Twentieth-Century China Style Sheet
Notes about all manuscripts
- Double-space everything, including footnotes.
- Articles should be limited to 10,000 words each/35 pages double-spaced including notes.
- Count footnotes as part of the word count.
- Manuscripts should be saved as Word documents (.doc; not .rtf), using 12-point Times New Roman typeface. All should be in regular font, using bold, italics, and small caps only when indicated.
- All footnotes should be in proper format (Chicago Manual of Style, 14 th ed., ch. 15 or 15 th ed., ch. 17).
- Include only the title (no author’s name) on the top page of submitted manuscripts. Create a separate unpaginated title page with the author’s name. Do not print the author’s name on any other pages.
Title/subtitle:
The title should reflect location and time period (either with dates or with significant eras); it should be concise and compelling.
Ex: Family and Gender in Famine:
Cultural Responses to Disaster in North China, 1876-1879
Abstract
The abstract follows the title and is separated in italics. It should be written in third-person impersonal, offering the main points of the article. We suggest 150 words as a guideline.
Ex: This article suggests three things about Chinese history. First, it explores this. Second, it interrogates the historiography of this and how we can see new and unique dimensions of this. Finally, it raises new theoretical questions about this and its importance in people’s lives during this vital transition. This article will change the world as we know it.
Chinese Characters
- All Chinese and Japanese characters must be Unicode-compliant and should appear in the text itself (followed by pinyin or Hepburn romanization) rather than in a glossary.
- Chinese characters should be period-specific (traditional for pre-1949 China, for Hong Kong, and for Taiwan/ROC history and simplified for PRC-related topics).
- Chinese characters should not be included in footnotes; rather, use romanization with English translations in parentheses.
Text
By the time an article has been accepted by Twentieth-Century China, it has been read by several scholars. For this reason, the point of copyediting is not to alter the main points the author is looking to make. Instead, the copyeditor’s job is to look for editorial problems that can hinder a clear reading of the author’s point. Is the author using the correct word, or is she using the same word over and over? Are commas used appropriately? What about possessives and apostrophes? Does the author use contractions? It is helpful for authors to be aware of these concerns before they submit a manuscript. Consult the Chicago Manual of Style, 14 th or 15 th edition, for queries, but here are the main guidelines we follow.
- Avoid passive voice whenever possible.
- Use “on the other hand” only when using “on the one hand” or “on one hand.” Also, it is always “on the other hand,” not “on the other.”
- All book titles and titles of journals are italicized, not underlined. Article titles are typed in quotation marks.
- Use only intelligent quotation and apostrophe markers.
- Avoid adverbs.
- A quotation is offset as a block quotation if it is longer than ten lines. Do not use italics for these block quotations.
- “Foreign words” are words not included in the dictionary—Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10 th edition. Foreign words are typed in italics and defined in parentheses following the first usage. (ex: “Funu (kinswomen) were seen as nu (daughters), fu (wives), and mu (mothers) rather than as women.”)
- We use the Oxford or series comma (ex: “As she begs each passing man to take her in as his wife, servant, or concubine….”).
- Ellipses are followed by a period unless used in the middle of a sentence. Also, leave a space before and after mid-sentence ellipses.
- If an author refers to another scholar or author by name, that person is identified in full (ex: “As historian Stephen Averill has suggested, ….”)
- Use past tense or past perfect tense when discussing historiographical literature.
- “Impact” is a verb only when it refers to a state of constipation or dental disorder. Most authors usually mean “affect” (ex: “I examine how such definitions impacted the choices….” should be “I examine how such definitions affected the choices….”).
- Do not end sentences with prepositions.
Footnotes
Footnotes are the preferred citation method for Twentieth-Century China. All notes should be numbered with Arabic numerals. They should follow Chicago Manual of Style, 14 th edition, ch. 15 or 15 th edition, ch. 17.
- Try to keep footnotes to a maximum of three or four sources. Footnotes count toward 10,000 words.
- Ibid., is never italicized. It is, however, always followed by a period (and then a comma if a different page number follows).
- Chinese characters should not be included in footnotes; rather, use romanization with English translations in parentheses.
- All initial citations must be complete. Subsequent citations (of the same work) should use the same abbreviated form consistently.
- If inclusive page numbers are listed and number into the 100s:
but
- 106-108 (put the “1” before a “0”)
- 192-238 (keep the “2” if preceded by a page number that begins in the 100s)
- If no press or date is available, insert “n.p.” (for “no press”) or “n.d.” (for “no date).
- Ex: Firstname Lastname, Title: Subtitle (London: n.p., 1823);
- Firstname Lastname, Title: Subtitle (New York: Charles Scribners & Sons, n.d.)
- If there is any doubt, all authors should refer to Chicago Manual of Style, 14 th edition, ch. 15 or 15 th edition, ch. 17.
- No bibliography is necessary if the footnotes are complete and comply with the Chicago Manual of Style.
All questions concerning style should be referred to Jessica Pliley, Managing Editor of Twentieth-Century China, Email.
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