Submissions

Author Guidelines

Subject Matter and Scope

Our aim is to build on our already well-established reputation for publishing and to become one of the top international journals in social and cultural anthropology. We encourage submissions from anthropologists without preference for any single region of the world. We do not restrict ourselves to any particular theoretical tradition. As a bilingual journal, we actively enocurage submissions in both French and English from around the world.

Anthropologica Sections

A typical issue of Anthropologica contains a thematic section on a topic of interest to many of our readers, between three to five volunteered papers on a variety of themes, one or more special feature, such as Ideas, Anthropoloigcal Reflections, and Practitioner's Corner, book reviews, and from time to time, film reviews and reviews of museum exhibits.

The Ideas section consists of a brief position paper concerning a key concept in anthropology and the social sciences such as “community” or “the state.” Normally Ideas are between 3500 and 5000 words in length.

Anthropological Reflections invites anthropologists to reflect on their experiences in the field in autobiographical and auto-ethnographic pieces, photo-essays, poetry, travelogues, exchanges with interlocutors, experimental writing, etc. The point of this section is to broaden the scope of our anthropological writing, publishing and reception.

Practitioner’s Corner invites anthropologists working outside of academia to share their experiences in their practice as public servants, human rights advocates, museum curators, NGO and INGO workers, lawyers, social workers, teachers, etc. These submissions are between 3500 to 5000 words in length.

All articles submitted to Anthropologica undergo an anonymous peer review process, including special features. Book reviews are subject to review by the Anglophone an Francophone Book Review Editors, as well as the Anglophone and Francophone Editors. 

Our style for references and bibliography follows the Chicago Style with Canadian spelling.

Anthropologica appears twice a year, usually in the Spring and Fall.

All Anthropologica submissions, reviews, and editorial work are done through our online peer review management system, OJS, and are Open Access.

Special Theme Proposals Submissions Process

Anthropologica publishes at least one special theme in each issue. Special Themes normally include a long Introduction to the theme and between 5 to 8 scholarly articles.

All proposals for a special theme MUST to be submitted to the Editor in Chief and include:

1. A formal introduction to the theme with a detailed discussion of the current debates in the literature and an outline of the contributions that the special theme will make to contemporary anthropological discussions in Canada and beyond (1000 to 2000 words);
2. The titles and abstracts of the individual articles and their individual contributions to the special theme (approximately 100 to 150 word abstracts); and
3. Short biographical statements by each of the contributors (approximately 100 to 150 words) (Please do not send individual CVs).

Each special theme issue normally must include at least one paper in French or English, depending on the dominant language of the rest of the collection of articles.

The Francophone and Anglophone editors first consider every proposal and, if there is interest, it will be sent on to the Editorial Advisory Board for review and approval. The Editorial Advisory Board members may accept the proposal; reject the proposal; or suggest that the proposal be revised and resubmitted. The Editor in Chief is responsible for communicating the decision of the Editorial Advisory Board to the editors of the special theme issue.

Given that the majority of articles submitted for any special issue normally require revision and resubmission, it has become very difficult to predict when a special issue will make it through the review process. Editors and contributors should expect the process to take at least one annual year from the date of submission. Note as well that one needs to understand that one contribution may hold up an entire issue. Normally, special theme issues are only assigned publication dates once all necessary reviews have been completed.

All articles are reviewed individually and contributors are asked to communicate the results of their reviews with the special theme editors. Theme editors will work closely with Anthropologica’s Anglophone and/or Francophone editors but ALL publication decisions rests with Anthropologica’s Editor in Chief, including whether an article will be excluded from the final special issue.

In past, the Editorial Advisory Board has made it clear that except for CASCA’s award-winning papers (e.g. CASCA Women's Network Award for Student Paper in Feminist Anthropology). Anthropologica will not normally publish graduate student papers as there are venues for graduate student publications.

Manuscript Requirements

All articles must be the author’s original work, previously unpublished, and not being reviewed for publication with another journal.

Regular articles lengths should be at least 5,000 words but should not exceed 8,000 words, including tables, figures, and references. Authors are asked to ensure that the manuscript is clear of any major grammatical and spelling errors. There is no editing or line editing support provided to individual authors. An article may be immediately rejected on grounds it does not meet Anthropologica’s publication standards.

