Manuscript Preparation

How the file itself must be built. Most returns at technical screening are caused by the two items in the anonymisation section.

Manuscript structure

  1. Title — on the manuscript, without author names
  2. Abstract — 150 to 250 words
  3. Keywords — five to seven
  4. Introduction — the question, why it is open, and what the paper claims
  5. Sources and method — texts and editions used, and how they are read
  6. Body — numbered sections, no more than three levels deep
  7. Conclusion
  8. Abbreviations — for text titles, where used
  9. References — primary sources listed separately from secondary literature
  10. Appendices — texts, tables or transcripts, where needed

File format and anonymisation

  • DOCX only for the manuscript. PDF is accepted only for supplementary material.
  • A4, 12 pt, 1.5 line spacing, continuous line numbers, pages numbered.
  • Remove your name from the text. Refer to your own earlier work in the third person, or replace the citation with “[Author, year]” and restore it after acceptance.
  • Remove your name from the document properties. In Word: File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document → Document Properties and Personal Information → Remove All. The system cannot do this for you, and a reviewer can see what you leave behind.
  • Clear tracked changes and comments before you upload.
  • Acknowledgements, funding statements and institutional identifiers belong on the title page, not in the manuscript.
  • The separate title page carries the title, every author's name, affiliation, ORCID iD, email, the corresponding author, acknowledgements, funding and declarations.

Abstract and keywords

  • 150 to 250 words, unstructured, in a single paragraph.
  • State the question, the sources, the method and the finding. Do not write “this paper will discuss”.
  • No citations, no footnotes, no undefined abbreviations in the abstract.
  • Five to seven keywords, most specific first, in IAST where they are Sanskrit terms.

Sanskrit and IAST

Set out in full under Sanskrit / IAST Guidelines.

Referencing

Set out in full under Referencing.

Tables, figures and permissions

  • Number tables and figures separately and in the order they are first mentioned.
  • Every table and figure needs a caption that can be read on its own, and a source line.
  • Tables as editable text in the DOCX — never as an image.
  • Figures at 300 dpi or better; also upload each as a separate file.
  • Permissions are the author's responsibility. Manuscript images, archival photographs, maps, diagrams and long quotations from in-copyright work all require written permission from the rights holder, uploaded with the submission.
  • For photographs of identifiable people, written consent is required, and it must cover open-access publication.
  • Credit lines are printed as the rights holder requires.