references within the text as sparingly as possible. The name of the author(s) and an abbreviation form of the title should be used for cross-references.
Footnote numbers in text follow should punctuation marks – comma, full point etc. The first letter of footnote will be capital except:
where it is part of Latin abbreviations:
ibid.,
where it is a cross reference to another footnote, e.g. ‘n 4 above’.
Citations
Books
Books should be cited as in the following examples, with the titles italicised:
M. Jones,
European Law in Context (Blackwell, 1995)
M. Jones and J. Smith,
European Law in Context Revisited (Blackwell, 1995)
M. Jones, J. Smith and A. Rowe (eds),
European Law in Context: Selected Readings (Blackwell, 1995)
Specific references should be as above followed by ‘p 14’.
Contributions to edited books should be cited as follows:
Jones, ‘Social Regulation’, in M. Jones, J. Smith and A. Rowe (eds),
European Law in Context: Selected Readings (Blackwell, 1995)
Articles
Article titles, like the titles of contributions to edited books, should be in single quotation marks and not italicised. The titles of books and journals should be italicised. Common abbreviations of journals should be used whenever possible. If the full name of a journal is used, it should be in italics.
For example:
Jones, ‘Subsidiarity and Social Regulation in Europe’, (1995) 1
Journal of Social Regulation Studies 63
A reference to a specific page should be as follows:
(1995) 1
Journal of Social Regulation Studies 63, 67
Cases
References to Court of Justice or Court of First Instance cases should give the European Court Reports (ECR) citation, except if the case has not yet been published in the ECR, in which case the reference should give the Common Market Law Reports citation. Cases should not be cited to both the ECR and the CMLR.
Cases should be cited in the following way:
(a) for ECR citations:
Case 132/82 Commission v Belgium [1983] ECR 1649
Case 188/89 Foster v British Gas [1990] ECR I-3313
(b) for CMLR citations:
Case 246/89 Commission v United Kingdom [1991] 3 CMLR 706
TEU and Community treaties
TEU e.g. Article A TEU
EC Treaty e.g. Article 30 EC
ECSC Treaty e.g. Article 2 ECSC
EAEC Treaty e.g. Article 3 Euratom
Legislation
EC, ECSC or Euratom legislation should be cited as follows:
(a) in the text: written out:
Article 2 of Regulation 11/89
Article 3 of Directive 89/21
Article 4 of Decision 89/31
(b) in footnotes: abbreviation:
Art 2, Reg 21//89
Art 3, Dir 89/21
Art 4, Dec 89/31
5.0 Ensuring a Blind Peer Review
Before you submit an article or commentary for consideration, you must take steps to conceal your identity to ensure a blind peer review.
Ensure that you have deleted your name from the text, with "Author" and year used in the references and footnotes, in place of your name.
Microsoft Word also records personal data. If you use MS Word 2010, this can be removed by taking the following steps:
- With your document open, click 'File' from the menu tabs along the top of the page;
- Click on the square ‘Check for Issues’ button to reveal a list of further options;
- Choose ‘Inspect Document’ and then click the ‘Inspect’ button in the pop-up;
- MS Word will then check for personal information; click on the ‘Remove All’ button when it appears.
As a separate document/file, you must prepare a cover sheet to contain the title of your paper and the name, title (e.g. Dr) and affiliation of any authors (but nothing else).
During the submission process, you will be asked to upload your manuscript during Step 2. The cover sheet must be uploaded during Step 4 as a Supplementary File.
In Step 4a, there is a tick-box 'Present file to reviewers' - do
NOT tick this box for your cover sheet!
File names can also reveal identity. For the JCER, this is not an issue as the software that we use automatically re-names uploaded files.
6.0 Book Reviews
Book reviews (not exceeding 1,500 words) should include:
- An early paragraph saying what the book is about, and putting it in context;
- Information about the intended audience;
- A critique of the argument/content of the book;
- Any supporting academic references;
- Remarks on the strengths and limitations of the book;
- A note on the format, length and price (or value for money);
- A note (if appropriate) on how well the text is supported by tables/diagrams/illustrations.
Looking for guidance on how to write a book review? Try:
Hartley, J. (2006), “Reading and writing book reviews across the disciplines”,
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57 (9), pp. 1194-1207.