Upon initial submission, all supporting files including figures and illustrations, tables, and images must be submitted.

Tables are to be placed in the submission file at the end of the manuscript, with each table numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text.

Figures, illustrations, and other images must be submitted as one PDF containing separate, well-identified (for example image 1, image 2, etc) images.

For each image, the copyright holder of the image must fill and sign an image permission form. The author must upload this form as part of the submission process. This form is not required for images for which the author themselves is the copyright holder. 

Anthropologica discourages the use of italics and quotation marks for emphasis. Please use short and meaningful subheadings to break up long sections of text.

Manuscripts should be submitted as files prepared in MS Word. The manuscript should be double-spaced and formatted for 81⁄2 x 11” (21.5 x 28 cm) paper, with 1” (2.54 cm) margins on both sides of the page.

All Anthropologica submissions, reviews, and editorial work are completed through our online peer review management system, OJS.

Through OJS, Anthropologica’s editorial team will acknowledge receipt of the manuscript and eventually communicate the decision of the Editorial Committee.

Peer Review Process

Anthropologica uses a double-anonymous peer review process.

Author(s)’ Commitments

The editing and peer review process require a substantial commitment of time by Anthropologica’s editors and reviewers. There is NO managing editor or staff working for the journal. Submitting a manuscript to Anthropologica implies the contributor(s)’ commitment to publish in the journal. Authors must certify in writing that neither the article submitted nor a version of it has been published, nor is it publicly available online, nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere, nor will be submitted elsewhere for consideration for publication while the manuscript is under review by the journal. Such certification must accompany the manuscript. Authors thereby agree to transfer their copyright to the publisher of the journal.

Anonymizing

Anthropologica uses a double-anonymous peer review process.

Each and every manuscript must therefore be properly anonymized in preparation for submission.

Anonymizing a manuscript entails removing all references to your name on the cover page, the abstract, any publications, whether in text and in the bibliography. References that are likely to suggest the identity of the author (e.g., to unpublished work by the author) should also be avoided.

Authors are cautioned that word processing software such as MS Word and JPEG automatically attaches identifying information (i.e., author’s name and institutional affiliation) to every file created or revised. Please remove any information that identifies you from the “Properties” area of the file.

A cover page listing authorship, institutional affiliation, acknowledgements, and the date of submission of the article should be included along with a full manuscript in a separate file.

It is the responsibility of the contributing author to anonymize the paper for submission.

Upon acceptance of the article for publication, the author will be required to provide a revised version of the text in which identifying references have been integrated into the text and the bibliography.

Selection of Reviewers

Each article that is submitted to Anthropologica is evaluated by the Anglophone or Francophone Editors (depending on the language of submission). Based on their initial assessment, the article will be immediately rejected, sent back to the author with suggestions for revisions (which may be minor or major), or sent on for review.

In order to assist the editors with the selection of reviewers, all contributors are asked to list a minimum of 3 potential reviewers with their submission. Authors must avoid any and all conflict of interest with their recommendations. A reviewer should NOT be suggested if he/she:

1. is from the same institution, or organization as the applicant or interact with the applicant in the course of his/her duties;
2. has direct involvement in the proposal being discussed;
3. has collaborated, been a co-applicant, or published with the applicant(s) within the past 5 years;
4. has been a student or supervisor of the applicant(s) within the last 10 years; or
5. is a close personal friend or relative of the applicant

Upon the receipt of all reviewers’ reports, the contributor will receive one of the following decision letters from the editor: accepted, accepted conditional on minor revisions, rejected with an invitation to make major revisions and resubmit, or rejected.

Documentation

Anthropologica follows the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS, 16th edition), author-date style.  Our house style for spelling and word breaks is the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (CanOD), with the exception of our use of "ize" spellings in place of “ise” spellings (for example, globalize and globalization instead of globalise and globalisation, realize, analyze, evangelize instead of realise, analyse, evangelise, etc.).

References

Please note the bibliography citation style is different for French-language manuscripts. If you are submitting a manuscript in French, please see the French page for citation information.

References should appear at the end of the article. Sources should be listed in alphabetical order, letter by letter. An em-dash can replace the surname of an author who appears more than once. If the author appears with co-authors, the surname must be spelled out again. Multiple sources by the same author are listed chronologically by year, beginning with the oldest source. Sources from the same year should be distinguished by using a, b, c. Each source should end with a period.

