Presentation of the paper
Articles should be in English, typed in double spacing (including all notes and references).
Articles should be no more than 9,000 words in length, excluding bibliography. A word count should be included at the end of the text. Provide an abstract of 150-200 words with the article, plus a list of up to 6 keywords suitable to maximise the changes your work is returned in online searches.
British Politics features an innovative section entitled 'Forward Thinking' which aims to promote the very latest research and theoretical reflection from within the field. Ph.D. students are especially encouraged to submit to this section. Submissions should normally be between 4,000 and 5,000 words in length; authors are invited to contact the Editors-in-Chief prior to making a submission to this section.
Notes
Keep notes to a minimum, indicate them with superscript numbers, and provide the note text as a list at the end of the article before the references. Footnotes are also acceptable if used sparingly.
References in the text
British Politics adheres to Springer’s Harvard referencing style. The journal will accept submissions that use any consistent scholarly referencing-style, although once conditionally accepted, Springer’s Harvard referencing style must be adopted before publication.
The whole citation should be enclosed within parentheses (author surname, year) if not a natural part of the surrounding sentence; the year should be enclosed within parentheses if the names do form a natural part of the surrounding sentence. Citations of works by two authors should have ‘and’ (not an ampersand) between the names. Citations of works by three or more authors should have the first author followed by et al. in italics.
Publications by the same author(s) in the same year should be identified with a, b, c (e.g. 2008a, 2008b).
Personal communications should be listed as such where they are cited in the text, and not listed in the references.
Example:
Since Paterson (1983) has shown that… This is in results attained later (Kramer 1984, p. 4). Results have been reported (Don Graham 1989, personal communication).
Articles not yet published should show ‘forthcoming’ in place of the year (in both the reference and the citation). ‘In press’ should be used in place of the volume, issue and page range details.
Example:
Sharp Parker, A.M. (forthcoming) Cyberterrorism: An examination of the preparedness of the North Carolina local law enforcement. Security Journal, in press.
List of References
References are placed in alphabetical order of authors. Users of Endnote referencing software can download an Endnote style file here. Examples of correct forms of references for alphabetical style:
Book
Slovic, P. 2000. The Perception of Risk. London: Earthscan Publications.
Edited volume
Nye Jr, J.S., Zelikow, P.D. and King D.C. eds. 1997. Why People Don’t Trust Government. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chapter in book
Flora, P. and Alber, J. 1981. Modernization, democratization, and the development of the welfare state. In: P. Flora and A.J. Heidenheimer (eds.) The Development of Welfare States in Europe and America. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Books, pp. 17–34.
Article in journal
Thompson, K., Griffith, E. and Leaf, P. 1990. A historical review of the Madison model of community care. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 41(6): 21–35. https://doi.org/ 10.1176/ps.41.6.625
Article in newspaper
Webster, B. 2008. Record bonus for Network Rail chief, despite Christmas chaos. The Times, 6 June 1.
Webster, B. 2008. Record bonus for Network Rail chief, despite Christmas chaos, The Times [Online], URL
Newspaper or magazine article (without a named author)
Economist .2005. The mountain man and the surgeon. 24 December, 24–26.
Spelling
Use either UK spellings consistently throughout. Take as a guide the new edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors.
