Instructions to authors

The Monist publishes quarterly thematic issues, edited by Advisory Editors which include commissioned papers and where there is also a call for papers, submitted papers.

If you wish to submit a paper in response to a call for papers please contact the relevant Advisory Editors.

Format Guidelines for Advisory Editors and Authors

File format

Please submit essays in Microsoft Word, one file per essay, formatted using Times typeface, 12 pt., left justified, and double spaced throughout (text and footnotes or endnotes). Please number all pages and avoid unneccessary formatting such as running heads, rules, dropcaps, etc.

Hyperlinks

Please include links to online material as text strings only. Do not submit Microsoft Word files that include coded hyperlinks.

Conventions

• Bar spaces: Always use one bar space, never two or more.
• Indent all paragraphs. (We do not use “block” style.)
• En dashes (–) between numbers.
• When using em dashes (—), omit bar spaces before or after.
• Note flags should be in Arabic numerals (never Roman) and should immediately follow punctuation.
• Ellipses (. . .) should consist of three spaced periods, not an ellipsis font character.
• ‘i.e.’ and ‘e.g.’ are always followed by a comma, but never italicized.
• We prefer the serial comma: “limes, oranges, and lemons.”
• ‘p.’ and ‘pp.’ (as abbreviations for ‘page’ and ‘pages’) are always followed by a space.
• Personal initials are not separated by spaces.
• ‘B.C.’ and ‘A.D.’ are small caps, set solid. ‘A.D.’ precedes, and ‘B.C.’ follows date.
• ‘vol.’, ‘no.’, and ‘ch.’, as well as ‘n.’ (for ‘note’) are always lower-case and followed by a space.
• Avoid hyphens where possible.
• For internal cross references, cite section numbers rather than page numbers.

Quotation marks and punctuation

Mentioned terms or expressions are enclosed in single quotation marks with no intervening punctuation. Quotations less than three lines are enclosed in double quotation marks with punctuation placed inside (except in the cases of authors following British style, spellings, and punctuation throughout). Extended quotations should be left-indented without quotation marks.

Graphics and Artwork

Diagrams, tables, and illustrations should be submitted in separate, high resolution files (300dpi for graphics, 600 dpi for line art) in jpg or tiff formats. Their desired position in the text should be clearly indicated. Add clarifying instructions in the text [in brackets], if necessary.

Figure accessibility and alt text

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.  

Alt-text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, photographs, and it isn’t required for tables and large datasets (unless the tables are provided as figures). 

Alt-text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article. 

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text. 

Section Headings

Major section breaks are numbered and capitalized.  Breaks without descriptive text are in Roman numerals. Subheadings are generally flush-left, not italicized and not bold.

Abstract

All submission should include abstracts (maximum of 120 words). Abstracts should not simply repeat the first paragraph of the paper, but should summarize the content and argument of the piece. Abstracts should not contain references or undefined technical terms.

References

References may be provided solely in endnotes, or using parenthetical author-year or author-year-page references in the form (Smith 1993, 14), (1993, 234), or (Smith 1993; 1994) and enclosed by sentence-punctuation. Author-date references require a separate reference list that will appear after any endnotes. In reference lists, prepare references in the following form, with three m-dashes and a period for repeated authors in reference lists, and omitting p. or pp. when possible.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements to anonymous reviewers, funding agencies, and other persons or institutions may be included in a footnote at the end of each essay. Do not place acknowledgments in the main text or in a separate section of the main text.

Journal entries:

Smith, John 1993. “Rules of Style,” Journal of the Bibliographical Association 4: 11–16.

———. 1994. “Still More Rules,” Style 2 (3): 25–28.

Book entries:

Smith, John and Robin Jones, eds. 1999. A Compendium of Rules, 2nd ed., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Turabian, K. forthcoming. A Life in Style, trans. J. Smith and R. Jones, New York: Penguin.

———. 1999. “The Road Since A Manual for Writers,” in Smith and Jones, eds. (1999, 123–49).

Sequential references to different works or authors should be separated by commas or semi-colons, respectively: (Smith 1993, 1994; Jones 2013).

For references in endnotes without a reference list or bibliography, prepare references in the following form:

Journal entries:

John Smith, “Rules of Style,” Journal of the Bibliographical Association 4 (1945), 11–16.

Book entries:

John Smith and Robin Jones, eds.,  A Compendium of Rules, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 123–45.

Please avoid including bibliographic items not referred to in the body of the essay.

Submission Requirements

First Publication:

Papers can be considered for The Monist only if (a) they have not previously been published elsewhere, and (b) they are not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Length:

The suggested length for Monist articles is 4,000 to 8,000 words, or about 10 to 20 double-spaced, typewritten pages, including all notes, with about one-inch margins on all sides.

Style and Spelling Guides:

The Chicago Manual of Style, The Random House Dictionary of the English Language; or the Oxford English Dictionary for authors who follow British usage.

Proofs:    

No part of an article may be rewritten in galley or page proofs. Any addenda on galley proofs other than typographical corrections may be disregarded at the discretion of the advisory or journal editor.

Advisory Editor Guidelines

The Monist publishes quarterly thematic issues, edited by Advisory Editors which include commissioned papers and where there is also a call for papers, submitted papers.

Advisory Editors are appointed in light of their expertise and an assessment of a detailed formal proposal for a thematic issue. The proposal should include a description of the provenance and interest of the proposed issue, as well as a list of commissioned authors and abstracts for their papers. The Monist requires that advisory editors include at least 20% women authors in their issues. The Editor-in-Chief will make a decision about the suitability of the proposal in light of reports from expert referees. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, you should first contact the Editor-in-Chief, fraser.macbride@manchester.ac.uk.

Copyright and Permissions

Upon receipt of accepted manuscripts at Oxford Journals authors will be invited to complete an online copyright licence to publish form.

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 communication with you about the article. You agree to 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. Please note that OUP does not retain copies of rejected articles.

As part of the terms of the licence agreement, Authors may use their own material in other publications written or edited by themselves provided that the journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication and Oxford University Press as the Publisher. As the Author(s), copyright of the Article remains yours (or your employer’s if your employer claims copyright in your work). See access purchase rights and permissions publication rights for full details of Oxford Journals' copyright policy and the rights retained by you/your institution under the terms of the licence.

Details of how to sign the licence using our online system will be sent after acceptance. 

Work submitted for publication must be original, previously unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. If previously published figures, tables, or parts of text are to be included, the copyright-holder’s permission must have been obtained prior to submission. For more information on how to obtain permissions, please consult Rights and Permissions.

Open Access

The Monist 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 in the manuscript. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative..

Language Editing

Language editing, if your first language is not English, to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers is optional. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. Information on the language editing service. Several specialist language editing companies offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.