The references must include all references in the text and must not include any items not cited in the text. The use of “et al.” is not acceptable in the References appendix; list names of all authors using full first names (except for authors who always publish using only their initials).

For journal style as to the capitalization/non-capitalization of titles, please follow the examples below.

If the cited material is unpublished but accepted for publication, use “forthcoming” with name of journal or publisher; otherwise use “unpublished.”

The following examples of reference list entries may prove useful:

Journal Articles:

• Last name, First name. Year. “Title of Article in Title Case: Subtitle of Article in Title Case.” Journal Name in Italics and Title Case 1 (2): 34–56. DOI number URL.
•  
• Ortner, Sherry B. 1984. “Theory in Anthropology since the Sixties.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 26 (1): 126–166. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417500010811.
•  
• Ferguson, James, and Akhil Gupta. 2002. “Spatializing States: Toward an Ethnography of Neoliberal Governmentality.” American Ethnologist 29 (4): 981–1002. https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.2002.29.4.981

Books:

• Last name, First name. Year. Title of Book in Title Case: Subtitle of Book in Title Case. Place: Publisher.
•  
• Simpson, Audra. 2014. Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life across the Borders of Settler States. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Edited Books:

• Last name, First name, ed. Year. Title of Book in Title Case: Subtitle of Book in Title Case. Place: Publisher.
•  
• Kleinman, Arthur, Veena Das, and Margaret Lock, eds. 1997. Social Suffering. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Chapters in Books/Edited Volumes:

• Last name, First name. Year. “Title of Book Chapter in Title Case: Subtitle of Book Chapter in Title Case.” In Title of Book in Title Case: Subtitle of Book in Title Case, edited by First name Last name and First name Last name, 50–75. Place: Publisher.
•  
• Ramphele, Mamphela. 1997. “Political Widowhood in South Africa: The Embodiment of Ambiguity.” In Social Suffering, edited by Arthur Kleinman, Veena Das, and Margaret Lock, 99–118. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Foreign Sources:

• References to foreign works should include a translation in square brackets.
•  
• Last name, First name. Year. Title in foreign language. [Title Translated into English]. Place: Publisher.
•  
• Pirumova, Natalia Mikhailovna. 1977. Zemskoe liberal’noe dvizhenie: Sotsial’nye ko¬rni i evoliutsiia do nachala XX veka [The zemstvo Liberal Movement: Its Social Roots and Evolution to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Nauka.

Translated titles:

• Last name, First name. Year. Book Title. Translated by First name Last name, if available. Place: Publisher.
•  
• Fanon, Frantz. 1963. The Wretched of the Earth. Translated by Constance Farrington. New York: Grove Press.
•  
• Fanon, Frantz. 2004. The Wretched of the Earth. Translated by Richard Philcox. New York: Grove Press.

Government report or other publication:

• Statistics Canada. 2001. 2002 Census Dictionary Reference, Catalogue No 92-378-XPE. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Dissertations:

• Last name, First name. Year. Title of Dissertation: Subtitle of Dissertation. PhD dissertation, University Name.

Case Citations:

• Houssen v Nikolaisen, [2002] 2 SCR 235.

Newspapers:

• Brooks, David. 2009. “The Power of Posterity.” New York Times, 27 July. http://www.nytimes.com/ (accessed 1 July 2012).

Films:

• Director last name, First name. Year of production. Title of Film. Country or city of production. Producer. XX mins.

In-text citations

All source references are to be identified at the appropriate point in the text by the last name of the author, year of publication, and pagination where needed. Identify subsequent citations of the same source in the same way as the first.

In-text citations should follow the following format:

If the author’s name is in the text, follow it with the year in parentheses.

• Duncan (1959)

If author’s name is not in the text, insert in parentheses the last name and year.

• (Gouldner 1963)

Pagination follows year of publication after a comma and a space.

• Kuhn (1970, 71)

For multiple authors, use “and colleagues” in the text and “et al.” in the notes when there are four or more authors but list each author in the reference list. When two authors have the same last name, include initials in the text.

Separate a series of references with semicolons and enclose them within a single pair of parentheses.

• (Burgess 1968; Marwell et al. 1971, 386–87; Cohen 1962)

If there is more than one reference to the same author and year, distinguish them by the letters a, b, etc., added to the year.

• Levy (1965a, 331–332)

Author-date citations are placed alphabetically, and in the case of more than one citation by the same author, they are placed in chronological order from oldest to newest. Multiple authors are separated by semi-colons, and multiple works by the same author are separated by commas.

(Beazley 1938, 13; Mertens 2006, 191; Oakley 1997, 1–3). (see Fairbanks 1907, 1914).

Footnotes and Endnotes

Endnotes are reserved for extraneous information by the author as well as for citations of primary sources, including archival material, legislation, law cases, conventions, treaties, and websites. If, in addition to the publication details of primary source material, there is a website given where the primary materials are available to be viewed, then the website for the primary documents should be cited in the reference list.

Where to avoid notes: Placement of a note number in chapter titles or headings is strongly discouraged. Instead, position the note at the end of the first sentence or paragraph of the section if it doesn’t disturb sense.

Epigraphs do not take note numbers. Only the author and title of the work need be given, or for historical quotation, speaker and date. If the source is more complex and requires further documentation or explanation, place an unnumbered note at the beginning of the notes for that article.

Additional Elements for Submission

Contact Information

Include a cover page separate from the main file providing authorship, institutional affiliation, acknowledgements, and the date of submission of the article. Please also provide full contact information for the corresponding author(s).

CV/Biographical Statement

Include a CV or a biographical statement separate from the main file outlining academic qualifications, past experiences and research interests.

Abstract and Keywords

Your abstract must be fewer than 200 words and written in the language of the paper. It should be a brief summary of the key points of the article, without the use of phrases such as “In this article...”; “The author...”; “The article is about....”

Provide five to seven keywords positioned a few spaces beneath your abstract. The text body should then follow on a separate page. Using keywords will enhance discoverability through Anthropologica, search engines, and databases.

Tables and Figures

Tables should appear at the end of the manuscript with each table numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Figures should be provided as separate files; see below for details. In the text, indicate exactly where each table and figure belongs. Use the phrase, “Table/Figure [1] about here” in the approximate place where your table or figure should appear in the final copy. The captions for all tables and figures should be included here as well.

Tables

Tables should be prepared in Word (not Excel) using the Tables function (i.e., not created manually using drawn lines, tabs or spaces). Each table must include a descriptive title and headings to columns. Gather general footnotes to tables as “Note:” or “Notes:”, and use a, b, c, etc., for specific footnotes. Table footnotes are appended only to a specific table. Asterisks * and/or ** indicate significance at the 5 percent and 1 percent levels, respectively.

At the stage of typesetting, tables should be put into a Word file separate from the file containing the text of the article (one file for all tables).

Figures

The typesetting stage requires that illustrations be provided without their captions as a high- resolution graphics file (one file per illustration).

High resolution JPEG, TIFF, and EPS are the preferred graphics file formats. All figure files should be no less than 4 inches wide and 300 dpi or higher (or at least 28 inches wide). Important: If you are unsure of the resolution of your image, please check it in your image software.

• Microsoft Photo Editor: Go to File/Properties/Resolution
• Photoshop: Go to Image/Image Size/Document Size

For charts and line drawings (but not photographs), PDF or Excel files are accepted; each chart must be in a separate file.

Producing tables, graphs, and illustrations is costly and authors are asked to minimize their use without sacrificing clarity.

Upon acceptance of the manuscript, authors will be required to obtain copyright permission for all images being used in their article or for the cover of the journal.

Queries

“How to Alienate Your Editor: A Practical Guide for Established Authors,” written by Stephen K. Donovan and published in the Journal of Scholarly Publishing, is an excellent article on classic mistakes made during the submission process. Also useful is “Surviving Referees’ Reports," written by Brian Martin and also published in Journal of Scholarly Publishing.

Exhibits and Film Review

This section invites scholars, curators, and artists to review ethnographic films and exhibitions, as well as emerging experimental work that offers mixed media and multimodal initiatives designed to engage diverse publics. We welcome text only reviews, as well as multimedia submissions that may include short films, still images, audio, drawings, and experimental ethnographic writing.